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April 8, 2025
IISD recently launched reports on GPP in India, Indonesia, and South Africa, highlighting key insights and high-level recommendations. It also explored practical tools and strategies to address implementation barriers and unlock GPP’s potential. Watch the recording to learn how these economies are using GPP to advance sustainable development and tackle climate challenges.
This report examines how South Africa can leverage its significant public procurement spending to advance environmental sustainability. It analyzes the current green public procurement (GPP) landscape, regulatory frameworks, and implementation tools, and identifies key barriers and solutions. The report also provides practical recommendations for mainstreaming GPP across all levels of government.
More details at IISD website.
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category : Topics
March 31, 2025
IISD recently launched reports on GPP in India, Indonesia, and South Africa, highlighting key insights and high-level recommendations. It also explored practical tools and strategies to address implementation barriers and unlock GPP’s potential. Watch the recording to learn how these economies are using GPP to advance sustainable development and tackle climate challenges.
This report analyzes the state of green public procurement (GPP) in India, examining progress in the field, persisting challenges, and opportunities for more sustainable government procurement. It analyzes India's legal framework for GPP, highlights case studies and practical tools, and recommends four tangible steps for advancing GPP in the country.
More details at the IISD website.
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category : Topics
March 24, 2025
IISD recently launched reports on GPP in India, Indonesia, and South Africa, highlighting key insights and high-level recommendations. It also explored practical tools and strategies to address implementation barriers and unlock GPP’s potential. Watch the recording to learn how these economies are using GPP to advance sustainable development and tackle climate challenges.
This report explores the state of green public procurement (GPP) in Indonesia, examining relevant policies, practices, and challenges. It analyzes Indonesia's legal framework for GPP, highlights case studies, and evaluates the tools used for implementation. The report also offers recommendations for advancing GPP in Indonesia, including enhancing capacity building and improving monitoring mechanisms to promote GPP practices.
More details at the IISD website.
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category : Topics
March 17, 2025
This specific good practice "Ecolabels criteria for electronics and their use in sustainable public procurement" highlights the potential of using ecolabels to enhance sustainable public procurement (SPP) in the electronic sector. TCO Certified and EPEAT are some of the examples that have robust criteria addressing critical environmental and social aspects related to ICT products, including CO2 emissions, hazardous substances, and e-waste. Successful examples demonstrate how governments are using these ecolabels to simplify SPP processes and accelerate sustainability in the electronics market.
Available in English and Spanish.
This series of 20 good practices reflects experiences on ecolabelling, sustainable public procurement, or the joint use of ecolabelling and sustainable public procurement that have demonstrated positive impacts on fostering sustainable consumption and production — for this reason, they are called "good practices.” These good practices aim to promote global exchange by providing information and examples of various approaches that entities from different countries and contexts can apply to strengthen the use of ecolabels and sustainable public procurement. They were developed as an outcome of the Working Group on Ecolabelling from the Consumer Information Programme, under the One Planet network, and the EcoAdvance project, jointly implemented by the German Cooperation for Development (GIZ), the United Nations for Environmental Protection (UNEP), and the Oeko Institute, funded by the Federal Ministry for Environment, Nature Conservation, nuclear safety and consumer protection (BMUV), and the International Climate Initiative (IKI).
More details at One Planet Network website.
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category : Topics
March 10, 2025
In 1952, ICLEI Member Helsinki (Finland) hosted the 15th Summer Olympics. Now, more than 70 years later, its Olympic Stadium is still in use, and has been renovated with a stronger focus on the environment and the circular economy. Public procurement is playing a key role in the maintenance of this new sustainable stadium, for example through a pilot to procure circular solutions for end-of-life artificial turfs. In recent years, Helsinki, which is also a participant in ICLEI’s Procura+ network, has also created strategies to add a social component to its purchases and used pre-commercial procurement - a form of procurement that stimulates innovation - to find solutions for reducing CO2 emissions in mobility and energy.
Big Buyers Working Together: Driving innovation and sustainability
Helsinki’s holistic approach to sustainable public procurement makes it a fitting host of the Big Buyers Working Together (BBWT) annual event, taking place on 25 March. Co-organised with ICLEI Europe, the event seeks to show participants how public procurement can be a driving force for a more social, sustainable and innovative Europe.
With a spotlight on Communities of Practice, in areas like zero-emission construction, heavy-duty electric vehicles, circular construction, and healthcare sustainability, and input from ICLEI, Eurocities, and BME for the European Commission, the event will bring to the fore the evolving role of public procurement, which constitutes 14% of the EU's GDP.
The evolving role of public procurement in the EU
Current EU public procurement directives lack clarity on integrating social and environmental factors, leading to 60% of procurement decisions to focus solely on the lowest price, with major differences across Member states. The European Commission is currently evaluating these directives and will likely propose a revision, to enhance strategic and sustainable public procurement addressing issues like decreasing competition in public procurement, the low contracts awarded to Small and Medium Enterprises, limited cross-border procurement and insufficient monitoring.
For nearly three decades, ICLEI Europe has been instrumental in advancing sustainable public procurement through its projects, initiatives and networks such as Procura+, and welcomes potential revisions of the Directives that could further enhance these efforts.
Dominique Sandy, Head of ICLEI’s Sustainable and Innovation Procurement team, emphasises that “reforms to EU procurement legislation should address challenges that local and regional governments have been facing in terms of public procurement in the last 10 years, and align with EU priorities through embedding sustainability and innovation into procurement practices. To ensure the effective implementation, public procurement rules should be simplified and any new sustainable public procurement measure should follow principles of clear drafting and remove unnecessary jargon or obscure references in order to ensure a widespread uptake of green practices, while at the same time further technical support and capacity building is needed for local government procurement teams.”
ICLEI Members like Oslo (Norway) are leaders in sustainable public procurement, using it as a key tool for social and sustainable change by integrating human rights into tenders and contracts.
“The Oslo model uses selection criteria and contract clauses to ensure suppliers conduct due diligence for responsible business conduct, with the ultimate goal to prevent negative impacts on the environment and protect human rights and labour rights. For this to be easier for suppliers, it is an advantage that procurement regulations are harmonised, so suppliers can spend more time on actually working to improve conditions rather than on doing reporting”, notes Kjersti Koffeld, Sustainability Advisor at the City of Oslo.
Strengthening public procurement for a sustainable future
ICLEI continues to gain recognition for advancing strategic public procurement. On behalf of the European Commission, together with PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC), ICLEI organised workshops in the 27 Member States. More than 700 stakeholders participated in 23 in-person workshops fostering dialogue on the use of strategic (green, social and innovation) public procurement identifying challenges, and solutions and supporting the development of national roadmaps. While Member States face similar challenges, measures to support strategic procurement need to consider differences in national procurement systems.
ICLEI Members and other public authorities seeking further support on sustainable public procurement are invited to join Procura+, ICLEI’s network of European public authorities that connect, exchange and act on sustainable public procurement. The network has recently launched its 2025 Procura+ Awards, recognising the most forward-looking and innovative procurements and tender procedures.
This year, the Awards invite public authorities from all over the world to apply for the Global Initiative of the Year with. European public authorities are also eligible for the Innovation Procurement of the Year and Sustainable Procurement of the Year categories. Applications are due by 31 March 2025, and the Awards ceremony will take place on 8 October 2025 at Middelburg, (the Netherlands), during the 2025 Procura+ Seminar.
More details at ICLEI Europe website.
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March 3, 2025
A CFIT working group has outlined what Circular and Fair Procurement of ICT means to its participants. Besides defining ambitions around four core themes, the working group also discussed key strategies for procuring organizations to work towards these ambitions. The strategies are:
Buy less, Buy better, Use better, Use longer.
For each strategy, commitments have been formulated, which CFIT participants will consider as part of their procurement strategies. Usually there are more ways to implement these commitments. To provide inspiration, we will add examples of how procuring organizations shaped implementation.
Examples that illustrate how organizations can implement the CFIT Framework now available at CFIT website.
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February 26, 2025
Procura+ Awards rewards successful, already running, sustainable, circular and innovation public procurements. The Procura+ Awards is an ICLEI Europe initiative giving visibility to the most dynamic, forward-looking and innovative public authorities.
This year public authorities can apply in three categories, including the Global Initiative of the Year: welcoming submissions, for the first time, from all over the world.
Find more information and read about the three award categories – Sustainable Procurement of the Year, Innovation Procurement of the Year and Global Initiative of the Year – here.
Access the 2025 Procura+ Award application form here.
Application deadline: 31 March 2025 (23:59 CET)
More details at ICLEI Procura+ Award website.
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category : Topics
February 26, 2025
This specific good practice "Ecolabels criteria for entire building, operation and facilities services, and refurbishments" highlights the potential of evaluating all stages of a building’s life—from construction to operation and end-of-life—, and services related to buildings to contribute to a more sustainable construction sector. Nordic Swan, ABNT, and GreenPro are some of the ecolabels examples that provide clear criteria, foster innovation, and serve as a tool for sustainable public procurement.
Available in English and in Spanish.
This series of 20 good practices reflects experiences on ecolabelling, sustainable public procurement, or the joint use of ecolabelling and sustainable public procurement that have demonstrated positive impacts on fostering sustainable consumption and production — for this reason, they are called "good practices.” These good practices aim to promote global exchange by providing information and examples of various approaches that entities from different countries and contexts can apply to strengthen the use of ecolabels and sustainable public procurement. They were developed as an outcome of the Working Group on Ecolabelling from the Consumer Information Programme, under the One Planet network, and the EcoAdvance project, jointly implemented by the German Cooperation for Development (GIZ), the United Nations for Environmental Protection (UNEP), and the Oeko Institute, funded by the Federal Ministry for Environment, Nature Conservation, nuclear safety and consumer protection (BMUV), and the International Climate Initiative (IKI).
More details at One Planet Network knowledge center.
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category : Topics
February 17, 2025
The Big Buyers Working Together (BBWT) Community of Practice (CoP) working on sustainable solar panels, coordinated by ICLEI Europe, has made the guide ‘How to Prepare and Start a PV Project’ available in 24 EU languages. In addition it has created a concept template of the Procurement Requirements and Award Criteria for PV projects.
The guide provides public authorities with an overview of all the steps they need to take to realise a PV project. From defining the project size, arranging financing and subsidies, obtaining permissions and insurances, and many more key steps.
The procurement template includes requirements related to quality, safety and sustainability aspects. It covers PV modules, inverters, cabling, mounting constructions and more.
Both the guide and template have been applied in practice in the Netherlands to create PV projects with better financial conditions, a longer working life and better sustainability. Public organisations from all EU countries are invited to download these documents and to propose amendments, reflecting their national context. Although many technical requirements and process steps will be similar, there will also be regulatory and other differences between your country and the Netherlands. Nonetheless, the documents and criteria can already be used for procurement processes, however please be aware that some edits are required for those working in other countries.
Public buyers working on solar PV projects, and other national experts who have experience with these projects, are strongly invited to contribute and join us. Please send any queries to bigbuyers@eurocities.eu.
More details at ICLEI website.
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