Wed, Jun 20, 2012 -
From Sao Paolo to Hong Kong, Inspiring Examples
Demonstrate SPP Benefits to Economy, Communities
and the Environment
Rio de Janeiro, 20 June 2012 – A new international
initiative to fast track a global transition
to a green economy by harnessing the market-shifting
power of government and local authority
spending was announced today at Rio+20,
by the UN Environment Programme (UNEP) and
partners.
Supported by over 30
governments and institutions, the International
Sustainable Public Procurement Initiative
(SPPI) aims to scale-up the level of public
spending flowing into goods and services
that maximize environmental and social benefits.
Further Resources
Press Release in PortugueseUpdated SPP Guidelines:
incorporating the lessons-learnt from 7
pilot projectsTraining toolkit for decision-makers,
suppliers and procurers (SPP Training Toolkit
- Coming Soon)Study on the Impacts of SPPSustainable
Public Procurement Knowledge Management
CentreUN Conference on Sustainable Development
(Rio+20)Studies indicate that sustainable
public procurement, which represents between
15 and 25 per cent of GDP, offers a tremendous
opportunity towards green innovation and
sustainability.
Examples from around
the world show that sustainable public procurement
has the potential to transform markets,
boost the competitiveness of eco industries,
save money, conserve natural resources and
foster job creation.
Across the OECD group
of countries, public procurement represents
close to 20 per cent of GDP (over US $4,733
billion annually), while in developing countries
the proportion can be slightly higher.
In India, for example,
government procurement is worth about US
$300 billion and is expected to grow by
more than 10 per cent annually in the coming
years.
Japan’s Green Purchasing
Policy, has contributed to the growth of
the country’s eco-industries, estimated
to be worth about €430 billion in 2010.
The city of Vienna saved
€44.4 million and over 100,000 tonnes of
CO2 between 2001 and 2007 through its EcoBuy
programme.
Europe could save up
to 64 per cent of energy - or 38 TWh of
electricity – by replacing street lights
with smarter lighting solutions.
In Hong Kong, replacing
incandescent traffic lights with LED generated
savings of US $240,000 over the lifespan
of LED modules, which also allow for projected
annual savings of 7.88 million KWh of electricity
and a reduction of 5,500 tonnes of CO2 emissions.
In Brazil, the Foundation
for Education Development succeeded in saving
8,800 m3 of water, 1,1000 tonnes of waste
and 250 kg of organohalogen compounds, providing
the equivalent of one month economic activity
to 454 waste pickers, through its decision
to replace regular notebooks with ones made
of recycled paper in 2010
The new SPP initiative
seeks to back the worldwide implementation
of sustainable public procurement by promoting
a better understanding of its potential
benefits and impacts and facilitating increased
cooperation between key stakeholders.
UN Under-Secretary General
and UNEP Executive Director, Achim Steiner,
said: “Sustainable public procurement is
a key enabling instrument for countries
that want to make the transition towards
a green economy.”
“The SPP initiative
offers governments the opportunity to lead
by example by harnessing their purchasing
power to drive markets towards a greener,
more innovative and more sustainable path.”
He added, “The SPP initiative
will push the process forward towards the
creation of robust regulatory frameworks
and collaboration between North and South;
public institutions and the businesses sector
at an early stage of the process.”
“We hope the initiative
receives full support at Rio+20 and that
more countries and organizations commit
to join and contribute to its success.”
The initiative has to
date been endorsed by: Brazil, Switzerland,
Ecuador, The Francophonie, Chile, Denmark,
the Netherlands, Mauritius, Costa Rica,
China, New Zealand, Lebanon,and organizations
such as OAS, SEMCo, ITC-ILO, UNOPS, the
Forest Stewardship Council, Eco-Institut
Barcelona, IISD, the Economic and Monetary
Union of West Africa and the International
Green Purchasing Network.
SPP has been recognized
as a priority theme by all regions and is
currently being implemented in many developed
and emerging countries:
In Brazil, the Central
Purchasing System already contains more
than 550 sustainable products. At the same
time, the value of procurement contracts
that integrate sustainability criteria increased
by 94 per cent from 2010 to 2011.
The EU adopted an objective
of 50 per cent green public procurement
for a list of 20 product groups.
While in the US, President
Obama signed an Executive order in 2009,
requiring that 95 per cent of all applicable
procurement contracts at the Federal level
must meet sustainability requirements.
The SPPI objectives
include:
Building the case for
sustainable public procurement by improving
awareness of SPP tools; developing biennial
progress reports on SPP implementation,
analysing barriers, and proposing innovative
solutions.
Supporting SPP implementation
through increased South-South and North-South
cooperation, and enhancing public-private
collaboration.
UNEP has developed significant
expertise and a successful track-record
in implementing sustainable public procurement
policies and action plans across 7 pilot
countries in cooperation with the Swiss-led
Marrakech Task Force on SPP. This has allowed
the accumulation of experience and know-how
in regards to the design of SPP policies
in emerging and developing countries.
Notes to Editors:
International programmes
supporting the SPPI to date, include
The International Institute
for Sustainable Development (ISSD) which
has supported several countries in designing
and implementing SPP policies, among others
Vietnam, India, South Africa, and Ghana.
It is responsible for the Procurement and
Green Growth work-stream of the Global Green
Growth Forum. The working group aims at
demonstrating that procurement is able to
trigger widespread green growth. It will
support the adoption and implementation
of green procurement policies and strategies
in emerging economies.
The International Green
Purchasing Network (IGPN): promotes green
purchasing around the globe by coordinating
a number of stakeholders implementing green
purchasing towards sustainable consumption
and production. The mission of the organizations
is to: (i) Globally promote the spread of
environmentally friendly product and service
development and Green Purchasing activities;
(ii) Internationally share information and
know-how on Green Purchasing and environmentally
friendly products and services; (iii) Harmonise
the efforts of Green Purchasing and the
development of environmentally friendly
products and services from a global viewpoint.
http://www.igpn.org/
UNEP’s Capacity Building
for Sustainable Public Procurement in Developing
Countries:
In December 2008 the
Swiss government and UNEP established a
partnership to implement the Marrakech Task
Force Approach on Sustainable Public Procurement
in up to 14 countries worldwide. As a result,
a project entitled "Capacity building
for Sustainable Public Procurement (SPP)
in developing countries" was launched
in January 2009 with the support of the
European Commission, the Francophone Organization
and the Swiss Government. The project targets
the following pilot countries: Costa Rica,
Tunisia, Uruguay, Chile, Colombia, Lebanon
and Mauritius. http://www.unep.fr/scp/procurement/
