If you have landed here, someone has probably asked you for a Carbon Reduction Plan as part of a government tender. This guide explains exactly what a PPN 006 Carbon Reduction Plan is, whether you need one, and the seven steps to build one that holds up to scrutiny.
The phrase "What is a PPN 006 Carbon Reduction Plan?" usually arrives in your inbox alongside a tender deadline. The short answer: it is a structured document, signed off by a director, that proves your business is measuring its carbon emissions and has a credible plan to reduce them — written in the format the UK government expects.
A professionally prepared PPN 006 Carbon Reduction Plan from a UK consultancy typically costs £1,695 to £4,195+VAT as a one-off fee for SMEs with 11–250 employees, depending on headcount. The Carbon Stamp's Procurement-Ready Package — which includes the signed Carbon Reduction Plan alongside a full Scope 1, 2 and 3 carbon footprint — starts at £1,695+VAT for businesses with 11–25 employees.
What Does PPN 006 Stand For?
PPN stands for Procurement Policy Note. Procurement Policy Notes are the rules issued by the UK government to public sector buyers about how to procure goods and services. PPN 006 was introduced in 2021 (originally as PPN 06/21, renamed under the Procurement Act 2023) and it sits inside that wider rulebook.
The rule itself is straightforward: any supplier bidding for a central government contract worth over £5 million per year must have a Carbon Reduction Plan in place. The CRP must be published on the supplier's website and submitted as part of the tender response. No CRP, no contract.
The requirement has since spread well beyond central government. Local authorities, NHS Trusts, housing associations, and large private sector supply chains have all adopted similar requirements — sometimes at lower contract thresholds. Even if you are not bidding directly for a £5 million government contract today, there is a strong chance this requirement is coming your way through a customer further up your supply chain.
For more detail on the underlying service offering, see our Carbon Reduction Plan service page.
What Is a Carbon Reduction Plan?
A Carbon Reduction Plan is a document that answers three questions: here is our carbon footprint, here are the targets we have set to reduce it, and here is how we are going to get there. It is the public, accountable version of your sustainability strategy.
It is not just a piece of paper. To pass procurement scrutiny it must be credible, structured according to the official template, and properly signed off at director level. The emissions inside it must be measured using the GHG Protocol Corporate Standard — the international methodology that buyers expect. Anything else, including spend-based estimates dressed up to look like real measurement, will be picked up by an experienced reviewer.
The measurement piece is where most businesses get stuck. If you have not yet measured your footprint, our carbon footprint assessment service walks you through Scope 1, Scope 2, and the five mandatory Scope 3 categories that PPN 006 requires.
Do You Actually Need One Right Now?
The trigger is almost always a tender. A buyer asks for a Carbon Reduction Plan as part of the qualification stage and you have a few weeks — sometimes a few days — to produce one. The requirement is often buried under headings like "Social Value", "Sustainability Requirements", or "Supplier Requirements", which is why it gets missed until the deadline is looming.
The first piece of advice is simple: check your tender documents early. Do not leave the CRP until 48 hours before submission. Rushing it risks getting it wrong, missing one of the mandatory Scope 3 categories, or resorting to cheap online generators that produce documents buyers are now actively rejecting.
You have three realistic routes:
- In-house: works if you have a sustainability lead with technical knowledge of the GHG Protocol and time to do the measurement properly.
- Consultant-led: the safest route if the contract value is significant and you have not built a CRP before.
- Software-supported: useful for ongoing measurement once you understand the methodology, less useful for a first compliant CRP from cold.
All three can work. What does not work is a £200 spend-based generator that produces a generic plan without measured emissions. Buyers are wise to it. If you want to talk through which route fits your situation, book a call before the tender deadline forces your hand.
What Goes Inside a PPN 006 Carbon Reduction Plan? (The 7 Steps)
A compliant CRP follows a defined structure. Below is the seven-step process we use at The Carbon Stamp to build CRPs that pass scrutiny first time. Each step maps to a specific section of the Annex A template that the government provides — skipping any one of them is a common rejection trigger.
| # | Step | What it means |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Collect Your Data | Measure your emissions across all three scopes in line with the GHG Protocol Corporate Standard. Scope 1 covers direct emissions (company vehicles, mains gas). Scope 2 covers purchased electricity. Scope 3 covers indirect emissions including business travel, employee commuting, and supply chain. PPN 006 mandates five specific Scope 3 categories — missing any one of them is a common rejection reason. |
| 2 | Calculate and Document | Convert all emissions into a standard unit: tonnes of CO2 equivalent (tCO2e). Clearly document how each figure was calculated, including the emission factors used (typically the latest DEFRA conversion factors). Transparency is a requirement, not a courtesy — buyers need to see your methodology to verify the numbers. |
| 3 | Set Your Targets | Commit to reducing your emissions over a five-year period, measured against a baseline year. Targets must be credible and specific — for example, "reduce Scope 1 and 2 emissions by 50% against a 2024 baseline by 2029". Vague commitments such as "we will try to reduce emissions where possible" will not pass scrutiny. |
| 4 | Define Your Initiatives | For each target, show how you will hit it: what actions you are taking, when, and what the expected carbon saving is. Specific and measurable beats generic every time. Examples include LED retrofit programmes, fleet electrification, renewable electricity contracts, and supplier engagement plans. |
| 5 | Complete the Annex A Template | The government provides an official template — Annex A — with sections A through G. You must use this structure. Writing your own document and hoping for the best is not compliant. Each section has a defined purpose and reviewers know exactly where to look for the information they need. |
| 6 | Director Sign-Off | The plan must be signed off by a director. The sign-off must include their full legal name, job title, and the date. This is a hard requirement. A signature without a job title, or a missing date, is enough on its own to fail the check. For higher-value contracts, an independent third-party review letter alongside the director sign-off can strengthen the submission. |
| 7 | Publish Publicly and Update Annually | Your CRP must be publicly available on your company website and the URL must be included in your tender response. You must also update it annually with current-year emissions data and progress against your targets. Both requirements are mandatory — not optional. A buyer will check the link. |
Pre-Submission Checklist
Before you submit your CRP with a tender response, walk through these four checks. If you cannot tick all four, your CRP is not ready.
Common Reasons CRPs Are Rejected
We see the same handful of issues sink CRPs again and again. If you are reviewing a draft, work through this list before you submit.
- Missing one or more of the five mandatory Scope 3 categories. The single most common cause of rejection.
- Emissions not reported in tCO2e. Reporting only kWh, litres of fuel, or spend figures is not sufficient.
- Calculation methodology not documented. Reviewers need to see the emission factors and the maths, not just the totals.
- Vague targets ("we will try to reduce emissions") rather than specific, measurable commitments over a five-year period.
- No director sign-off, or sign-off missing job title or date. A surprisingly common formatting error.
- CRP not publicly available on the company website at the point of submission, or the link in the tender response goes to a 404.
If you want a sense-check on a draft before it goes out, our Carbon Reduction Plan service includes a review against each of these rejection triggers. The full Technical Standard is published on GOV.UK if you want to read the original wording.
For a deeper, section-by-section walk through of the Annex A template, see our PPN 006 template guide. If you are an NHS supplier, the rules go further — read NHS Supplier Carbon Reduction Plan Requirements.
Frequently Asked Questions
Need a Carbon Reduction Plan that holds up to scrutiny?
Need a PPN 006 Carbon Reduction Plan to win UK public sector tenders? The Carbon Stamp delivers compliant, board-signed CRPs aligned to GHG Protocol and NHS Net Zero requirements.
