By using the CO₂ Performance Ladder as a Best Price-Quality Ratio (BPQR) award criterion in a tender, you encourage CO₂ reduction during the delivery of the project. From January 2027 it will be mandatory to use version 4.0 of the CO₂ Performance Ladder in procurement. In this blog you can read how procurement with the Ladder works and the four steps to implement the Ladder. In addition, Rijkswaterstaat (the Dutch agency for roads and waterways) shares tips for using the Ladder as a procurement instrument.
Activities carried out as a result of procurement accounts for 15 per cent of global CO₂ emissions. The emissions released during the delivery of public procurement are many times higher than the emissions governments produce within their own organisations. By encouraging contractors to reduce their emissions and rewarding this in a contract, you as a contracting authority can make a big impact and contribute to achieving the Paris Climate Agreement goals.
Using the CO₂ Performance Ladder as a BPQR award criterion is one of the ways to do this. Research by Utrecht University has shown that construction projects procured with the Ladder emitted considerably less CO₂. The reduction was particularly large when a project was awarded to a party certified at the highest Level 5 – in version 3.1 – of the Ladder.
More than 300 contracting authorities in the Netherlands, Belgium and other European countries currently use the CO₂ Performance Ladder as a procurement instrument. By using the Ladder in procurement, you encourage the market to get moving and reward frontrunners for their extra emissions reduction efforts.
Compared with version 3.1, little has changed in version 4.0 in terms of how the Ladder is used in procurement. The main difference is the move from five Levels to three Steps. This means companies can now register at three CO₂ ambition levels – each with an associated award advantage – rather than five.
From January 2027, contracting authorities are required to use version 4.0 in a procurement with the Ladder. Until then you may already use 4.0 in a procurement, but only if the market is ready for it. In concrete terms, this means that a large proportion of the companies in the sector are already certified to version 4.0 or are in the process of obtaining certification to this version.
You can read more about the transition arrangement for procurement with version 4.0 in this article.
To support contracting authorities in using the Ladder as an award criterion, SKAO has published the Procurement Guide. Among other things, this document contains a concrete step-by-step plan, sample texts for tender documents & contracts, and an explanation of the CO₂ ambition levels that allow tenderers to distinguish themselves.
Here is how to use the CO₂ Performance Ladder 4.0 award criterion in a procurement in four steps:
The first step is to include the CO₂ Performance Ladder as a BPQR award criterion in your tender documents. In the text you state, among other things, the three CO₂ ambition levels together with the related set, such as gaining insight into energy consumption and emissions.
For each CO₂ ambition level you make clear what advantage the tendering party enjoys. This could be, for example, a notional discount on the tender price or points. As a contracting authority you are free to choose which method you use and how high the award advantage is.
You also state in the tender documents how the tendering party can demonstrate that it meets the requirements (with a project statement or a CO₂ Performance Ladder certificate), the period within which that proof must be provided (usually one year) and the sanction if the performing party does not meet the agreed CO₂ ambition level within the set period (usually a fine).
“By using the CO₂ Performance Ladder as an award criterion, you reward organisations based on their ambitions and the impact they make. If you set a Ladder certificate only as a requirement, there is a strong chance that organisations will remain at Step 1. Using the Ladder as an award criteria rewards organisations that achieve even more impact.”
Thijs Wentink, Project Officer Procurement SKAO
The next step is for companies to submit their bids. In doing so, they indicate at which CO₂ ambition level they want to carry out the project or contract, and how they intend to demonstrate their compliance. This can be done in two ways:
When registering, a party indicates which independent certification body will carry out the audit. At the time of registration, a company does not yet need to hold a CO₂ Performance Ladder certificate.
NB: Companies are not obliged to register at a CO₂ ambition level.
Once you have received all tenders, you assess them on the basis of price, the CO₂ Performance Ladder award criterion and any additional criteria. This produces a best price-quality ratio. At the moment of award, the period begins within which the contractor must demonstrate that it meets the agreed CO₂ ambition level.
The final step is for the contractor to carry out the project at the agreed CO₂ ambition level. Via the project overview in My CO₂ Performance Ladder, the contractor gives the client insight into the project plan, the measures, the CO₂ and energy footprint and the progress of the project. These insights in turn form the basis for conversations about possible opportunities and how to seize them.
Read more about procurement with the CO₂ Performance Ladder 4.0 award criterion in four steps.
“When you procure with the Ladder for the first time, I recommend doing so step by step. Start with a selection of projects based on, for example, a certain project value or a category with the greatest CO₂ impact. Expand that to more projects and categories later.”
Thijs Wentink, Project Officer Procurement SKAO
In 2012, Rijkswaterstaat was one of the first government organisations to use the CO₂ Performance Ladder as an award criterion in tenders. From 1 July 2026, RWS will do so using CO₂ Performance Ladder version 4.0. Gerwin Schweitzer, adviser on climate-neutral and circular procurement at Rijkswaterstaat, gives three tips for using the CO₂ Performance Ladder as a BPQR criterion.
“When you decide to use the Ladder as an award criterion, it is wise to announce this to the market well in advance. At RWS we keep to six months as a minimum. By communicating early, companies that want to tender for the contract have enough time to become certified at organisation level [if they wish].”
“At RWS we apply the Ladder as standard in procurements for infrastructure, but also, for example, for the purchasing of services. By using the CO₂ Performance Ladder consistently within a procurement domain, companies know that they will be rewarded for their CO₂ ambitions in the future as well, and are more willing to make the investment for Ladder certification.”
“Although every procurement is different in substance and we have our own contract models at RWS, for the CO₂ Performance Ladder award criterion we follow the texts of the Procurement Guide 4.0 as much as possible. We then only need to specify the award advantage per Step, the sanction period and the sanction provision. We apply 2, 4 or 6 per cent award advantage, a period of one year and a penalty of 1.5 times the award advantage received.”
If you have questions about this topic, please contact us.
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