Strategic Carbon Reduction Plans for Sustainable Emissions Management

A Carbon Reduction plan sets out an organisations carbon footprint and identifies the commitment to reduce this to net zero by 2050 at the latest. The carbon footprint should be presented for all three Scopes and detail the organisation’s emissions across a single year accounting for all greenhouse gases. The plan should then present the proposed annual reduction in emissions, plotting a trajectory to net zero.

More holistic plans identify interventions that an organisation can make that supports the projected emissions reduction. These will include a range of technological and behavioural changes, that will result in an estimated emissions reduction in tonnes of CO2 equivalence. This enables organisations to plan for change, and identify where the biggest gains can be made, moving quicker towards becoming carbon neutral.

Carbon Reduction Planning can be an effective way of communicating your commitment to reducing emissions. The plan can be clearly aligned to national, local and market driven timescales that demonstrate synergies between supply chains. On a practical level, the plan clearly identifies annual targets and key actions to be taken in order to meet emission reduction requirements, guiding sustainable business practices. Publicising a Carbon Reduction Plan demonstrates to stakeholders that an organisation is proactively working to reduce environmental liabilities as part of a wider corporate social responsibility initiative.

Carbon Reduction Plans are increasingly becoming an important element in public contracts tendering. Since the issue of Procurement Policy Note 06/21, any public contract with a minimum value of £5million can take Carbon Reduction Plans into the framework for tender evaluation and award. Supply chains are extending this reach as organisations seek to understand emissions across all Scopes, thereby requiring contractors to provide robust emissions data.