by Brianna Crandall — May 16, 2014—A new global program has been created to harness the power of the trillions of dollars that governments spend on public procurement each year towards a shift to a more resource-efficient world.
The Sustainable Public Procurement (SPP) Programme—the first action to get underway as part of the 10-Year Framework of Programmes on Sustainable Consumption and Production (10YFP), established by the heads of state who attended Rio+20—will assist governments to redirect public spending into goods and services that bring significant environmental, social and financial benefits.
Co-led by the UN Environment Programme (UNEP), ICLEI – Local Governments for Sustainability, and the Korea Environmental Industry and Technology Institute (KEITI), the SPP will enable this shift by improving knowledge of sustainable procurement’s benefits and supporting implementation through access to experts and tools.
Existing initiatives from around the globe prove that sustainable procurement transforms markets, boosts eco-industries, saves money, conserves natural resources and fosters job creation, points out ICLEI. For example:
- In India, Indian Railways replaced more than one million incandescent light bulbs with energy-efficient fluorescent lamps in 400,000 employees’ homes, saving more than 100,000MWh of energy and reducing carbon dioxide emissions by 90,000 metric tonnes each year.
- In Brazil, the Foundation for Education Development saved 8,800 cubic meters of water and 1,750 metric tonnes of waste by using notebooks made from recycled paper in Sao Paulo schools.
- In France, a contract for the purchase of toner cartridges was awarded to an organization that, between 2009 and 2011, recovered 11,500 kilograms of waste, saved the government 30 percent in costs, and created nine full-time jobs for disabled people.
Many other nations, including the Republic of Korea, have created sustainable public procurement policies that will bring further such benefits in the near future, adds ICLEI.
In the United States—where the federal government procures more than $500 billion a year in goods and services—the government has incorporated sustainability requirements into purchasing regulations. Additionally, an Executive Order stipulates that 95 percent of all new contracts use products and services that are energy- and water-efficient, environmentally preferable, non-ozone-depleting, and contain recycled content.
Chile’s public procurement and contracting bureau set a target of 15 percent of procurement orders meeting sustainability targets by 2012. This goal was fulfilled a year ahead of schedule: 17.2 percent of orders included sustainability criteria by the end of 2011. The bureau oversees $8 billion in transactions, accounting for more than 3.2 percent of the country’s gross domestic product (GDP).
In Japan, where a 2010 study found that government bodies spent $672 billion (17.6 percent of GDP), green purchasing laws now require ministries, provisional governments and an increasing number of cities to make 95 percent of their purchases from designated “green product” categories.
The program, by working to ensure such purchasing decisions are the norm rather than the exception, aims to play a vital role in transitioning the globe to an inclusive “Green Economy.”
The launch comes just a few months ahead of the first United Nations Environment Assembly, when the world’s environment ministers will meet to discuss the post-2015 Sustainable Development Agenda, with a special focus on sustainable consumption and production.
“The Organization of Economic Co-operation and Development nations spent an average 13 percent of Gross Domestic Product on public procurement in 2011, while in some developing nations this can hit 20 percent. This adds up to trillions of dollars globally, demonstrating the scale of the opportunity ahead,” said Achim Steiner, United Nations under-secretary-general and UNEP executive director. “Governments can use this potential to lead markets onto a sustainable path by demanding goods and services that conserve natural resources, create decent green jobs, and improve livelihoods around the globe.
“A rapid transformation, which will support the post-2015 Sustainable Development Agenda, is eminently possible. Governments from across the globe signed up to the UNEP-led Sustainable Public Procurement Initiative at Rio+20, and are backing this commitment with action. This demonstrates that the political will is already in place.”
