News 04 April 2024 News from SKAO
IISD released report on monitoring green public procurement
Our partner, the International Institute for Sustainable Development, has released a new insightful report: ‘Monitoring Progress in Green Public Procurement’. The report is developed as part of SKAO’s ongoing collaboration with IISD in the project ‘Accelerating decarbonisation through the power of procurement by disseminating the CO₂ Performance Ladder: implementation and expansion’. This project focuses on promoting and strengthening green public procurement (GPP) internationally.
The CO₂ Performance Ladder contributes to monitoring GPP
The IISD report highlights various methodologies, challenges, and recommendations to improve monitoring practices. The report does so on the basis of case studies from Denmark, Japan, Malaysia, South Korea, Slovenia, and the Netherlands. Within the Netherlands, the CO₂ Performance Ladder is cited as an example. The Ladder is highlighted as one way in which public authorities can monitor the CO₂ impacts of public procurement, through its use in the tendering process: “When used in a tender, the CO2PL serves as a criterion for evaluating the environmental performance of bidding contractors. […] Such review by the awarding party ensures transparency regarding the contractor’s supply chain emissions, an essential aspect of GPP monitoring.”
The report also indicates how the Ladder can play a role in monitoring the CO₂ impacts of public procurement through procuring authorities obtaining certification themselves: “By obtaining CO2PL certification themselves, procuring authorities can lead by example, demonstrating their commitment to CO₂ reductions in their operations. This certification process requires implementing all the necessary requirements of the CO2PL related to Scopes 1 and 2 and, at higher levels, Scope 3, which would include their procurement activities.”
How to improve GPP monitoring as a government
Successful monitoring of green public procurement has several challenges, the most common being the lack of comprehensive and transparent data. Based on the challenges examined, the IISD formulates a number of recommendations for governments looking to improve their GPP monitoring: define clear objectives and targets, establish a legal and policy framework, foster effective collaboration, strengthen data management and control, provide resources, training, and capacity building and promote effective communication. This provides a good basis for governments to continue building a greener future.
Do you want to read our partner's entire report? You can do so here.