Using the CO2 Performance Ladder in procurement is a relatively simple and effective way to reduce CO2 emissions from projects. But how do you convince your organisation to start using the Ladder in tenders? In this blog, we provide five tips that will help you demonstrate the added value of the CO2 Performance Ladder to your colleagues, managers and/or directors and communicate it convincingly.

When deciding to use the CO2 Performance Ladder in tenders, you should not rush into it. Working with the Ladder requires careful preliminary research, looking at what exactly the Ladder includes, what it means to use it in tenders and what benefits it brings. Last but not least, the use of the Ladder should be widely supported within your organisation.

It is therefore important to get as many people as possible in your organisation enthusiastic about using the CO2 Performance Ladder in tenders. This concerns both the people who decide whether your organisation will start working with the Ladder, such as directors and managers, and those who ultimately have to work with it, such as the procurement department.

These 5 tips can help you

But how do you convince people within your organisation of the added value of using the Ladder in procurement? These five tips can help.

Tip 1: Link the CO2 Performance Ladder to your organisation’s climate goals

Every public organisation is required under national and international climate policy to set targets for, among other things, reducing greenhouse gas emissions. Tenders are often a good way to make a big impact with CO2 reduction. This can be done, for example, by using sustainable materials or taking energy-saving measures when carrying out a project.

By using the CO2 Performance Ladder as an award criterion for the ‘most economically advantageous tender’ (MEAT), you can ensure that the project is carried out with as little negative environmental impact as possible. Thus, using the Ladder contributes to achieving your climate goals.

Tip 2: Emphasise the accessibility of using the CO2 Performance Ladder

Yet another tool to use? That will cost us even more work. This is an argument you may recognise when your organisation wants to introduce something new. Of course, working with the CO2 Performance Ladder requires research, such as reading the Procurement Guide.

But implementing the instrument is relatively simple and takes little time. The main advantage is that you do not have to work out in detail which CO2 reduction requirements a project and the contractor have to meet. After all, those requirements are already included in the levels of certification.

In addition, you do not have to check whether tendering parties meet the requirements and criteria of their certification level. This is because it is audited externally by a Certifying Body (CB). You only need to check whether this external assessment has successfully taken place by receiving a valid CO2 Performance Ladder certificate or project statement from the contractor within a specified period.

Tip 3: Overcome legal and financial counterarguments

Using a tool like the CO2 Performance Ladder in tenders also raises a number of legal and financial questions. For example, does it comply with the European procurement directives? And how much money will it cost us? After all, some will point out the choice to include the Ladder as a MEAT award criterion may result in the award not going to the cheapest, but to a more expensive (and better quality) bid.

The legal argument is easy to refute. By using the Ladder in the way we prescribe, you comply with the applicable (national and European) procurement directives. Read more about legislation relating to procurement here. 

Overcoming the financial argument is a little more complex. In the short-term, it may be the case that a more sustainable bid is more expensive up front, but in the longer term that is likely not the case. What’s more, tendering with the Ladder does not automatically have to lead to higher costs. In many cases, (energy) saving measures also yield cost benefits. Experience from the Netherlands and Belgium show that bids on Ladder procurements are not more expensive than other comparable ones. More fundamentally, if your organisation has ambitions in the area of CO₂ reduction, you can make the argument that extra expenditure upfront, is more than balanced out by the benefits of contributing to wider social value and climate goals. After all, in the longer-term it is a lot more expensive to not tackle climate change.

Tip 4: Show that the CO2 Performance Ladder has proven value

The CO2 Performance Ladder has been used as a procurement tool for more than fifteen years. Over three hundred contracting authorities in the Netherlands and Belgium now use the Ladder as an award criterion in tenders. Ranging from national governments, provinces and municipalities to public implementing organisations, safety regions and water boards. The use of the Ladder is also starting to take off in other European countries.

The use of the CO2 Performance Ladder in tenders gives the market a boost to get certified on the Ladder. When companies see that their CO2 reduction ambitions are rewarded in a tender, they have an incentive to get certified. Scientific research by CE Delft has shown that using the CO2 Performance Ladder leads to real CO2 reduction. 

Tip 5: Organise an internal presentation

Of course you’ll want to convey your enthusiasm for getting started with the Ladder and all the arguments for doing so, as effectively as possible to to your colleagues, manager and/or director. The best way to do this is to organise a meeting for all the people in your organisation for whom the tool is relevant.

Through a presentation, you can show what exactly the CO2 Performance Ladder is, how the tool can be used in tenders and what benefits it provides. Such a meeting also provides an opportunity for stakeholders to ask questions and share concerns. On our website, you will find lots of content that can help you, like this presentation.

What can also be very helpful in such a presentation is to invite someone from a contracting authority that already works with the Ladder. This person can share experiences, show the added value, answer questions and clear up any misconceptions.

This is how you convince your organisation

Convincing your colleagues, manager and/or director to apply the Ladder in tenders is therefore mainly a matter of gathering powerful arguments and communicating these clearly within your organisation. Can we help you with this? Then get in touch!