GSA Email_CDP Cover Material

Office of Government-wide Policy
U.S. General Services Administration

FirstName LastName
CompanyName/SupplierName
Via Electronic Transmission
Dear Mr./Mrs. LastName,
As the Federal government’s leading supplier and provider of real estate, acquisition, and
technology services, the General Services Administration seeks to minimize our impact on the
climate through energy efficiency and carbon reduction initiatives. Since 2008, GSA has cut our
carbon footprint by over 40 percent and dramatically cut our use of water and non-renewable
energy. In doing so, we’ve saved agencies and taxpayers over $500 million in energy and water bills
— over $70 million in fiscal year 2019 alone.
Like many other large purchasing organizations, GSA is limited in the amount of progress we can
make alone. GSA estimates that at least two-thirds of the federal government’s total carbon
footprint lies in our supply chain — in carbon emitted by vendors, contractors, and their own supply
chains associated with performance of federal contracts.1 As of 2019, federal contractors and
subcontractors emitted a total of about 150 million metric tons (MMT) CO2 equivalent (CO2e)
associated with federal contracts, as compared to federal government Scope 1 and 2 emissions of
74 MMT.
In the last decade, GSA has stepped up its work to reduce supply chain GHG emissions. In 2014,
GSA’s Domestic Delivery Services 3 (DDS3) package delivery procurement became our first federalwide procurement to evaluate bidders based on the carbon intensity of their services, and included
our first requirement for annual reporting on the carbon footprint of services delivered. In 2017,
GSA’s Alliant 2 IT services contracts also began requiring contractors to disclose annual GHG
emissions and set targets for reducing them. In support of renewed U.S. commitments to combat
the climate crisis, GSA expects to expand mandatory carbon reporting and related provisions to
additional contract sets in coming years, while also expanding our voluntary disclosure requests,
collaboration, guidance, and support for climate action by contractors.
This year, GSA is again participating in CDP’s (formerly “Carbon Disclosure Project”) Supply Chain
program to research the carbon footprint and carbon management practices of our strategic
suppliers. CDP Supply Chain is a leading non-profit voluntary reporting system used by over 175
global purchasing organizations to collaborate with thousands of suppliers to reduce greenhouse
gas emissions and climate-related impacts.
You will soon receive an email from CDP inviting you to share your environmental information
through CDP’s questionnaire and online response system. CDP is asking that suppliers activate their
responses by May 1, 2021 and fill out and submit as much of the questionnaire as possible by July

1

GSA’s internal study used Environmental Input-Output Lifecycle Analysis (EIO-LCA) methodology, applying
publicly available government contracting data to commercially available EIO-LCA data on environmental impacts
per dollar spent, to estimate the environmental impacts of government spending on an industry-sector basis.

28, 2021. If your company is already disclosing through CDP, answering just a few additional
questions in your online response system will allow GSA to view your responses.
GSA understands that carbon accounting and disclosure via CDP are not appropriate tools for every
federal contractor. However, GSA’s expectation of large contractors, and of others who make an
internal decision to track and disclose carbon emissions, is that they do so publicly. Thus, please
strongly consider designating your response as publicly available within CDP’s system. Public
responses encourage accountability and achievement of goals, and are consistent with general
expectations for transparency in public sector work. For companies with federal contract revenue
greater than $500 million per year, the status of your public CDP response will be shown in GSA’s
publicly available Federal Contractor Climate Action Scorecard.
For companies not yet covered by a specific contract requirement, this program is voluntary, and
your choice to participate will have no effect on the award of GSA contracts in the immediate term.
GSA’s participation with CDP will help us to understand supplier practices and better design future
contract requirements and evaluation factors. Additionally, your company’s participation can
improve your understanding of the most important components of a carbon reduction and
transparency program. It can also help you prioritize and invest in the appropriate efficiency
projects for your business. In 2020, for example, the over 8,000 suppliers participating in CDP
Supply Chain reported over $33.7 billion in cumulative savings from carbon reduction projects — an
average of over $4 million in savings per supplier.
GSA’s participation in the CDP Supply Chain program complements the Administration’s efforts to
encourage public and private sector collaboration to reduce carbon emissions, in accordance with
Section 204 of Executive Order 14008 and the Paris Agreement.
We thank you in advance for your consideration. If you have any questions, please contact Jed Ela
at [email protected]. We look forward to working with you on this program.
Yours sincerely,

Krystal J. Brumfield
Associate Administrator, Office of Government-Wide Policy
General Services Administration