--- title: "PPN 06/21 Explained: Carbon Reduction Plans for UK Public Tenders" description: "PPN 06/21 explained: which contracts it covers, what a Carbon Reduction Plan must include, and mistakes that fail a bid." metaTitle: "PPN 06/21 Explained: Carbon Reduction Plans" category: Compliance date: 2026-07-20 dateModified: 2026-08-24 readingTime: 6 min read lead: If you bid for major UK government contracts, PPN 06/21 is the reason you're being asked for a Carbon Reduction Plan. Here's what it actually requires, in plain English, and how to produce a plan that passes. cardDescription: Which contracts it covers, what a compliant Carbon Reduction Plan must include, the Scope 3 categories you must report, and the mistakes that fail a bid. ctaHeading: Generate your Carbon Reduction Plan automatically ctaBody: VerdCore tracks Scope 1, 2 & 3 as you work and produces a PPN 06/21-ready Carbon Reduction Plan from real data — DEFRA factors built in. footerNote: This guide is general information, not legal or compliance advice. Always check the current PPN 06/21 guidance on GOV.UK. ogTitle: "PPN 06/21 Explained: Carbon Reduction Plans for UK Tenders" ogDescription: Which contracts PPN 06/21 covers, what a compliant Carbon Reduction Plan must include, and the mistakes that fail a bid. faq: - q: What is PPN 06/21? a: Procurement Policy Note 06/21 is the UK Government requirement that suppliers bidding for qualifying central government contracts above £5 million a year must publish a Carbon Reduction Plan committing to Net Zero by 2050, as a pass/fail selection requirement. - q: Which contracts does PPN 06/21 apply to? a: Procurements by central government departments, their executive agencies and non-departmental public bodies for contracts with an anticipated annual value above £5 million, excluding VAT. - q: What Scope 3 categories must a PPN 06/21 Carbon Reduction Plan include? a: Business travel, employee commuting, upstream transportation and distribution, waste generated in operations, and downstream transportation and distribution, alongside full Scope 1 and Scope 2 reporting. - q: How often must a Carbon Reduction Plan be updated? a: At least annually. A plan published once and never refreshed is treated as out of date and non-compliant, which can cause a bid to fail regardless of the quality of the rest of the response. --- ## What is PPN 06/21? [**Procurement Policy Note 06/21**](https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/procurement-policy-note-0621-taking-account-of-carbon-reduction-plans-in-the-procurement-of-major-government-contracts) — "Taking account of carbon reduction plans in the procurement of major government contracts" — took effect on **30 September 2021**. It makes a supplier's commitment to Net Zero a formal condition of bidding for large public contracts. In practice, it means that before you can win qualifying work, you must publish a **Carbon Reduction Plan (CRP)** that measures your emissions and commits your organisation to Net Zero by 2050. No compliant plan, no bid. It is a pass/fail selection requirement, not a scored "nice-to-have". It sits alongside other carbon frameworks a contractor meets — [PAS 2080](/resources/pas-2080-for-contractors.html) for how carbon is managed through delivery, and [SECR](/resources/secr-explained.html) for the statutory disclosure in your annual accounts — but PPN 06/21 is the one that gates whether you can bid at all. ## Which contracts and suppliers does it apply to? PPN 06/21 applies to procurements carried out by **central government departments, their executive agencies, and non-departmental public bodies for** contracts with an anticipated annual value **above £5 million** (excluding VAT). Two things catch construction firms out: * **It's about your organisation, not the project.** The CRP reports your company's total emissions, not just the emissions of the contract you're bidding for. * **It cascades down supply chains.** Even if you never bid for the central government directly, a main contractor that does will increasingly ask you for the same emissions data, so the requirement reaches far beyond the £5m threshold. ## What must a carbon reduction plan include? A compliant CRP has to do five things: 1. **Confirm a commitment to Net Zero** — a clear statement that your organisation is committed to achieving Net Zero carbon emissions in the UK by 2050. 2. **Report your baseline and current emissions** — your Scope 1 and Scope 2 emissions in full, plus a defined subset of Scope 3 (see below). 3. **Set out your reduction measures** — the environmental management measures and carbon-reduction projects you have in place or plan to introduce. 4. **Be published on your UK website** and kept up-to-date, reviewed and republished at least annually. 5. **Be signed off at board or director level** — the plan must be formally approved by a director (or equivalent). ## The Scope 3 categories you must measure PPN 06/21 does not require full Scope 3 reporting, but it does mandate a specific subset. As a minimum, your CRP must include these Scope 3 categories: * Business travel * Employee commuting * Upstream transportation and distribution * Waste generated in operations * Downstream transportation and distribution All figures should be calculated using the UK government's **DEFRA greenhouse gas conversion factors** for the reporting year and reported in tonnes of CO₂e. > **Scope quick refresher.** Scope 1 = emissions you burn directly (site diesel, plant, company vehicles). Scope 2 = purchased energy (grid electricity). Scope 3 = everything else in your value chain (materials, subcontractor transport, waste) — see our full guide to [Scope 1, 2 and 3 emissions in construction](/resources/scope-1-2-3-emissions-construction.html). PPN 06/21 requires Scope 1, Scope 2, and the five Scope 3 categories above. ## Common mistakes that fail a bid * **An out-of-date plan.** A CRP published two years ago and never refreshed is non-compliant; it must be reviewed and republished at least annually. * **Missing the Scope 3 subset.** Reporting only Scope 1 and 2 is the most common failure. The five Scope 3 categories are mandatory, not optional. * **No director sign-off.** The plan has to be formally approved at board level and said so. * **Not actually published.** The CRP must be publicly available on your own website. A PDF emailed only to the buyer doesn't meet the requirement. * **Emissions that don't add up.** Figures that aren't traceable to a recognised methodology (DEFRA factors) invite challenge. | Fails the bid | Passes the bid | | --- | --- | | Published once, never refreshed | Reviewed and republished at least annually | | Scope 1 and 2 only | Scope 1, 2, and the five mandatory Scope 3 categories | | No director sign-off | Formally approved at board or director level | | Emailed to the buyer only | Publicly available on your own UK website | | Figures with no stated methodology | Calculated on current DEFRA conversion factors | ## How to produce a compliant Carbon Reduction Plan The workflow is the same every year: 1. **Measure.** Capture fuel, energy, materials, transport, and waste, and convert them to CO₂e using the current DEFRA factors. 2. **Report.** Split the total into Scope 1, Scope 2, and the required Scope 3 categories, against a fixed baseline year. 3. **Commit.** State your Net Zero-by-2050 commitment and the specific measures you're taking to reduce emissions. 4. **Approve and publish.** Get the director's sign-off and publish the plan on your website. 5. **Repeat annually.** Update the numbers and republish each year so it never lapses.
The annual Carbon Reduction Plan workflow
1
Measure
Fuel, energy, materials, transport and waste, converted to CO₂e on current DEFRA factors.
2
Report
Split into Scope 1, Scope 2 and the required Scope 3 categories, against a fixed baseline year.
3
Commit
State the Net Zero-by-2050 commitment and the specific reduction measures you're taking.
4
Approve & publish
Director sign-off, then published on your own UK website — not emailed to the buyer.
5
Repeat annually
Update the numbers and republish every year so the plan never lapses.
The hard part isn't the template; it's keeping accurate emissions data throughout the year so the numbers are ready when a tender lands — the same evidence that helps you answer the wider carbon questions in [winning construction tenders on carbon](/resources/winning-construction-tenders-on-carbon.html). Keeping those numbers current all year is what [construction carbon reporting software](/construction-carbon-reporting-software.html) is built for, so producing a Carbon Reduction Plan is an export rather than a scramble.