The regulator will award a company between £10,000 and £50,000 for its “specialist expertise” in a one-year contract commencing in October.

Interested parties should submit their bids by September 29, the GPhC indicated in contract notices published in August and last week (September 7).

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Once successful, the company will help the regulator “establish […] a carbon footprint baseline” and develop a programme to enhance the GPhC’s environmental performance and measure improvements, a spokesperson told C+D last week (September 9).

The resulting programme will subsequently inform the regulator’s action plan towards achieving net zero and how it should use its regulatory powers “to influence pharmacy”, the regulator wrote in the notices.

The spokesperson could not comment further on the tender process of the contract or say whether the regulator intended to ask contactors to implement certain measures to reduce their carbon footprint in the future.

Commitment to address climate change

The GPhC believes it has “a role to play in […] addressing climate change”, a spokesperson explained of its decision to advertise the contract.

“We know that climate change is a global emergency that creates health risks and exacerbates health inequalities,” they added.

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As such, the regulator has joined a cross-regulatory group aimed at tackling environmental sustainability and invited staff “to consider the environmental impact we have as an employer and as a regulator”.

“This covers our own impacts directly and the impact we can have influencing pharmacy,” the spokesperson added.

Representatives from the Professional Standards Authority last week (September 8) told C+D they thought the GPhC would benefit from additional regulatory powers to better oversee online pharmacies and large businesses.