Writing the climate section of a tender

A strong tender climate answer makes specific, measurable, time-bound commitments for the contract itself, puts a number on them in tonnes of CO2e using the government conversion factors, and explains how you'll monitor and report progress. That's what the government's model social value question asks for, and evaluators score the quality of the plan, not the size of the promise.

Updated 19 October 2026 by the Carbon Recycling team. Figures use the official UK government conversion factors and are checked against the current gov.uk guidance.

First, work out which kind of question it is

Climate questions in tenders come in three kinds, and each needs a different answer:

Question type	How it's assessed	What to give
"Provide your Carbon Reduction Plan" or "confirm your net zero commitment"	Usually pass or fail. Under PPN 006, plans are not scored or compared	A plan in the required format, published on your website. See the PPN 006 guide
"Describe your approach to reducing environmental impact" or similar company-wide questions	Sometimes scored, sometimes for information	Your footprint, targets and main actions, briefly, with figures and dates
"What will you do on this contract to reduce emissions?"	Scored, often as part of social value	Contract-specific commitments, quantified, with a delivery plan

This post is about the third kind, which is where marks are won or lost. Central government uses the PPN 002 model for it, with at least 10% of the total score for social value; NHS tenders give at least 10% to net zero and social value. Our post on where carbon fits under PPN 002 explains the model.

What evaluators are told to look for

The government's model social value question asks for "the specific, measurable and time bound commitment(s)" you will make, in a method statement and project plan. Under the model, a response scores points only if it includes a specific, measurable and time-bound commitment, and it is also judged on:

how the commitment meets the award criteria;
how you'll involve staff, suppliers and others in delivering it;
whether you'll publish your commitments and performance;
a timed action plan, the metrics you'll use, how you'll gather the data, who is accountable, and how you'll improve.

The guide adds that evaluators assess the quality of the method and plan, and "volumes are not evaluated". Councils and private buyers set their own questions, but the same structure answers them well.

A structure that works

Starting point. One or two sentences: your current footprint, the period, the method and factor year, and a link to your Carbon Reduction Plan.
Contract emissions. What delivering this contract will use: vehicles, sites, energy, materials, waste. Estimate it in tonnes.
Commitments. Two or three specific actions, each with a date and a number.
Delivery plan. Who does what by when, and the data you'll collect.
Reporting. What you'll report to the buyer, how often, and in what unit.

A worked example

A cleaning company bidding for a multi-site contract expects its three diesel vans to cover about 40,000 miles a year between the buyer's sites. It commits to route planning that cuts those miles by 15% from month three. Using the 2026 government factor for an average diesel van of 0.41386 kg CO2e per mile:

Before: 40,000 miles × 0.41386 = 16.55 tCO2e a year
After: 34,000 miles × 0.41386 = 14.07 tCO2e a year
Saving: 2.48 tCO2e a year, plus the fuel cost

The commitment, as it might appear in the answer:

"From month three we will plan routes between your sites weekly, cutting contract van mileage by 15%, from about 40,000 to 34,000 miles a year. On the 2026 government conversion factors, that reduces contract emissions by about 2.48 tCO2e a year. Our operations manager owns the target. We will report monthly mileage and quarterly emissions to your contract manager, and review the routes each quarter."

It is modest, but it is specific, measurable, dated and owned, which is what the criteria reward. A larger commitment, such as switching the vans to electric, can be added as a second step with its own date.

Mistakes that lose marks

Pasting in your environmental policy instead of answering the question about this contract.
Commitments with no date or no number: "we will strive to minimise emissions".
Counting a green electricity tariff or offsets as cuts to the contract's emissions.
Promising more than you can deliver. Under PPN 002, every social value commitment must be written into the contract.
Going over the word limit, or leaving a criterion unanswered.

For the questions councils ask, see what councils ask suppliers about carbon. For standard questionnaires rather than scored tender questions, see our post on answering a customer carbon questionnaire.

How Carbon Recycling helps

The starting point and the numbers come from your data. Carbon Recycling turns fuel, mileage, bills and waste into tonnes of CO2e with the right year's government factors and produces the PPN 006 Carbon Reduction Plan that pass or fail questions ask for. Every entry shows its factor and emissions, so you can size a contract's vans and sites and quote the factor year in your answer. The free supplier questionnaire answer bank drafts the company-wide answers from your figures.

Frequently asked questions

How long should a tender climate answer be?

As long as the word limit allows and no longer. The government's model social value question sets a word limit chosen by the buyer, and evaluators score against published criteria, so cover every criterion briefly rather than writing at length about one.

What if we haven't measured our carbon footprint yet?

Say so, and commit to a date. For a scored question, a specific, dated plan to measure and reduce the contract's emissions is far stronger than general statements. If the tender requires a Carbon Reduction Plan as a condition of taking part, you'll need one before you submit.

Should we mention our ISO 14001 or other certifications?

Briefly, as evidence that you manage environmental impacts. But the government's guide to the Social Value Model says criteria based on general corporate policies must not be used to score social value, so the marks come from what you'll do on this contract.

Can we include offsetting in our answer?

Only clearly labelled and separate from your reductions. A Carbon Reduction Plan reports actual emissions, and offsets don't reduce them. Buyers want to see cuts in the emissions from delivering the contract.

Do NHS tenders score carbon?

Yes. Since April 2022, NHS tenders give at least 10% of the score to net zero and social value, and NHS suppliers also need a Carbon Reduction Plan or Net Zero Commitment depending on contract size.

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