Paris Agreement Aligned Procurement

Paris Agreement Aligned Procurement is the practice of designing and executing public procurement processes so that the goods, works, and services purchased are consistent with the goals of the 2015 Paris Agreement: limiting global warming to well below 2 degrees Celsius, pursuing 1.5 degrees, and strengthening adaptive capacity.

What is Paris Agreement Aligned Procurement?

The Paris Agreement, adopted in December 2015 and in force from November 2016, commits 196 parties to reduce emissions and build resilience through nationally determined plans (see ndcs). Paris Alignment in procurement means that an institution or government applies a climate lens to purchasing decisions at the point of specification, not just at the reporting stage. This can mean: excluding technologies with high lock-in emissions (such as new coal power plants), requiring life-cycle carbon assessments before approving asset acquisitions, applying a shadow carbon price in financial evaluation, and mandating that infrastructure assets are designed to withstand projected climate conditions over their service life.

The concept is most developed in the MDB and development-finance context. All major MDBs, including the World Bank, ADB, EIB, and AfDB, have adopted Paris Alignment frameworks that apply across their entire portfolios, not just to climate-labelled projects. The EIB, for example, stopped financing conventional fossil fuel energy projects in 2021 as part of its Paris Alignment commitment. These institutional commitments cascade into procurement requirements through environmental-criteria-in-evaluation and climate-risk disclosure obligations in contracts.

Why Paris Agreement Aligned Procurement matters for bidders

Suppliers seeking contracts from Paris-aligned institutions need to be able to demonstrate that their proposed solution does not create stranded-asset risk or lock in high-carbon infrastructure. In practical terms, this means having a corporate decarbonisation pathway, being able to present Scope 1 and Scope 2 emissions data, and, increasingly, providing a Scope 3 disclosure for supply-chain emissions. Institutions moving toward Paris Alignment are also beginning to screen out suppliers without credible net-zero commitments from high-value or long-term contracts. Investing in climate risk disclosure capability now is becoming a precondition for major international infrastructure work.

FAQ

Is Paris Alignment a legal requirement in international procurement?

It is not a universal legal mandate, but MDBs have made it a policy commitment that flows into project design and procurement requirements. EU public procurement is moving toward mandatory climate compatibility checks for major contracts.

How do buyers assess whether a supplier's proposal is Paris-aligned?

Methods vary, but common tools include a shadow carbon price applied to lifetime emissions of competing options, a climate-risk screening of the asset's location and design, and a qualitative review of the supplier's climate strategy.

Does Paris Alignment only apply to energy projects?

No. Paris Alignment frameworks apply across all asset classes because any long-lived infrastructure asset can either lock in or reduce future emissions and because all infrastructure must be resilient to future climate conditions.