Most guidance on Carbon Reduction Plans explains the rules. This post shows a filled one. The company is Northgate Civils Ltd, a fictional civil engineering contractor in West Yorkshire that we use as demo data. Its figures below are not invented for the article: they are what MetricOra calculated and published from the demo company's 83 approved activity records for FY2025, using the DEFRA 2025 conversion factors. Treat every number here as an illustration, not a benchmark.
For the rules behind each section, read PPN 006 Carbon Reduction Plans: what bidders need.
1. Supplier and scope of the plan
Supplier name: Northgate Civils Ltd (company number 09876543)
Publication date: 25 September 2026, published at our website's Carbon Reduction Plan page
About us: Civil engineering contractor working on highways and utilities schemes across West Yorkshire.
Boundary: Operational control. Head office in Wakefield, the Leeds depot, the Sheffield batching plant and all UK sites, including the A61 corridor works and York Road bridge.
Why it matters: an evaluator checks that the plan covers the same legal entity that is bidding. Give the company number and say which sites are in and out. If anything inside the boundary is excluded, name it and give the reason.
2. Commitment to achieving net zero
Northgate Civils Ltd is committed to achieving net zero emissions by 2045.
PPN 006 requires net zero by 2050 at the latest. An earlier year is allowed, but only commit to a year your board has actually agreed.
3. Baseline emissions footprint
Baseline year: FY2024 (1 January to 31 December 2024)
Why this year: FY2024 is the first year with complete metered energy, fuel receipts and waste tickets for every site.
| Emissions | FY2024 baseline (tCO2e) |
|---|---|
| Scope 1 | 1,009.1 |
| Scope 2 (location-based) | 171.8 |
| Scope 3 | 4,184.0 |
| Total | 5,364.9 |
The rationale is the part most plans skip. A baseline chosen because the data is complete is easy to defend. A baseline chosen because it was a high-emission year is not.
4. Current emissions reporting
Reporting year: FY2025 (1 January to 31 December 2025)
| Emissions | FY2025 (tCO2e) | Change on baseline |
|---|---|---|
| Scope 1 | 910.6 | -9.8% |
| Scope 2 (location-based) | 154.6 | -10.0% |
| Scope 3 | 3,644.9 | -12.9% |
| Total | 4,710.1 | -12.2% |
The Scope 3 total above includes every category the company measures. PPN 006 asks for five categories specifically, so the plan lists them one by one:
| Scope 3 category | FY2025 (tCO2e) | Status |
|---|---|---|
| 4. Upstream transportation and distribution | Not reported | Not yet measured: deliveries are paid for by suppliers; haulage data is being collected from our three main suppliers for FY2026. |
| 5. Waste generated in operations | 5.1 | Reported |
| 6. Business travel | 9.9 | Reported |
| 7. Employee commuting | 36.7 | Reported |
| 9. Downstream transportation and distribution | Not reported | Not relevant: we build on clients' land and do not transport sold products. |
A blank row with no explanation is the most common weakness an evaluator finds. "Not yet measured" is acceptable when it says what you are doing about it and by when. Category 4 is often missing for contractors because suppliers arrange delivery. Our post on why Scope 3 figures disagree explains why these estimates vary so much between methods.
The waste figure comes from waste transfer notes: tonnes by waste type and disposal route, multiplied by the DEFRA factor for that route. See from waste ticket to reported tonne for the steps.
5. Emissions reduction targets
We will reduce Scope 1 and 2 emissions by 50% by 2030 against the FY2024 baseline, on the way to net zero by 2045. These targets have not been validated by the Science Based Targets initiative.
Say which scopes a target covers. "50% by 2030" without a scope is ambiguous, and a reader will assume the most flattering reading is the wrong one. Only claim SBTi validation if you have it.
6. Carbon reduction projects
Completed
| Measure | Year | Estimated saving |
|---|---|---|
| HVO in all excavators and generators | 2025 | 180 tCO2e a year |
Planned
| Measure | Year |
|---|---|
| Battery plant on urban sites | 2027 |
A saving should be the company's own estimate from its records, not a supplier's marketing figure. If HVO is part of the plan, keep the fuel receipts that show the product and the blend. DEFRA reports the biogenic CO2 from HVO outside the scopes, so it does not appear in the totals above. Our post on plant idling, fuel and carbon covers how to evidence plant measures.
7. Declaration and sign-off
This Carbon Reduction Plan has been completed in accordance with PPN 006 and associated guidance and reporting standard for Carbon Reduction Plans.
Emissions have been reported and recorded in accordance with the published reporting standard for Carbon Reduction Plans and the GHG Reporting Protocol corporate standard, and use the appropriate Government emission conversion factors for greenhouse gas company reporting.
Scope 1 and Scope 2 emissions have been reported in accordance with SECR requirements, and the required subset of Scope 3 emissions have been reported in accordance with the published reporting standard for Carbon Reduction Plans and the Corporate Value Chain (Scope 3) Standard.
This Carbon Reduction Plan has been reviewed and signed off by the board of directors (or equivalent management body).
Signed: Sam Hartley, Managing Director, 25 September 2026
The director signs a statement about method. Before signing, they should be able to see where each figure came from. If the same company also files SECR, the Scope 1 and 2 figures in both documents should match. Our SECR guide for contractors covers the energy side.
What an evaluator checks
Using the example above, these are the questions a plan should answer without a follow-up email:
- Is the supplier named, with the company number, and is the boundary clear?
- Is the net zero year 2050 or earlier?
- Is there a baseline year with a reason, and figures for Scope 1, 2 and 3?
- Are all five required Scope 3 categories either reported or explained?
- Do the targets say which scopes they cover?
- Are there completed and planned measures?
- Has a director signed and dated it, and is the plan published on the supplier's website?
How this example was produced
The plan above was built in MetricOra's guided Carbon Reduction Plan, which reads the published figures for the period and checks each section before the PDF can be generated. You can start your own plan on a 30-day trial, or read how it fits into bids on the public sector page.