Green Goals

Green obligations for Central Government

We are on hand to assist central government bodies do their part in reaching Net Zero, including advising on:

• the requirements under PPN 06/21 when undertaking procurements for major government contracts;
• how environmental considerations can be addressed throughout the procurement lifecycle; and
• ensuring contracts entered into as a result of procurement exercises can be effectively enforced after the procurement exercise has concluded.

Construction

The construction sector is playing a central role in the shift to a low-carbon economy. The sector’s greenhouse gas emissions are significant; but re-mapping the Built Environment is a key part of the Green Industrial Revolution and our construction lawyers are here to help.

Green Contracts

When entering into agreements with providers, contracting authorities can include “green” provisions, which:

• include contractual obligations to work towards an organisation’s carbon footprint reduction target;
• stipulate the environmentally-friendly materials, processes etc which must be used to deliver the contract; and
• include incentives/penalties for delivery/failure to meet targets; and
• remain proportionate to the subject matter of the contract.

Infrastructure

The development of “green” infrastructure is a critical part of meeting the UK’s net zero commitments and we have advised on numerous environmentally-focused projects involving water resilience, renewable energy, and electric vehicles. We can assist with the wide-ranging implications of green projects, including planning, subsidy control, procurement and regulation.

Planning

Our Planning team are able to help clients to understand and comply with national and local planning policies including:

• Assisting LPAs with regards to plan-making and developing policies designed to meet environmental objectives
• Advising clients during the decision-making process and applying green policies to applications e.g. carbon offsetting;
• Advising developers to design planning applications which comply with relevant policies; and

Green Procurement

We are able to advise contracting authorities seeking to incorporate social value into their procurements by advising on:

• whether the authority maximised the potential environmental benefits that can be obtained from the procurement;
• the appropriate weighting to allocate to environmental considerations; and
• how to fairly evaluate tender submissions which provide environmentally based solutions.

Real Estate

Our real estate team can assist local authorities and developers with achieving sustainable projects, whether it be incorporating ‘green’ infrastructure such as electric vehicle charging points or renewable energy options into redevelopment schemes, or advising on provisions to include within estate portfolio leases to support environmentally-friendly objectives.

Green obligations for Waste

We are on hand to advise local authorities on the new obligations introduced under the Environment Act 2021 in relation to waste procurements, including allowing built-in contract flexibility to create a robust solution which also allows for future changes introduced by regulations under the Act.