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January 14, 2025
In October the Spanish Ministry of Ecological Transition and Demographic Challenge (MITECO), in collaboration with ICLEI Europe, organised a workshop on green public procurement in the context of DG GROW's Procurement Dialogue Initiative project, which aims to carry out dialogues in all 27 Member States. The workshop, taking place in Madrid, was attended by a large number of stakeholders from other ministries, as well as from the Autonomous Communities, and representatives of the European Commission.
The workshop began with an optimistic perspective from the Undersecretary for Ecological Transition and the Demographic Challenge, Miguel González Suela, highlighting the interest in the theme and format of the workshop. He stressed the need to change the way we relate to nature, proposing a structural change and a change in the productive (and cultural) model; a change that necessarily involves the way in which public administrations acquire their goods and services.
Vanesa Aventin Fontana, Deputy Director General of Governance and Coordination of Public Procurement of the Ministry of Finance and erónica Gonzalo Gómez, Head of the PRTR Division of MITECO also gave presentations, highlighting respectively the Triennial Report (2021-2023) on Public Procurement in Spain and the the catalogue of green technical specifications developed by MITECO. The catalogue is expected to be approved in the framework of the Interministerial Commission on Green Public Procurement.
More information about the workshop can be found here.
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January 9, 2025
EPA is implementing a multi-pronged program to support construction product manufacturers in lowering operating costs, achieving efficiencies and accessing new markets while helping federal purchasers and other buyers find cleaner, more climate-friendly construction materials. The production of these materials accounts for 15% of annual global greenhouse gas emissions.
Embodied carbon refers to the greenhouse gas emissions associated with the production (the extraction, transport, and manufacturing) stages of a product’s life. (Many initiatives to track, disclose, and reduce embodied carbon emissions also consider emissions associated with the use of a product and its disposal.)
Embodied Carbon of Construction Materials
In addition to the environmental benefits, U.S. manufacturers who address embodied carbon can lower operating costs, achieve efficiencies and access new markets.
Municipalities, states and the federal government have implemented “buy clean” policies to encourage the purchase of lower-carbon versions of these products.
In the United States, billions of tons of concrete, asphalt, steel, glass and other construction materials and products are used annually to construct, maintain, and operate roads, highways, bridges, offices, and houses, schools, and parks, among other infrastructure. While construction materials and products have numerous social and economic benefits, they currently have significant environmental costs:
• The U.S. industrial sector, which includes manufacturing, is linked to more than 30% of annual U.S. greenhouse gas emissions.
• Worldwide, the manufacture of construction materials and products accounts for 15% of annual global greenhouse gas emissions.
Manufacturer Benefits of Lowering Embodied Carbon
• Respond to customer demand and meet public and private sector requirements for EPDs.
• Gain market advantage by differentiating your product.
• Understand the environmental impacts of your products and identify opportunities to reduce those impacts to improve sustainability and competitiveness – often while saving money.
Four Key Materials
Under this program, EPA is focusing on a subset of construction materials because of the high greenhouse gas emissions associated with their production and the large quantities purchased by the federal government:
• Concrete
• Glass
• Asphalt
• Steel
Additionally, EPA is examining strategies to further reduce embodied greenhouse gas emissions through the use of other materials, including salvaged and reused materials, aluminum and wood.
How Can Public Procurement Incentivize Purchases of Lower Carbon Construction Materials?
The U.S. federal government is the world’s largest purchaser, spending approximately $730 billion every year on goods and services. In fact, approximately half of the concrete produced in the United States is used for publicly funded projects. The power of federal purchasing can be used to move markets towards more environmentally preferable options.
Collaborative Buy Clean efforts leverage their procurement power to support manufacturers while making historic investments to upgrade U.S. transportation, buildings and energy infrastructure. Generally, participation in these programs requires manufacturers to disclose the environmental - and especially the embodied carbon - impacts of their products. These impacts are typically disclosed via environmental product declarations (EPDs).
EPA and partner agencies are developing strategies to support enhanced standardization, measurement, reporting and verification of EPDs to drive the market for lower embodied carbon construction materials.
Learn about the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022, which addresses embodied carbon in construction materials.
Learn more at EPA website.
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January 6, 2025
The booklet provides a snapshot of the regional assessment for the Asian region using SCP_HAT toolbox. The analysis was conducted to highlight the unsustainable consumption and production patterns and to identify the high impact sectors in Asia; while focusing on the triple planetary crisis and resource use. The triple planetary crisis refers to the interlinked challenges of climate change, biodiversity loss, and pollution, all of which stem from unsustainable production and consumption behaviour. The inefficiencies in resource extraction, production, and consumption are at the heart of these crises. Addressing them requires improving resource efficiency—using materials, water, and energy more effectively—while transitioning towards a more sustainable future. The analysis spans three decades, therefore, the insights derived from it remain highly relevant for understanding the ongoing crisis in the region.
Download at the One Planet Network Knowledge Centre.
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January 2, 2025
The global ‘Framework for Action’ provides a set of high-level clear principles that are common to all stakeholders, and a number of actionable strategies and tools that can be adopted and utilized for the implementation of the common principles according to different contexts. Such a framework would enable governments to make strong commitments to lead by example, positioning sustainable public procurement as a catalyst, considering the whole life cycle of buildings, including embodied and operational carbon, while shifting away from a linear to a circular economy to achieve substantial emission reductions and establish near-zero emission and resilience by 2030. The Framework for Action will be launched at COP29.
Details on the 5 Common Principles of the Framework for Action and Menu of Actions can be accessed by clicking <<here>> at One Planet Network website.
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