What is Sustainable Procurement

Green considerations can be applied during all phases of the public procurement process: from the pre-award to the award and post-award phase. They can be included in technical specifications, award criteria, and contract performance clauses. Technical specifications provide a detailed description to the market of the good, work, or service to be procured. They constitute the basis for drafting green award criteria, which allow contracting entities to evaluate the received bids and award the contract. Contract performance clauses can also be used by public contracting entities to introduce environmental considerations in the procurement process. These clauses are based on the capacity of the winning bidder to perform the negotiated environmental criteria. Notwithstanding the importance of GPP, green considerations are seldom applied in public procurement. Reasons can be found in the lack of appropriate regulations at national and international level, or in the actual lack of training of the procurement workforce.