Insight
Climate, Plastics and Social Value – Reflections on Recent Announcements
In this latest briefing note our Chair of Responsible Business, Mary Creagh, assesses how recent government announcements will impact on business.
Are you Social Value ready?
The 2012 Public Services (Social Value) Act has been a catalyst towards measuring companies’ contribution to local economic, social and environmental wellbeing - the "triple bottom line". Alongside the Global Goals, it provides a framework for companies to increase their impact through partnership working.
The government has announced that, from 1 June 2022, the Act will be extended from local government and NHS organisations to all central government departments. Government tenders must allocate a minimum of 10% of the award criteria to social value.
The Act has not been widely used by NHS commissioners, so the NHS will also adopt the Government’s Social Value Model from this April. All NHS tenders will include a minimum of 10% scoring criteria, to assess how suppliers will contribute to the NHS’ net zero targets and social value in contract delivery.
If you are in a company that does business with government, you will soon have to demonstrate the additional social benefits that can be achieved in the delivery of your contracts.
OECD report on plastics
The OECD released a report in February on plastic use and mismanagement which starkly sets out the global problems that the doubling of plastic volumes to 460 Mt a year causes. Globally, just 9% of plastic waste was recycled with 21% of plastic waste littered or mismanaged, so the scale of the problem is clear. While the Covid-19 pandemic reduced some industrial and commercial plastic use, this was more than offset by the huge increase in the use of personal protective equipment, especially facemasks. The report offers a suite of policy solutions to policy makers and stakeholders. Read more here:
New Greening Government Targets 2021-25
The government updated its greening government commitments in October just ahead of COP26. These are the 5-year targets for all central government departments to reduce carbon emissions, waste and water use and to procure goods and services in a sustainable fashion. Key changes include a target to improve nature recovery, and an explicit reference to reducing the climate impacts from digital communications. The baseline measurement year has also changed, to address criticisms that departments and their partner bodies were setting targets that were too easy. Read more here:
Greening Government Commitments 2021 to 2025 - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)
Climate change - Lead or be led?
With the UK battered by storms and flooding in February, we were reminded of the urgency need to keep global emissions at no more than 1.5 degrees. Alok Sharma, President of COP 26 spoke at Chatham House in January, setting out the UK governments steps to meet the promise of the Glasgow Climate Pact, agreed by 197 countries in November. They are:-
1. to keep 1.5 alive, encouraging countries with a net zero target to make policies and plans to achieve it and urging all governments to strengthen their 2030 emissions reductions targets.
2. to double adaptation finance, and make progress on the thorny issue of loss and damage,
3. deliver $100billion a year in international climate finance for developing countries.
4. Focus on the “phasedown” of coal, the introduction of zero emissions cars and ending deforestation.
Egypt, the host of COP27 and the UAE who will host COP28 are also engaged on these tasks. Sharma quoted Larry Fink, CEO of Black Rock, who wrote to the CEOs of companies Blackrock invests in to ask,
“Will you lead or will you be led?”
Food for thought….
Contact us.
To find out how you can shape the responsible business landscape of tomorrow, please contact Mary Creagh, Chair, Responsible Business at mary.creagh@lexcomm.co.uk
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