Establish an enabling environment
Build support and capabilities
Open data & measuring progress
Resources
<aside> <img src="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/secure.notion-static.com/be592384-8d76-44a0-8696-1bdc7be9cb38/Icons_Light_Green5.png" alt="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/secure.notion-static.com/be592384-8d76-44a0-8696-1bdc7be9cb38/Icons_Light_Green5.png" width="40px" /> In this section we explain how you can use data to measure and monitor progress against the goal of promoting carbon reduction through procurement.
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Governments and companies are setting deadlines for achieving zero emissions. Public procurement can be used as a lever to drive change by promoting lower carbon alternatives into government supply chains.
This worked example describes how using good procurement data and combining it with emissions data, it is possible to help communicate not only the likely emissions from contracting activities, but also the potential savings that can be expected from demanding lower carbon alternatives.
Carbon emissions reduction is at the center of the fight against climate change. This example provides a methodology to estimate the carbon intensity of public contracts, allowing you to adopt approaches to reduce CO2 emissions from procurement.
Publishing good data on carbon emissions has multiple positive effects for those seeking to address their carbon emissions:
<aside> <img src="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/secure.notion-static.com/be592384-8d76-44a0-8696-1bdc7be9cb38/Icons_Light_Green5.png" alt="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/secure.notion-static.com/be592384-8d76-44a0-8696-1bdc7be9cb38/Icons_Light_Green5.png" width="40px" /> Use the data to plan and implement immediate, direct action to reduce carbon emissions from procurement.
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<aside> <img src="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/secure.notion-static.com/be592384-8d76-44a0-8696-1bdc7be9cb38/Icons_Light_Green5.png" alt="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/secure.notion-static.com/be592384-8d76-44a0-8696-1bdc7be9cb38/Icons_Light_Green5.png" width="40px" /> Reward suppliers that are committed to reducing carbon intensity in their goods, works, services and supply chain.
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<aside> <img src="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/secure.notion-static.com/be592384-8d76-44a0-8696-1bdc7be9cb38/Icons_Light_Green5.png" alt="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/secure.notion-static.com/be592384-8d76-44a0-8696-1bdc7be9cb38/Icons_Light_Green5.png" width="40px" /> Publication and analysis of good data will unlock learning and iteration on what policies and processes work to reduce carbon intensity. You can’t manage what you can’t measure.
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The immediate priorities for carbon reduction include carbon outputs and other greenhouse gas emissions such as methane and hazardous emissions such as nitrogen oxides. Beyond this, other metrics around carbon reduction include compliance to certification and measurement of plastic waste.
Click through to the following sections to find out more about how to get started:
There are a number of different options available to those looking to link procurement data to carbon. These can range from simply identifying a contract opportunity as ‘suitable for low carbon alternatives’ through to requiring detailed information on the amount of carbon saved during a contract.
Below we outline how teams can start to implement these initiatives:
At the beginning of this section, we introduced ten different ways in which you can use data to drive and measure sustainability in your procurement. From these options, we have selected four which can be especially useful for measuring carbon reduction:
Encouraging suppliers to detail how they will reduce the carbon emissions associated with their contract.
Estimating carbon values for contracts is a good way to project cumulative emissions and the possible effect of changing procurement strategies. It can help buyers to focus their efforts on the categories with the highest impact. This can also help buyers to set carbon “budgets”, ensuring that suppliers must adhere to a specified amount of emissions during the contract. The data can be used to inform suppliers of this requirement, but also to undertake cumulative analysis of contracting initiatives across government. This approach is best used in a single, well measured category such as energy.
Public buyers can provide information on carbon emissions during, or at the conclusion of a contract. A number of industries such as travel and construction have standardized measures for their emissions and these can be included in any contract performance update. As work is underway to create a binding treaty on plastic waste, these approaches can also be taken to measure use of plastic, specially in sectors that are skewed towards heavy usage such as construction and medicines/medical equipment.
You can use certifications such as Environmental Product Declarations (EPD) to gather information on carbon emissions associated with a product. You can also request the use of other environmental certifications (e.g. Type I ecolabels) and assess their impact by contrasting forecasting and contract implementation data.
Below are some simple low code and no code options that can help governments to measure the uptake of policies and the likely reductions that are being secured through specifying low carbon products and services. It is also a great way to communicate that you are taking action on climate more generally.
You can use public reporting to:
Some of these are more complicated than others. Even if you don’t have a reliable pipeline of data on CO2 emissions and public contracts, you can still communicate this data to address policy commitments and put provisions in specific higher impact contracts to encourage innovation by suppliers. It is important to start with the most simple data features and ensure that you have a robust, repeatable process for publishing data on emissions. For guidance on how to do this, earlier in the toolkit, we introduced an M&E Framework for measuring progress against sustainability goals. Below are some examples of possible outcomes and indicators to track:
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| GOALS | OUTCOMES | INDICATORS | INFORMATION NEEDS | CALCULATION METHOD | OPTIONS FOR RECORDING THE DATA YOU NEED |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Reducing carbon emissions | Promoting low carbon practices in public contracts | Share of tenders which comply with low carbon SPP policies | - Number of tenders that company with low carbon policy |
Total number of tenders | Compliant tenders / Total number of tenders | See Option 5: Request sustainability suggestions | | Reducing carbon emissions | Promoting low carbon practices in public contracts | Share of tenders which include a carbon budget | - Number of tenders which include a carbon budget within specifications
Total number of tenders | Contracts which include a carbon budget / Total number of tenders | See Option 4: Forecast contract impact | | Reducing carbon emissions | Promoting low carbon practices in public contracts | Share of tenders which reference CO2 emissions within scoring of tender (award criteria) | - Number of tenders which reference CO2 emissions within the award criteria
Total number of tenders | Tenders which reference to CO2 emissions / Total number of tenders | See Option 5: Request sustainability suggestions | | Reducing carbon emissions | Reducing carbon value associated with public contracts | Tonnes of Co2 associated with public contracts | - CO2 estimate of goods purchased
Amount of units purchased | CO2 estimates X Amount of units | See Option 4: Forecast contract impact | | Reducing carbon emissions | Reducing carbon value associated with public contracts | Tonnes of Co2 saved through SPP implementation | - Projected CO2 before including SPP specifications
Actual emissions after including SPP specifications and monitoring results | Projected emissions - Actual emissions | See Option 5: Request sustainability suggestions
See Option 7: Monitor contract performance | | Reducing carbon emissions | Reducing carbon value associated with public contracts | Contribution to National Targets through SPP | - Alignment with National Targets (e.g. how reduction of emissions in public procurement is contributing to national net zero targets)
See Option 7: Monitor contract performance | | Reducing carbon emissions | Reducing carbon value associated with public contracts | Number of contracts prioritized for SPP implementation for being high-emitting contracts | - Prioritized contracts
Total number of contracts | Prioritized contracts / Total number of contracts | See Option 4: Forecast contract impact | | Reducing carbon emissions | Promoting low carbon suppliers | Share of tenders which reference environmental certifications within specifications | - Number of tenders which reference environmental certifications within specifications
Total number of tenders | Tenders with reference to environmental certifications within specifications / Total number of tenders | See Option 1: Assign tags to procurements
See Option 5: Request sustainability suggestions
See Option 6: Measure use of certifications | | Reducing carbon emissions | Promoting low carbon suppliers | Share of tenders which reference environmental certifications within scoring (award criteria) | - Number of tenders which reference environmental certifications within scoring of tender
See Option 5: Request sustainability suggestions
See Option 6: Measure use of certifications | | Reducing carbon emissions | Promoting low carbon suppliers | Number of suppliers which meet low carbon (e.g. environmental certifications) criteria set in tender documents | - Number of suppliers which meet low carbon criteria
Total number of suppliers | Number of suppliers which meet low carbon criteria / Total number of suppliers | See Option 6: Measure use of certifications | | Reducing carbon emissions | Reducing the purchase of carbon intensive products | Tonnes of CO2 associated with concrete used in public procurement projects | - CO2 estimate of concrete
Tonnes of concrete purchased | CO2 estimates X Tonnes of concrete | See Option 4: Forecast contract impact | | Reducing carbon emissions | Reducing the purchase of carbon intensive products | Tonnes of CO2 associated with the use of steel in public procurement projects | - CO2 estimate of steel
Tonnes of concrete purchased | CO2 estimates X Tonnes of steel | See Option 4: Forecast contract impact |
Through insights gained from the data, buyers can use this to mandate carbon reductions in procurement, while suppliers can use the data to improve their own supply chains and working practices in an effort to reduce emissions.