2 July, 2026

Public procurement: the carbon criterion becomes eliminatory as of August 2026

CSRI

As of August 21, 2026, no company will be able to win a public procurement without quantified evidence of its environmental performance.

The switch has been in effect since 2021, but its practical application is now required. The Climate and Resilience Act of 22 August 2021, as specified by the Decree of 2 May 2022, fixes 21 August 2026 the entry into force of a simple rule on paper and heavy consequences in practice: any public procurement must include at least one measurable environmental criterion in the award of tenders. Finished the price-time duo that was enough so far. If the public buyer chooses to retain only one selection criterion, it will no longer be price alone: it will have to incorporate a cost including environmental externalities.

In a corporate carbon balance, purchases typically account for between 50% and 99% of total emissions, which is known as Scope 3. A public buyer who wants to reduce its footprint therefore has no choice but to look at what its suppliers are doing. This is where the Product Carbon Footprint (PCF), the calculated carbon footprint produced per product according to the international standard ISO 14067, comes into play. Contrary to a CSR statement of intent, the FCP is quantified, comparable from one offer to another and defensible in case of litigation: three qualities that the regulation now explicitly requires.

The obligation applies to all contracts subject to the public order code, regardless of their amount or object. No company providing public authorities or institutions will escape it, whether it meets a market of a few thousand euro or a European tender.

The stakes go far beyond public procurement. Major groups submitted to CSDD, the European Sustainability Reporting Directive, are already collecting carbon data from their suppliers to document their own scope 3.

The question of timing remains. A carbon balance constructed with real data, consumption, transport, suppliers, usually results in 20 to 30% more favourable than a calculation based on generic values, a difference that weighs directly in the rating grids. This work does not improvise in a few weeks: mapping its emissions, hiring its key suppliers and formalizing a readable document usually takes several months.

Can your company meet these requirements in a tender today?

What ACTE International recommends:

Mapping your purchases programs (scope 3) to identify your significant positions, without trying to measure everything at once.
Engage your key suppliers via an environmental questionnaire and criteria integrated into your assessment grids.
Launch a first calculation of PCF on 2 to 3 products or services representative of your activity, according to ISO 14067.
Formalize a short environmental memo, 2 to 4 pages, reusable from one tender to another rather than a CSR report that nobody reads.

Train your teams at the same timecarbon footprint or contact an expert INTERNATIONAL ACT to understand the impact of these new regulations on your business.

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