In a press release by the Cabinet Office and Lord Agnew on the 7th of June 2021 the Government has announced that suppliers must have a “clear and credible” Carbon Reduction Plan in place in order to bid for major government contracts in excess of £5million/year. The Carbon Reduction Plan, CRP, must detail a firm’s carbon footprint and confirm their commitment to net zero carbon by 2050. The CRP will need to be published on the firm’s website by 30th September 2021 and be updated annually. Firms which fail to do so will be excluded from bidding for the contract
This requirement is set out within the Procurement Policy Note 06/21 published on the 5th of June 2021 and is accompanied by the ‘Technical standard for Completion of Carbon Reduction Plans’ providing further guidance on the reporting requirements.
The Carbon Reduction Plan will need to include as a minimum;
- Baseline emissions
- Current emissions
- Emissions reduction targets
- Reduction measures or projects ongoing and planned
- Declaration and sign off
‘Emissions’ include all seven of the greenhouse gases named by the Kyoto Protocol and will need to be expressed in terms of tonnes CO₂ equivalent. The Greenhouse Gas Protocol breaks emissions sources down into three ‘scopes’. The CRP will need to report separately against the three scopes. All of Scope 1 (fuel combustion, vehicles, fugitive emissions) and Scope 2 (purchased electricity, heat and steam) emissions are to be included as well as a subset of Scope 3 emissions (business travel, employee commuting, transportation, and distribution and waste).
For more information on how Scotch Partners could assist your organisation in meeting the new policy, contact Inge Oosthuizen: inge.oosthuizen@scotchpartners.com or 020 3544 5400