Page 19 - Social_Sustainable consumerism

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Chapter 3 Green Procurement

3.1 Green Public Procurement instrument

Beside our own individual consumption and industrial consumption of goods and services, public
authorities are some of the major consumers that we can find. This is why the European Commission, and
in particular the directorate general for environment, has considered developping a proposal for
promoting the public consumption of more environmnentally friendly products and services, as the
potential impact of such behaviour on general sustainable production and consumption is huge. This is
called Green Public Procurement (GPP), or green purchasing.

GPP is defined in the European Commission’s Communication as “a process whereby public authorities
seek to procure goods, services and works with a reduced environmental impact throughout their life cycle
when compared to goods, services and works with the same primary function that would otherwise be
procured.”(COM (2008) 400, p. 4)

The topic of GPP seems to have gained most of its relevance in research in recent years, from the 2000’s. It
was the subject for a first publication of the European Handbook “Buying Green” in 2004, which was
further edited with new versions in 2011 and later in 2016. Despite the current EU legal framework for
public procurement (adopted in 2014) doesn’t include cohersive measures regarding GPP, which remains
a voluntary instrument, it allows environmental considerations can be included at each stage of the
procurement process.

Also, it is widely encouraged by European authorities, as it has a key role to play in the EU’s efforts to
become a more resource-efficient economy. Indeed, according to the European Commission “it can help
stimulate a critical mass of demand for more sustainable goods and services which otherwise would be
difficult to get onto the market. GPP is therefore a strong stimulus for eco-innovation”. The EC as well as
several EU countries have developed number of publications and recommendations to provide guidance in
the implementation of Green Public Procurement process, developing criteria that help understanding the
different steps and elements to be considered based on clear, verifiable environmental indicators.

Due to the lack of compelling dimension, the challenge remains high to make authorities follow this prac-
tice and to mainstream the use of green procurement over other criteria based on the economic only.

However, the benefits of GPP have been highlighted by several institutions, for instance the OECD
(Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development), which quotes:

- GPP can be a major driver for innovation, providing industry with incentives to develop
environmentally-friendly works, products and services.