GHG, SDGs, ESG, IPCC, CCC and All the Letters of the Climate Alphabet: Environmental and Social Benefits of Climate Planning Through the Mobilization of the Private Sector

Mission-oriented transitions require governments to shape markets and co-create value with private actors, yet municipal and private actors assess climate action through different categories. Cities and regions use climate action plans, greenhouse-gas (GHG) inventories and reporting platforms; companies and investors use environmental, social and governance (ESG) frameworks, including the European Sustainability Reporting Standards (ESRS), the EU Taxonomy, the Sustainable Finance Disclosure Regulation (SFDR), and bond principles. This thematic review analyzes key frameworks and maps their subcategories across emissions domains, climate risk, investment and financing, and social benefits. It uses transition design as an organizing lens by mapping alignment and relationships among sectoral actions, finance, governance and social outcomes at a systemic level. Responding to needs emerging from the Mission Cities, this paper proposes a project-level shared language structured as a boundary object to enhance municipal–private sector mutual understanding, thereby supporting capacity building, decision making and collaboration. The analysis identifies where standards, including the ESRS, the EU Taxonomy and the SFDR, can be transferred or translated to the emissions domains of energy, buildings, mobility and hazards, and where more integration work is needed, notably on social benefits.