Sustainable Public Procurement

Green Public Procurement Strategy and Action Plan 2024 - 2027

The new Green Public Procurement Strategy and Action Plan ‘Buying Greener: Green Public Procurement Strategy and Action Plan 2024-2027’ has been published. Further information on the new strategy and action plan can be found here.

Opportunities and approaches for Sustainable Public Procurement – A reference for public procurement practitioners and policy makers

The Office of Government Procurement (OGP) has published ‘Opportunities and approaches for Sustainable Public Procurement – A reference for public procurement practitioners and policy makers’.This reference, for the first time, brings together in one place the wide range of international, European Union, and national policies and guidance across both green and socially responsible public procurement.

Circular 20/2019

In 2019, the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform published Circular 20/2019: Promoting the use of Environmental and Social Considerations in Public Procurement. This Circular instructs government departments to consider using green criteria in procurement, where defined and measurable criteria exist; to report on green public procurement; and to include future opportunities for the inclusion of green criteria in their annual Corporate Procurement Plans. It also highlights the possibilities for departments to deliver wider social and environmental aims through public procurement.

Sustainable public procurement (SPP) achieves value for money on a whole life-cycle basis in terms of generating benefits not only to the organisation, but also to society and the economy, whilst significantly reducing negative impacts on the environment. SPP can be incorporated into a broader sustainability strategy to aid a public body in addressing the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. This is because when using sustainable public procurement, the public body seeks to achieve an appropriate balance of the three pillars of sustainable development – economic, social, and environmental – at all stages of the procurement process.

Sustainable Public Procurement encompasses both green public procurement and Socially Responsible Public Procurement and for some sustainable public procurement case studies and examples, please see Sustainable Public Procurement Case Studies.

For the latest news and events for procurers on sustainable public procurement, see Sustainable Public Procurement News.