A pass/fail condition: without a compliant plan, your bid is rejected before evaluation
A commitment to net zero by 2050 (at least for UK operations)
Full Scopes 1 and 2 and the five required Scope 3 categories
A ready document: board sign-off, publication on your website and a yearly update
Bidding for a UK government contract over £5m a year? Without a Carbon Reduction Plan, you will be excluded.
What are PPN 006 and a Carbon Reduction Plan?
PPN 006 (formerly PPN 06/21) is the UK procurement policy note “Taking account of Carbon Reduction Plans in the procurement of major government contracts”. Companies bidding for large UK government contracts must publish a Carbon Reduction Plan (CRP). This is a plan to cut emissions, with a commitment to net zero.
The note has applied since June 2021. In February 2025, it was renumbered from PPN 06/21 to PPN 006 because of the Procurement Act 2023, with no change to its content. For a supplier that wants to sell to the UK government, it is a real barrier to entry. It is also a niche where the company with a ready plan wins.
A government note that requires buyers to take carbon reduction plans into account when they award large public contracts. It sets out who must show what before they can even bid.
A Carbon Reduction Plan is a document your company publishes. It has your emissions inventory, a net zero 2050 commitment and your reduction actions, prepared under the UK technical standard.
A compliant CRP is a condition of participation, checked on a pass/fail basis before bids are scored. A missing or non-compliant plan means automatic exclusion.
Who does PPN 006 apply to?
The rule covers large contracts of UK central government, but it reaches much further, down to subcontractors in the supply chain.
Contracts over £5m a year
Contracts of central government departments, executive agencies and non-departmental public bodies worth more than £5 million a year (including VAT). Frameworks and dynamic markets are covered too, where individual contracts exceed this value.
The rule follows the contract, not the company size
The contract value decides, not the size of the bidder. An SME bidding for a £6m contract must meet the same rule as a large group.
Bidders and subcontractors
It applies if you bid directly. It also applies if you supply a UK prime contractor who passes emission rules down to its suppliers. Then a CRP becomes a condition of working together.
What must a compliant Carbon Reduction Plan include?
To comply with PPN 006, a CRP must meet the clear conditions of the UK technical standard:
Net zero commitment: net zero by 2050 at the latest, at least for UK operations.
Scope 1 and 2 emissions: direct emissions and emissions from bought energy, reported in full.
Five required Scope 3 categories: upstream transportation (category 4), waste (5), business travel (6), employee commuting (7) and downstream transportation (9).
Emissions in tCO₂e: covering all seven greenhouse gases of the Kyoto Protocol.
Board approval: the plan is approved by the board and signed by a director.
Publication and update: the plan is published on your website and updated every year, within six months of the end of your financial year.
How do we prepare your Carbon Reduction Plan?
We run the project from reading the requirement to a ready-to-publish document, in time for your tender deadline:
Requirement and scope
We check the tender documents, the threshold, the deadline and exactly which emission categories you must show.
Emissions inventory
We calculate Scopes 1 and 2 and the required Scope 3 categories under the GHG Protocol: exactly the ones PPN 006 asks for.
Preparing the CRP
We put together a compliant document in the required format: emissions, the net zero 2050 commitment and real reduction actions.
Approval and publication
We prepare the plan for board approval and sign-off and help you publish it on your website.
Yearly update
We keep the plan compliant every year and help you turn your commitments into a real path to lower emissions.
Carbon Reduction Plan vs ESG report and SBTi target
A Carbon Reduction Plan (PPN 006) is a compliance document for one specific need: taking part in a UK public tender. Its content and format are set by the UK technical standard.
It is not the same as an ESG or CSRD report (wider EU reporting) or an approved SBTi target (voluntary, science-based climate targets). But they share one thing: a carbon footprint inventory for Scopes 1, 2 and 3. If you already calculate your footprint, you are halfway to a CRP.
Why prepare your Carbon Reduction Plan with EXERGY?
We build a complete emissions inventory under the GHG Protocol: the data a Carbon Reduction Plan needs, calculated carefully and ready for audit.
We help you turn your commitment into a reduction path, including with SBTi targets. 1 in 4 SBTi submissions from Poland in 2024 were prepared with our support.
Carbon footprints and decarbonisation are our specialty. We finished 88% of projects ahead of schedule (2025 data), and with a tender, the deadline is everything.
Meet the team
Experienced EXERGY specialists run every project with our own proven methods. We do not give consulting work to subcontractors. We have worked in this field since 2017.
Meet the team →Do you need a Carbon Reduction Plan for a UK tender?
Leave your details and the tender deadline. We will come back with a proposal and a schedule for a compliant plan.
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See also
Corporate carbon footprint
Scopes 1, 2 and 3 under the GHG Protocol: the basis of your Carbon Reduction Plan.
Carbon footprint verification
Independent confirmation that your calculations are reliable, for partners and tenders.
Decarbonisation strategy
A path to net zero and SBTi targets: real actions behind your CRP commitment.