If you are bidding on public contracts in the UK worth £5 million or more, you are now required to measure your carbon footprint and have a Net Zero target for 2050 in place.This legislation is from the Public Procurement Notice (PPN) that the UK government published on the 21st of June 2021. The UK government can assess if the bidder has taken steps to understand their environmental impact and carbon footprint relevant to the delivery of the contract.
PPN 06/21 is important, failure to comply means you will be excluded from the bidding process. This could cause you lost time, unnecessary financial costs, and / or reputational damage.
How to set your Carbon Reduction Plan to comply with PPN 06/21
The key requirement to comply with PPN 06/21 is that you submit a Carbon Reduction Plan. This should be done annually at the very least. This is so the UK government can determine if you have included sustainability as part of your business operations.
A Carbon Reduction Plan should establish your base year, your current carbon footprint, and confirm your commitment to reducing carbon emissions to achieve Net Zero by 2050.
To determine your emissions and set a net zero target to comply with PPN 06/21 you first need to determine the carbon emissions for your base year.
You can do this by measuring the applicable direct and indirect emissions for all your UK operations. Carbon emissions are measured in three scopes.
- Scope 1: direct emissions from owned or controlled sources
- Scope 2: indirect emissions from the generation of purchased energy
- Scope 3: indirect emissions (not included in scope 2) that occur in the value chain
After establishing your emissions you should measure the carbon footprint of your operations for the current year. Make sure you take into account any changes that have occurred in your company structure and operations.
The next step is to set a target that reaches Net Zero in 2050. With this target, you can determine the progress you make each year. Targets can be set absolute or based on an intensity metric, often FTE or revenue.
Finally, you need to detail your past, current or intended carbon reduction projects and how these projects achieve carbon reductions against your base year.
How EcoOnline can help you achieve your sustainability goals
We know that understanding your organisation’s carbon footprint in line with GHG protocol methodology can be tricky and that calculating emissions is time-consuming.
Our sustainability platform can help you reduce the stress and admin required to meet PPN 06/21. With access to our database, you can benefit from 120,000 emission factors that are up-to-date and span over 219 countries.
We can also ensure that you are using a suitable methodology when setting your Net Zero target, like the ones outlined by the Science Based Target initiative (SBTi).