What We Learned From TCAT’s First Corporate Pilot

Since its public launch during Climate Week 2025, the Task Force for Corporate Action Transparency (TCAT) has moved into implementation. Working with more than 13 companies, TCAT recently concluded its first corporate pilot to test the completeness, clarity, and feasibility of its draft guidance for reporting the impacts of corporate climate mitigation actions.

The pilot brought together companies that spanned a range of sectors including technology, consumer goods, and land use. Participants engaged deeply with the guidance, applying it to real-world mitigation activities and providing structured feedback on both its conceptual approach and their practical reporting experience.

The goal of the pilot was straightforward: pressure-test the guidance before finalizing it; and learn what works well, what should be refined, and which topics would benefit from additional context and guidance to support effective and efficient implementation.

Companies provided actionable feedback during a virtual workshop, through written surveys, and in weekly calls with the TCAT team. These are the key takeaways from TCAT Pilot 1.

A Common Language for Mitigation Impacts Was Widely Welcomed

Across sectors, companies emphasized the value of TCAT’s introduction of a consistent way to describe and report the impacts of a wide range of mitigation actions, both inside and beyond their value chains.

Participants noted that today’s reporting landscape makes it difficult to clearly distinguish between:

  • emissions inventories,

  • targets and commitments,

  • and the actual impacts of specific actions.

TCAT’s focus on clearly and transparently disclosing the impact of all types of mitigation actions was seen as a needed step toward improving internal decision-making, increasing transparency for external stakeholders and reducing the risks of taking climate action through market based instruments.

Consequential / Impact Accounting Filled a Recognized Gap

One of the most consistent signals from the pilot was the importance of TCAT’s inclusion of consequential and impact-oriented accounting approaches.

Participants described these methodologies as addressing a significant gap in existing guidance, particularly when it comes to understanding:

  • how mitigation actions influence emissions outcomes beyond a company’s direct footprint, and

  • how those impacts relate to global decarbonization goals.

Many companies viewed these approaches as an essential component of comprehensive, credible claims about the impact of climate mitigation efforts. They noted the importance of being able to clearly report and disclose the full range of mitigation actions they are undertaking. 

The Multi-Ledger Approach Improved Transparency—Internally and Externally

Companies also responded positively to TCAT’s multi-ledger framework, which distinguishes between different types of impacts rather than collapsing them into a single number.

Participants highlighted the value of this approach for:

  • clarifying what impacts different metrics are — and are not — designed to represent,

  • supporting internal conversations across sustainability, finance, and strategy teams, and

  • improving transparency for external stakeholders 

Several companies noted that the framework helped surface assumptions and tradeoffs that often remain implicit in current reporting. 

Clear Opportunities to Improve Usability and Implementation

Just as importantly, the pilot generated specific, actionable feedback on how the guidance can be strengthened.

Key areas for revision include:

  • streamlining and clarifying reporting templates to minimize the reporting burden while maintaining assurability and transparency

  • refining tests and decision points within the guidance to more accurately categorize mitigation actions based on impact, intent, and data availability

  • developing companion materials to support practitioners, and provide context for assurance providers

Participants also emphasized the importance of clearly mapping TCAT’s methodologies to existing standards and frameworks to help companies understand how TCAT complements other reporting requirements.

What Comes Next

The TCAT team is translating Pilot 1 feedback into a targeted set of technical revisions. An updated version of the guidance, v1.1, will reflect:

  • lessons from real-world application,

  • refinements for clarity and usability, and

  • additional materials to support consistent implementation.

These revised guidance documents will be published on the TCAT website later this spring. 

To address topics for which more comprehensive revisions to the guidance are being considered, TCAT will implement a deeper set of revisions in Fall 2026. Companies will have the opportunity to provide feedback and input during Pilot 2, which will take place April - July 2026. More information about the scope and engagement opportunities for Pilot 2, as well as details about an upcoming public consultation opportunity, will be available in the coming weeks. If you’d like to be added to our email list, please reach out to info@tcataction.org. We’ll be sending out more details about Pilot 2, the public consultation, and the publication of TCAT guidance v1.1 soon.

We’d like to extend a heartfelt “thank you!” to the companies that participated in TCAT’s first pilot. Their candid feedback and thoughtful engagement have been invaluable as we work to increase transparency and maximize the impact of corporate climate action.