The following resources are available to help your organisation reduce its carbon footprint. In certain circumstances there may be funding available to help you compete for public sector contracts that require climate change/low carbon benefits to be included.
The Supplier Development Programme (SDP) provides free tender training and support, including answering environmental questions demonstrating your approach to contribute to net zero. Check out a dedicated course from the Supplier Development Programme, Responding to Tender Policy Requirements, which will help you to understand the various policy elements related to net zero targets in public sector procurement.
Zero Waste Scotland offers free sustainability support to businesses under the themes of resource efficiency and circular economy
You may wish to use the Sustainable Procurement Tools, including the Climate Literacy eLearning. This is free online training intended to give buyers confidence to minimise risks and maximise opportunities associated with climate change. This eLearning summarises some of the key decisions that buyers are making in the tender process around climate change. The platform enables users to generate and download a certificate to confirm that they have completed the training. The training is largely interactive and users can complete the training all at once, or exit and return at a later date to the point from where they left off.
Suppliers can also access these tools to stay informed. You will need to be registered on the platform, and login to access it - there is a user guide and short video available to help you register and log in.
The Sustainable Scotland Network provides a central hub of public body net zero strategies on their Net Zero Planning page, which suppliers may find informative
Scottish Enterprise’s Net Zero Accelerator is a simple, online diagnostic tool that businesses can use to assess their efforts to achieve net zero carbon emissions.
FindBusinessSupport.gov.scot provides a central hub for business support from across Scotland’s public sector, and includes net zero as a search topic.
Business Gateway is a publicly funded service contributing to the economic well being of Scotland by providing access to free business support services. Local offices are highlighted on the site and will have information, resources, events and local support to help you on your journey to net zero.
Climate Springboard is a free business support programme, open to any SME in Scotland. It helps companies to navigate the changing economy and find opportunities for low-cost but meaningful action to reduce their carbon emissions. The course is designed and delivered by Edinburgh Climate Change Institute, part of the University of Edinburgh.
Business Energy Scotland offers the Green Champions Training Course which is a free CPD Certified online training course for Scottish organisations.
SME Climate Hub offers free calculators to help businesses measure their emissions.
The Scottish Business Climate Collaboration offers The Climate Action Hub which is a virtual learning environment which allows members to access free online learning, resources and a Carbon Tool.
The UK Business Climate Hub provides guidance and tools to reduce your carbon emissions as a supplier in order to win contracts. Please note, this guidance refers to what public sector bodies require elsewhere in the UK and when supplying to international businesses which differs from supplying to the Scottish public sector.
The Carbon Trust has published a range of free guides and resources to help SMEs and start-ups tackle Net Zero, energy efficiency and carbon reduction.
Natwest offers its Natwest Carbon Planner, which is free to use for any UK business.
Royal Bank of Scotland offers its free Royal Bank Carbon Planner to support organisations become more sustainable and climate conscious.