New measures enforced to help meet Net Zero requirements

The UK Government is determined to intensify the industry’s efforts to meet the 2050 Net Zero targets

New measures require businesses to commit to Net Zero by 2050 and publish clear and credible carbon reduction plans before they can bid for major government contracts according to a recent government report.

The rules will support the government’s plan to build back greener by ensuring that potential government suppliers will have to publish plans to reduce carbon emissions across their operations if they want for major government contracts.

The measures were announced back in June, on World Environment Day, and make the UK government the first in the world to put this requirement in place.

In the press release, Lord Agnew said “Requiring companies to report and commit to reducing their carbon emissions before bidding for public work is a key part of our world leading approach.

“These measures will help green our economy, while not overly burdening businesses, particularly SMEs,” he said.

A carbon reduction plan sets out where an organisation’s emissions come from and the environmental management measures that they have in place. Some large companies already self-report parts of their Scope 1 and Scope 2 emissions.

The new rules take this one step further by requiring the reporting of some Scope 3 emissions, including business travel, employee commuting, transportation, distribution and waste. Scope 3 emissions represent a significant proportion of an organisation’s carbon footprint.