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July 16, 2025
Decarbonization Strategy: From Ambition to Action in Our Climate Transition Plan
We’ve lifted the curtain on the inner workings of our climate strategy with a public playbook, sharing every lever we will use on our path to net-zero by 2050.
In a decade defined by the increasing impact of climate change on people and companies, the question is no longer why environmental sustainability matters, but how and when global companies will deliver on commitments — and are the plans part of the broader business strategy? At Trane Technologies, our Climate Transition Plan (CTP) answers that “how,” translating our sustainability commitments into a strategic roadmap for our science-based trajectory to net-zero by 2050.
Our CTP (the first of its kind in our sector) is both a strategic plan and a living document that will be updated as our approach evolves. It differs from the reports that many sustainability practitioners are accustomed to seeing. Rather than cataloging last year’s results, like a sustainability report, our climate transition plan looks forward, outlining the near- and long-term actions we will take on our path to net-zero. It also is deeply focused on a single topic — climate.
A strong framework for decarbonization
By aligning our company-wide climate transition plans with the Transition Plan Taskforce (TPT) Disclosure Framework, we’re leading by example and setting a practical, actionable path that the entire industry can follow, and we hope that they do.
The TPT Framework summarizes the transition to net-zero with three pillars: ambition, action and accountability. In our CTP, we used the same pillars to define our business sustainability strategy — with a goal to create a decarbonized and strong value chain.
Business resilience, defined as the capacity to anticipate and adapt to climate-related business disruption, is the connective tissue of those pillars. By translating ambition and action into an operational model that guides amid rapid change, resilience incentivizes business innovation to accelerate decarbonization, create business value and future-proof our company.
Ambition: our bold environmental sustainability targets
Our Climate Transition Plan connects vision to action, outlining a strategy for investment and innovation to help achieve our bold climate commitments. The ambition pillar of our CTP articulates clear, science-based milestones that have already put us on the road to a decarbonized future.
By 2030, our industry-first Gigaton Challenge will help our customers avoid one billion metric tons of emissions (from a 2019 baseline). We will move toward completely carbon neutral operations over that same period, reducing embodied carbon by 40% and transitioning to a fully electrified transportation fleet. These near-term 2030 goals are critical stepping stones on the path to our long-term goal of a net-zero value chain by 2050. With these industry-leading commitments, we set the stage to turn our decarbonization ambitions into action.
Action: decarbonization levers in motion
Delivering on those commitments requires coordinated action across our entire business. The key levers of our CTP and strategy are based on three focus areas: decarbonizing our operations, our sold products and our products’ life cycle. Together, these levers address every link in our value chain.
Decarbonization starts at home, and we’re doing the hard steps first by prioritizing renewable energy in our own facilities. Our La Crosse, Wisconsin facility, for example, runs entirely on electricity generated from renewable sources. We’re also phasing out high-emission refrigerants and tightening leak-detection processes while accelerating fleet electrification and developing advanced analytics for energy efficiency. Investing in these levers helps eliminate the emissions linked to our operations while also future proofing our business.
Decarbonizing the use of our products is a top priority because it represents over 98% of our carbon footprint, so we’re prioritizing the transition to high-efficiency equipment sales and expanding our product mix to accelerate electrification — while also focusing on system-level energy efficiency. The U.S. Department of Energy estimates that high-efficiency equipment can reduce energy consumption by up to 50%. Our transition to low global warming potential (GWP) refrigerants also showcases our progress and commitment to efficiency, with years of research and development focused on cutting refrigerant GWP by up to 78% without compromising performance.
We’re tackling the decarbonization of our products’ life cycle with equal rigor. From re-engineering material specifications to decrease the carbon footprint of materials, to supporting supplier decarbonization efforts with our sustainable procurement policy, we’re reducing emissions throughout our products’ entire service life.
Our circularity strategy covers every segment of our value chain, prioritizing sustainable design, maintenance, remanufacturing, reuse and end-of-life planning. This approach focuses on keeping valuable resources in use while reducing emissions, turning our supply chain into a regenerative loop while supporting business growth.
Together, this set of concrete levers accelerates our net-zero momentum, turning action into measurable impact.
By creating and publicly sharing this climate transition plan, we’re giving our stakeholders the visibility they’ve asked for and collectively pushing our industry forward.
Accountability: governance, metrics and transparency
Ambition and action carry weight only when accountability is embedded at all levels, from the boardroom to operations. Our Board of Directors provides oversight for our climate strategy, tracking performance against our sustainability commitments. Annual incentives for senior leadership are linked to our progress, aligning business performance with our decarbonization strategy and goals.
Progress against our Climate Transition Plan is disclosed publicly each year in our Sustainability Report. We use the GHG Protocol standards to measure and manage our progress toward our emissions reduction targets. To confirm the accuracy of our emissions calculations, we perform annual audits through an internal assurance process and use an independent third party to verify select emissions data that is included in our reporting.
The CTP is also a valuable tool for internal alignment and building shared momentum. The process of creating our CTP required extensive cross-functional collaboration throughout our organization, bringing a wide range of stakeholders together around our climate roadmap. This internal coordination keeps everyone on the same page, working towards our shared goal.
Looking ahead: collaboration for scale and impact
We know that climate risk is business risk, but climate innovation is also a business opportunity. The Trane Technologies Climate Transition Plan doesn’t just mitigate operational threats — it positions us to lead in a low-carbon economy. By operationalizing our climate strategy, we’re taking action to align with international climate agreements while preparing our business for future policy, market and technological changes.
We invite our stakeholders to join us in this important work. We ask our customers to participate by prioritizing decarbonized products and solutions, and our suppliers to join our low-carbon-materials journey. We call on policymakers to set standards that reward sustainable innovation and environmental stewardship. And we encourage talented individuals who are passionate about sustainability to come build their careers with us.
Together, we can drive systemic change to mitigate climate threats, create business value and fuel innovation. And together, we will demonstrate that embedding climate planning and resilience in business strategy is not just important — it’s good business.
Discover more in our Climate Transition Plan and see our progress in our 2024 Sustainability Report.
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