5 Questions That Cost You Marks In Tender Carbon Answers

Carbon answers in UK public sector tenders are now scored, and vague wording is the quickest way to lose marks on them. Since PPN 06/21, suppliers bidding for major government contracts must submit a Carbon Reduction Plan, and buyers across councils, the NHS, housing associations and universities increasingly ask about carbon even where the rule does not strictly apply.

For SMEs, the problem is rarely a lack of effort. It is that carbon questions get answered last, in a hurry, with the same generic sentences every bidder uses. Evaluators read dozens of those answers and have nothing in them to score against.

Here are five phrases that keep appearing in weak responses, why they fail, and what to write instead.

The five phrases to cut

1. "We are committed to sustainability."

Commitment is a claim, not evidence. An evaluator cannot award marks for an intention, and every other bidder has written the same sentence.

Write instead: "We have measured our Scope 1 and 2 emissions since 2023 and reduced them by 18%."

2. "We aim to be net zero as soon as possible."

Without a date there is no target, and without a baseline there is nothing to measure progress against.

Write instead: "We are targeting net zero by 2040, with a 42% reduction by 2030 against our 2023 baseline."

3. "We take our environmental responsibilities seriously."

This tells the evaluator how you feel, not what you have done. It is also impossible to verify.

Write instead: "Our Carbon Reduction Plan is published on our website and approved by our Managing Director."

4. "We use energy-efficient practices."

Which practices, and what difference did they make? A general statement invites the evaluator to assume the answer is "not many".

Write instead: "We moved to a 100% renewable electricity tariff and replaced diesel vans with electric vehicles, saving 12 tCO2e a year."

5. "We will reduce our carbon footprint where possible."

"Where possible" is an escape clause built into the promise. It signals that you have not decided what you will actually do.

Write instead: "We will cut business travel emissions by 25% by 2027 by switching to rail and video calls."

The figures above are illustrative. Use your own numbers, and never copy a claim you cannot evidence.

What strong answers have in common

Strong carbon answers contain numbers, dates and evidence. Weak ones contain intentions.

Before you submit, check each carbon answer against four questions:

•      What is measured? Name the scopes you have calculated and the year you used as your baseline.

•      What is the target? Give a reduction figure and a date, not a direction of travel.

•      What have you already done? Past actions with results carry more weight than future promises.

•      Where is the proof? Point to a published Carbon Reduction Plan, a certificate, a tariff or a dataset the evaluator can check.

If you cannot answer one of these, that is the real gap to fix, and it is much easier to fix before a deadline than during one.

Start your next bid with a structure

Writing good carbon answers is much easier when you are not starting from a blank page. We have put together a free Tender Response Template Pack with answer structures for the carbon and net zero questions that come up most often in UK public sector tenders. Each template is written for the people who actually draft bids, so you do not need to be a carbon specialist to use it.

If you are bidding this quarter and want to know whether your carbon data is ready, Combatting Carbon helps SMEs measure their emissions and produce the evidence tenders ask for.