Why does it matter?
Achieving net zero is widely recognised as essential to limiting global warming to 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels, the threshold beyond which climate scientists warn of severe and irreversible environmental consequences. The UK was the first major economy to enshrine a net zero target in law, committing to achieve net zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050 through an amendment to the Climate Change Act 2008. For businesses, net zero has moved from an aspirational goal to a commercial and regulatory requirement, with direct implications for procurement eligibility, investor confidence, and stakeholder expectations.
Key details
Net zero vs carbon neutral
Net zero and carbon neutrality are sometimes used interchangeably, but they are distinct concepts. Carbon neutrality typically involves compensating for current emissions through offsetting (such as purchasing carbon credits) without necessarily reducing emissions at source. Net zero, by contrast, requires deep reductions in actual emissions (typically 90% or more) as the primary approach, with offsetting or carbon removal used only for residual emissions that cannot be eliminated. Net zero is therefore a far more ambitious and science-aligned target.
The science behind net zero
The scientific basis for net zero comes from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), which has established that global CO2 emissions must reach net zero by around 2050 to have a reasonable chance of limiting warming to 1.5°C. This requires rapid decarbonisation across all sectors of the economy.
How organisations pursue net zero
A credible net zero strategy typically involves measuring current emissions across all scopes (Scope 1, 2, and 3), setting science-based reduction targets aligned with a 1.5°C pathway, implementing measures to reduce emissions across operations, supply chains, and products, and addressing residual emissions through high-quality carbon removal. The Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi) provides a widely used framework for validating corporate net zero targets.
UK & public sector context
The UK's legally binding net zero 2050 target has profound implications for public procurement. Since September 2021, suppliers bidding for central government contracts worth £5 million or more per year have been required to publish a Carbon Reduction Plan (CRP) demonstrating their commitment to net zero, as mandated by PPN 06/21 (now updated as PPN 006 under the Procurement Act 2023). Failure to provide a compliant CRP results in automatic exclusion from the procurement process.
Beyond procurement, the UK government has set a series of interim carbon budgets that legally constrain emissions over successive five-year periods, and expects its supply chain to contribute to meeting these targets. For any organisation working with the public sector, a credible, measurable pathway to net zero is no longer optional.