This brief examines the reasons behind the current drive towards sustainable public procurement (SPP), and the barriers that have to be overcome in order to implement it. It also looks at the key benefits and methods involved in SPP and green public procurement (GPP). The author explains that a significant share of the world’s GDP is associated with expenditures by governments. On average, total public expenditures by central and local governments are estimated to account for about 20% of GDP in OECD countries, and roughly 15% in non-OECD countries.
Governments have increasingly become involved in making their procurement “greener” or more sustainable. While green procurement and sustainable procurement refer to different concepts, the underlying idea is the same: to use public procurement in order to achieve desirable environmental and, in the case of sustainable public procurement, social outcomes.
Reasons for engaging in GPP or SPP include:
- Cost effectiveness - some “greener” products and services are less costly in terms of their use, maintenance and disposal despite higher upfront investment costs
- Governments can use their market power to influence producers to shift more rapidly to cleaner technologies
- Raising consumer awareness about the environmental and social implications associated with different types of purchases.
Key concluding points noted are:
- SPP constitutes a significant lever for governments to accelerate the shift towards more sustainable consumption and production patterns, and more generally to contribute to the achievement of sustainable development goals
- SPP is however only one of many tools at the disposal of governments and should ideally be part of a broader effort to induce consumers and producers to adopt more sustainable behaviours
- Supporting increased social and environmental responsibility in the private sector through regulation, incentives and information, and by providing training and capacity building to small and medium enterprises so that they can effectively supply sustainable products are critical to the successful implementation of a SPP policy.
This summary was prepared by Eldis.