Carbon Reduction Plans & PPN 06/21
What is PPN 06/21 and what is a Carbon Reduction Plan (CRP)?
Changing Footprint delivers Carbon Reduction Plan consulting, compliant with PPN 06/21, to help suppliers meet UK government tender requirements. We guide you through creating a compliant CRP — including baseline emissions, reduction targets, and alignment with Net Zero 2050 goals — ensuring your organisation is ready for public sector contracts.
The Public Procurement Note (PPN) issued in June 2021 (06/21) (i.e. PPN 06/21) is the UK Government’s procurement policy for orders over £5M. This policy requires bidding suppliers to publish a short Carbon Reduction Plan and to confirm their commitment to achieving Net Zero by 2050 (or earlier where applicable).
Minimum requirements of the Carbon Reduction Plan (CRP)
To meet the PPN 06/21 requirements a Carbon Reduction Plan must, as a minimum:
- Confirm the business commitment to achieve Net Zero by 2050 (at the latest) and be signed off by a Director. This needs to be published on the supplier’s UK website (prominently linked from the homepage) and updated annually.
- Provide a carbon footprint for the chosen reporting and baseline year for Scope 1, Scope 2 and Scope 3 emissions including if relevant: upstream transportation & distribution; waste generated in operations; business travel; employee commuting; and downstream transportation & distribution.
- State Completed and Planned Carbon Reduction Projects using the CRP template (which can be downloaded here).
What SHOULD be included in a Carbon Reduction Plan (CRP)
Whilst the PPN 06/21 requirements are modest, the commitment effectively requires a Director to state that there is a verifiable plan in place for the business to reach Net Zero, at least by 2050.
Therefore, a prudent and safe approach to complying with the CRP is to undertake a review of how Carbon can be removed from the direct and indirect emissions of the organisation. We will provide this review and associated evidence pack (which can be independently assured to ISO 14064 if deemed necessary).
Here's how we deliver your CRP, step by step
Below is a practical delivery workflow that we use to produce a PPN‑compliant Carbon Reduction Plan. Each step lists the typical deliverables and how we support you.
1. Quick Eligibility & Scope Check
Purpose: confirm whether PPN applies and define the CRP boundary. We will:
- Review the procurement opportunity and contract value.
- Agree reporting boundary (UK operations vs global, single legal entity vs group, financial/operational control).
- Deliverable: short scoping note and project plan.
2. Baseline calculation & assurance
Purpose: calculate the baseline carbon footprint (CO₂e) in line with GHG Protocol and UK conversion factors. We will:
- Convert activity data to CO₂e using BEIS / government conversion factors.
- Produce a transparent emissions spreadsheet (Scope 1, Scope 2, required Scope 3 line items).
- Highlight data gaps, assumptions and a reasonable level of assurance for procurement use.
- Deliverable: baseline emissions spreadsheet and summary infographic.
3. Targets, strategy & measures
Purpose: set realistic, evidence‑based reduction targets and a delivery roadmap. We will:
- Recommend a headline commitment (Net Zero by 2050 as required) and propose interim targets (for example 30–50% reduction by 2030 depending on the sector and baseline).
- Prioritise mitigation measures (energy efficiency, low‑carbon energy, vehicle electrification, supplier engagement, circularity and demand‑management).
- Produce a cost‑benefit / carbon abatement table for priority measures.
- Deliverable: target statement, roadmap and prioritised measures list.
4. CRP drafting (gov template)
Purpose: produce the public Carbon Reduction Plan that meets the government template and technical standard. We will:
- Populate the official Carbon Reduction Plan template.
- Write the narrative (commitment, baseline, targets, measures, governance, sign‑off fields).
- Produce an executive summary tailored for procurement reviewers.
- Deliverable: draft CRP and a short procurement‑ready summary.
5. Governance, sign‑off & publication
Purpose: secure internal approval and publish publicly. We will:
- Prepare a short board report and sign‑off checklist.
- Support director sign‑off (we can attend the sign‑off meeting or provide a sign‑off pack).
- Provide web‑publication guidance (good practice for linking from homepage and keeping past CRPs available).
- Deliverable: signed CRP, web‑ready files and a publication checklist.
6. Tender support & submission (as required)
Purpose: make it easy to include CRP evidence in bids. We will:
- Create a concise procurement evidence pack (one‑page summary, Q&A, data annex and link to published CRP).
- Rapid responses for clarifications during tender evaluation.
- Deliverable: tender evidence pack and a tailored procurement FAQ.
7. Annual update & ongoing support (recurring)
Purpose: refresh the CRP within 6 months of year‑end and track progress. We will:
- Update the baseline and report progress against interim targets.
- Maintain a live tracker for implemented measures and emissions reductions.
- Optional: provide third‑party verification support (ISO 14064‑3 / ISAE) and deeper supplier engagement programmes.
- Deliverable: updated CRP and progress dashboard.
Ready to get started?
If you’re bidding on public contracts or want to publish a best‑practice Carbon Reduction Plan, Changing Footprint will do the heavy lifting — data, calculations, the government template and director sign‑off preparation.
Frequently Asked Questions
Organisations bidding for central government contracts that are in‑scope under PPN 06/21 (typically procurements subject to the Public Contracts Regulations where contract values exceed £5M annually) should provide a CRP when requested by the contracting authority.
Yes: if an SME is the bidding entity for an in‑scope contract it should provide a CRP. The government guidance recognises the burden on smaller suppliers and points to free tools and support; Changing Footprint tailors our service and fees to SME needs.
You must report Scope 1 and Scope 2, plus the specified subset of Scope 3 categories (upstream transportation & distribution, waste generated in operations, business travel, employee commuting, and downstream transportation & distribution) as relevant and where data is available.
The technical standard asks that footprints be completed to a reasonable level of assurance but does not mandate formal audit for all suppliers. We can support you to a level appropriate for the procurement; independent verification (ISO 14064‑3) is recommended where procurement or stakeholders require it.
he emphasis of PPN 06/21 and the supporting technical standard is on measured reductions and transparent reporting of emissions and actions. If offsets are used, they should be disclosed clearly and should not replace a credible emissions reduction pathway.
The CRP should be reviewed and updated annually and within 6 months of your financial year end so that procurement reviewers can see up‑to‑date progress.
Provide the best available data and be transparent about assumptions and gaps. The PPN recognises practical constraints and seeks consistent, transparent reporting rather than perfection. We help you apply robust proxies and continuously improve data quality over time.