For public sector tenders
Get the carbon figures your tender's Carbon Reduction Plan needs
A tender has asked for a Carbon Reduction Plan or a net zero commitment, and you need real emissions figures to fill it in. You can have your Scope 1, 2 and 3 baseline ready today, with the working shown.
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01 · Overview
2025 to 2026 at a glance
Fernhill Studio Ltd · 12 people · Bristol
Total footprint
3.88 tCO₂e
Per employee
0.32 t
Measured data
74%
- Environmental policyIn place
- Code of conductIn place
- Diversity monitoringDeveloping
- Carbon reduction targetNext step
Sound familiar?
The tender says the Carbon Reduction Plan is pass or fail
We have never measured our emissions. If we get this part wrong, the rest of the bid does not matter.
We do not know which emissions to include
The guidance talks about Scope 1, Scope 2 and certain Scope 3 categories. We are not sure what any of that means for a firm our size.
Our CSR statement will not cut it
We have a page on our website about doing the right thing. The buyer wants actual numbers and a commitment signed by a director.
The submission deadline is already in the diary
Bid writing takes long enough. We need the carbon part sorted quickly, without paying a consultant for weeks of work.
When does a tender need a Carbon Reduction Plan?
If you are bidding for a central government contract worth more than £5 million a year including VAT, you will usually need a Carbon Reduction Plan. Under PPN 006, it is a pass or fail condition of participation for procurements started on or after 24 February 2025. Procurements that began before that date still follow PPN 06/21.
The plan has to include a commitment to net zero by 2050, your Scope 1 and 2 emissions, a defined set of Scope 3 emissions, and the environmental management measures you have in place. It must be published on your UK website, signed off by a director and updated at least once a year. A CSR statement is not accepted instead.
Smaller contracts can still include carbon questions, so check each tender pack. If a buyer asks its own sustainability or net zero questions, the same figures help you answer them.
What figures does a Carbon Reduction Plan need?
You need emissions in tonnes of CO2e for a reporting period that ended no more than 18 months before the tender notice. The Scope 3 subset in the Technical Standard is upstream transportation and distribution, waste generated in operations, business travel, employee commuting, and downstream transportation and distribution.
ESG Now calculates Scope 1 heating fuels, company vehicles, plant fuel and refrigerant leakage, Scope 2 electricity and EV charging, and Scope 3 waste, water, courier deliveries, business travel and estimates of commuting and homeworking. It uses the GHG Protocol and the UK government’s conversion factors, and the appendix shows every calculation. That gives you a solid, checkable core for the plan.
Some transport is not covered: inbound freight delivered by suppliers at their cost, and downstream transport and distribution paid for by your customers. If they apply to you, you will need to add them separately.
What ESG Now does, and what you still do
ESG Now does not generate a PPN 006 Carbon Reduction Plan document. It gives you the carbon footprint, baseline, and figures you need to complete the official CRP template, which is published as Annex A to the PPN.
In practice the job splits like this. The questionnaire gives you your baseline emissions by scope and source, your reporting period and a prioritised action plan. You then copy those figures into the template, add the categories not covered, write your reduction targets and net zero commitment, get a director to sign it and publish it on your website. Our carbon reduction plan template guide walks through each section with a worked example, and the PPN 006 explainer covers the rules in more detail.
The rest of the sustainability section
A tender may also ask about social value and wider sustainability: your policies, how you treat staff, how you work with the local community. Your ESG report covers workforce practices, community involvement, policies and governance, so you have a single document to draw answers from. Our guide to social value for small suppliers shows how to make modest activity read well.
An office-based firm usually finishes the questionnaire in 20 to 30 minutes. Answers save as you go. Your first report is free. Start your report and get the carbon part of your bid off your list today.
How long will yours take?
Pick the option that sounds most like your business. You will see a realistic time, what to have nearby and a head start on the questions.
Your estimate
About 20 to 30 minutes
Around 50 questions, most of them multiple choice
Still comfortably under half an hour.
You will add your electricity and gas use, plus a quick estimate of your bins. If you do not have the exact figures, the questionnaire works them out from your floor area instead.
Handy to have nearby
- A recent electricity and gas bill (or your office size in square metres)
- How many general waste and recycling bins you have
- Headcount and a rough idea of business trains and flights
- How your team usually gets to work
Missing something? Estimates are fine, and you can come back to any answer later.
Office-based firms usually have clear, low-cost ways to cut their footprint. Your action plan will list them in order.
Start with this profileFirst report free. No card needed.
What you get at the end
Everything is generated from your answers the moment you finish. Download it, share it, and use it wherever someone asks about your ESG.
A shareable ESG report
A professional report covering environmental, social and governance, written in plain English. Ready for investors, customers, grant funders and tenders.
Your carbon footprint
Scope 1, 2 and 3 emissions in tCO₂e, calculated with official UK government conversion factors. Every calculation is shown, so anyone can check it.
A private action plan
Where to focus first, prioritised actions and the data gaps worth closing. This one is just for you and your team.
Honest, labelled figures
Every number is marked as measured or estimated, with the method and your answers in the appendix. Readers know exactly what they are looking at.
Helpful guides
- Public sector tendersCarbon Reduction Plans for SMEs: PPN 006 explainedPPN 006 asks bidders for major government contracts to publish a Carbon Reduction Plan. Here is what it must contain, what changed from PPN 06/21, and how a small supplier gets one ready.Read the guide →
- Public sector tendersCarbon reduction plan template and worked exampleThe official PPN 006 template, explained heading by heading, with a worked example showing realistic figures for a fictional small company.Read the guide →
- Public sector tendersWriting the sustainability section of a public sector tenderTender sustainability questions reward specific, measurable answers tied to the contract. Here is how to structure yours, with example wording a small supplier can adapt.Read the guide →
- Public sector tendersSocial value answers for small suppliersYou do not need a big budget to score well on social value. Here is how the PPN 002 Social Value Model works and what realistic commitments look like for a small supplier.Read the guide →
- Public sector tendersNet zero commitment statement for small businesses (with example)A good net zero commitment is short, honest and backed by a baseline and a few real actions. Here is what to include, with two example statements to adapt.Read the guide →
- Public sector tendersThe NHS Net Zero Supplier Roadmap: a guide for small suppliersThe NHS is asking more of its suppliers on carbon each year until 2030, and the biggest change for small firms arrives in April 2027. Here is every milestone in plain English and what to do at each stage.Read the guide →
Common questions
Does ESG Now produce a PPN 006 Carbon Reduction Plan?
No. ESG Now does not generate a PPN 006 Carbon Reduction Plan document. It gives you the carbon footprint, baseline, and figures you need to complete the official CRP template, which you then publish on your website and have signed off by a director.
Does PPN 006 apply to my tender?
PPN 006 applies to in-scope central government contracts worth more than £5 million a year including VAT, for procurements started on or after 24 February 2025. Older procurements still follow PPN 06/21. Other public buyers may ask their own sustainability questions, so check each tender pack.
Which Scope 3 categories does a Carbon Reduction Plan need?
The Technical Standard lists upstream transportation and distribution, waste generated in operations, business travel, employee commuting, and downstream transportation and distribution. ESG Now covers waste, business travel (flights, rail, staff mileage, taxis and hotels), an estimate of employee commuting, and courier deliveries your business pays for. Inbound freight paid for by suppliers and downstream transport paid for by customers need to be added separately.
How recent do the figures need to be?
Under PPN 006 the reporting period must end no more than 18 months before the tender notice, and the plan must be updated at least annually. Choose your most recent 12 months when you set your reporting period in the questionnaire.
Your first report is free.
Get your ESG report done today
Answer plain-English questions about how your business runs. You get your carbon footprint, a shareable ESG report and a clear list of next steps.
- First report free
- No card needed
- Saves as you go