Asset Management Period 8 (AMP8) began on 1 April 2025. It applies to every water company in England and Wales, and it puts net zero strategy at the centre of how these organisations plan, buy, and build over the next five years.
The UK water sector committed to reaching net zero operational emissions by 2030. AMP8 is the last regulatory period before that deadline arrives. This means the expectations on water companies, and their supply chains, have sharpened considerably. Net zero targets are no longer aspirational statements buried in annual reports. They now sit inside contracts, procurement frameworks, and supplier assessments.
Many water companies have already made progress. United Utilities reduced greenhouse gas emissions by 70% since 2005/06. Anglian Water set a target to generate 45% of its energy from its own renewable sources by 2025. But AMP8 asks for more than individual company efforts. It pushes the entire supply chain towards accountability, reporting, and measurable carbon reduction targets.
What AMP8 means for net zero in the water sector
AMP8 differs from earlier asset management periods in one area above all: it treats carbon as a procurement and contract issue.
Previous regulatory cycles encouraged water companies to lower emissions through operational changes, like renewable energy generation, energy-efficient pumping, methane capture at treatment works. AMP8 keeps all of that. But it adds a harder requirement: that carbon reduction is planned, measured, and reported across the supply chain. That includes scope 3 emissions. This is the indirect carbon produced by suppliers, contractors, and materials providers.
For procurement teams, this changes the brief. A carbon reduction plan is no longer a separate environmental policy document. It becomes part of how suppliers are selected, managed, and held to account during AMP8. Organisations that already have a mature carbon reduction strategy will be better placed to respond to these requirements. Those that do not will need to build one quickly.
Carbon reduction plans under AMP8
A carbon reduction plan under AMP8 covers three connected areas: measuring the carbon impact of solutions, reporting scope 3 emissions across the supply chain, and requiring suppliers to commit to science-based targets.
Measuring carbon across the full solution lifecycle
Water companies now need to measure carbon emissions across the entire lifecycle of every solution they put in place. This applies to materials and construction through to operation and decommissioning. This goes well beyond annual operational carbon reporting. It demands consistent data collection methods, clear baselines, and ongoing reporting that tracks actual performance against planned reductions.
Getting this right requires accurate data from contractors and materials suppliers at every stage. It also requires internal systems capable of collating that data and producing reliable net zero reporting over time.
Scope 3 emissions and supply chain reporting
Scope 1 and 2 emissions are reasonably well understood across the sector. Scope 3 is harder. These are the emissions produced indirectly across the value chain: by tier 1 suppliers, subcontractors, logistics providers, and raw materials producers.
Scope 3 emissions reporting is becoming a key requirement for water companies as part of their net zero strategies. Water companies cannot produce a credible carbon reduction plan without it. But accurate scope 3 data depends on suppliers having the systems, willingness, and capability to report their own emissions. For many in the supply chain, this is unfamiliar ground.
Procurement teams will need to build carbon reporting requirements into contracts, set clear expectations during tender processes, and work with suppliers to close data gaps. Where suppliers lack the capacity for detailed carbon reporting, water companies may need to provide support. Or choose suppliers who can already deliver it.
Science-based targets and the March 2026 deadline
Many AMP8 procurement frameworks now expect suppliers to have, or be working towards science-based targets (SBTs) as part of their net zero commitments. Science-based targets follow a methodology set by the Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi) and define a clear pathway for reducing greenhouse gas emissions in line with the goals of the Paris Agreement.
This deadline has now passed. Water companies assessing their supply chains will be looking at which suppliers met the requirement, and which did not. For suppliers still without SBTs, the commercial consequences are becoming real: reduced scoring in tenders, exclusion from framework panels, and loss of long-term contracts. For procurement teams managing these frameworks, SBT status is now a standing assessment criterion rather than a future goal.
How AMP8 is changing engineering and design
AMP8 also affects how water companies approach engineering. There is a growing expectation that carbon is considered at the design stage, not measured after the fact. Engineering teams are being asked to evaluate alternative materials, construction methods, and technologies that reduce the carbon footprint of each project. And they need to do this while still meeting performance and regulatory standards.
This creates a procurement challenge. Specifying lower-carbon solutions may mean working with newer suppliers, different materials, or less established technologies. Procurement teams need enough technical awareness to evaluate these options and enough commercial rigour to manage the associated risks.
Nature-based solutions
Nature-based solutions are increasingly being prioritised in AMP8 planning and delivery. These are approaches that use natural ecosystems to manage water quality, flood risk, or wastewater treatment. Examples include constructed wetlands, catchment management, and natural flood management schemes.
These solutions tend to carry lower embodied carbon than traditional civil engineering approaches. They also deliver co-benefits such as biodiversity gain and improved water quality. But they require different procurement models, longer planning horizons, and performance measures that account for ecological outcomes alongside engineering ones.
Water companies already piloting nature-based approaches include Thames Water, which has invested in wetland restoration projects that reduce treatment costs while increasing biodiversity. Expanding these approaches across AMP8 will require procurement frameworks flexible enough to accommodate them.
Embedding carbon reduction targets into framework contracts
One of the key trends in AMP8 is the increasing inclusion of carbon reduction targets within framework contracts. This means tier 1 suppliers know, from the point of contract award, that carbon performance is a contractual obligation.
For procurement, this has several practical effects. Carbon reduction targets need to be specific and measurable from the outset. They need to sit alongside established performance metrics such as cost, quality, and delivery. And they need to be tracked and enforced over the contract term, with clear consequences for non-compliance.
This also means procurement teams need the right data to set realistic targets. A carbon reduction target that is too aggressive may exclude competent suppliers; one that is too lenient may not produce meaningful results. Getting the balance right depends on understanding baseline carbon data for the category, benchmarking against what the market can deliver, and updating targets as the supply chain matures.
Net zero reporting then becomes part of ongoing contract management. Suppliers report their carbon performance at agreed intervals, and procurement teams review that data alongside cost and delivery performance. Over time, this builds a reliable picture of which suppliers are genuinely reducing emissions, and which are not.
Carbon reduction through supply chain collaboration
Reducing carbon across a supply chain is not something any single organisation can do alone. AMP8 recognises this by encouraging structured collaboration between water companies and their suppliers.
This means sharing data, methods, and lessons across the supply chain. When one contractor finds a lower-carbon construction method or a more efficient material, that learning should be available to others on the framework. When a water company develops better carbon reporting tools, the supply chain benefits from consistent, comparable data.
Collaboration also extends to joint problem-solving. Some of the hardest carbon reductions will come from rethinking how materials are sourced, how logistics are planned, and how waste is managed across projects. These are not decisions that require coordination between water companies, tier 1 contractors, and their own supply chains.
Suppliers still need to meet their contractual carbon reduction targets. But the framework should also create space for shared learning, joint investment in lower-carbon approaches, and honest reporting when targets prove harder to meet than expected.
Where procurement fits into a net zero strategy
AMP8 makes it clear that procurement is central to delivering a credible net zero strategy in the water sector. Carbon reduction targets are written into contracts. Supplier selection depends on carbon capability and SBT status. Scope 3 reporting depends on procurement teams managing data across the supply chain.
Procurement has traditionally been measured on cost, compliance, and delivery. AMP8 adds carbon as a fourth performance dimension and expects it to be managed with the same rigour.
Barkers Procurement works with utilities and infrastructure organisations to build procurement functions that can meet these kinds of requirements. From structuring framework contracts with embedded carbon targets to supporting scope 3 data collection across the supply chain, our consultants bring practical experience to the challenges AMP8 presents.