CDR REQUIREMENTS IN PUBLIC TENDERS

Governments use public contracts to advance environmental goals, for example by requiring cleaner construction or less material waste. Under this lever, the buyer requires the contractor to deliver a specified quantity of verified carbon removals as part of supplying goods, services or works. The quantity can be fixed or linked to emissions remaining after reductions. Contractors can fulfil it through qualifying removals within the project or its supply chain, external purchases, or a combination. The obligation concerns the contract being delivered; it does not require the bidding company to be net zero. Green procurement criteria assess the environmental performance of the goods, services or works being bought. This lever adds a separately specified removal-delivery obligation to the contract, which may also be met through external removal purchases.

The buyer should define the contract activities covered, the required quantity and whether it changes with actual emissions. Rules must distinguish removals from avoided emissions, specify storage duration and address releases after the contract ends. Carbon stored in construction materials should qualify only where additional net removal is demonstrated, accounting for lifecycle emissions. Compliance calculations must not count the same tonne twice through a product footprint and a separate credit. Terms should identify who may claim the removals and require retirement where credits are used. Requirements must be lawful, proportionate and achievable with available supply.

Public purchasing can create business for removal providers and suppliers that incorporate removals into construction materials or other goods. Allowing different delivery routes lets bidders choose how to meet the requirement at a competitive cost. Repeated tenders can encourage investment in qualifying products and help contractors build experience with CDR. Where quantities follow actual emissions, reducing the contract’s footprint also lowers its removal obligation. Common rules can make that demand easier for suppliers to anticipate.

Poorly specified requirements could count emissions reductions as removals, overstate carbon stored in products or double-count the same tonne. Stored carbon may later be released, including when buildings are demolished. Suppliers may favour removals over feasible emissions cuts. Unavailable supply, costly verification or restrictive specifications can inflate bids and exclude smaller firms. Requirements unrelated to the contract may face legal challenge, while weak enforcement can leave promised removals undelivered.

Contract managers should check emissions reductions and verified removals separately, recording delivery route, net quantity, storage duration and any credit retirement. They should also monitor prices, bidder participation and failures to deliver. Product storage needs follow-up arrangements beyond handover. These findings should guide future requirements and trigger replacement or other remedies when contracted outcomes are lost.

Procurement teams and lawyers should establish enforceable terms. Contractors, material suppliers and removal providers can test delivery options, costs and evidence requirements before tendering. Independent verifiers should help align accounting across routes. Smaller suppliers can identify participation barriers, while building owners and affected communities can inform storage responsibilities, end-of-life arrangements and safeguards.

Public contracting bodies at these levels can introduce requirements within their purchasing powers. Central procurement authorities can establish common clauses, while individual buyers manage delivery. International public institutions can apply conditions to their own procurement or to financed procurement where their funding agreements provide that authority. Companies and foundations can adopt similar conditions in private purchasing, but do not set public tender requirements in that capacity.