Green purchasing and contracting
Procurement is a cross-cutting instrument for achieving complementary policy objectives, such as combating climate change, promoting efficient use of natural resources, developing small and medium-sized enterprises, and promoting eco-innovation.
SDG-12 By taking into account environmental, social, and economic aspects throughout the life cycle of products, works, and services, procurement becomes greener and contributes directly and indirectly to economic transformation and the achievement of various Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
Public entities are not the only ones with purchasing power and market traction. The business sector also has a significant capacity to transform the economy and influence consumption patterns, both directly and through its value chain.
This is recognized by the European Green Deal, which aims to mobilize industry on the path toward a clean and circular economy. All of this makes a global commitment and coordinated efforts necessary to maximize the impact of the strategic use of green purchasing and contracting, both public and private.
Signing up to the programme
The Programme is of an open participatory nature and encourages the voluntary signing up to the programme of all Basque public authorities that wish to be committed to green public procurement.
There are the following requirements to sign up to and take part in the Programme:
- Being an entity belonging to the Basque public sector.
- The adherence agreement must be signed by the entity
- A person in charge of heading and coordinating green public procurement in the entity has to be appointed.
Green Procurement and Contracting Programme of the Basque Country
In December 2021, the Basque Government presented the Basque Country Green Procurement and Contracting Program 2030, jointly prepared by the Department of Economic Development, Sustainability and Environment, and the Department of Economy and Finance, with the participation of public and private entities, which sets the goal that 75% of the contracts and purchases with the greatest environmental impact made by the Basque public administrations should be made with sustainable criteria by the end of the decade.
The most notorious novelty is the role and prominence given to the Basque business sector, promoting, among other aspects, the offer of eco-designed products and services. At the same time, the aim is to promote private green purchasing in coordination with the market and to extend the benefits of public-private action so that they not only have an impact on environmental protection, but also have an impact on business competitiveness and the welfare of people in the Basque Country.
The Euskadi 2030 Green Procurement and Contracting Program has been drawn up by the Basque Government through the Department of Economic Development, Sustainability and Environment, and the Department of Economy and Finance. The public company Ihobe will continue to be in charge of the Technical Secretariat and will offer, among others, advisory and support services in the tenders of the adhering entities, training both for supplier companies and for the people in charge of the purchasing departments, and training for the people in charge of the purchasing departments.
DOWNLOADS
- Green Procurament and Contracting Program of Basque Country 2030
- Adherence document
- Executive sumary
Adherence to the program
El Programa tiene un carácter participativo abierto y promueve la adhesión voluntaria de todas las administraciones públicas vascas que quieran comprometerse con la compra y contratación pública verde.
To join and participate in the Program, the following are required:
- Be an entity belonging to the Basque public sector.
- That the adhesion agreement be signed by the entity.
- Assign a responsible person to lead and coordinate green public procurement and contracting within the entity.
Participating entities
As of today, these are the entities that have signed up to the new commitment to green purchasing and contracting:
| 1 | Arabako Industrialdea |
| 2 | Ararteko |
| 3 | Arratiako Industrialdea |
| 4 | Ayuntamiento de Barakaldo |
| 5 | Ayuntamiento de Berango |
| 6 | Ayuntamiento de Bilbao |
| 7 | Ayuntamiento de Getxo |
| 8 | Ayuntamiento de Legazpi |
| 9 | Ayuntamiento de Ugao-Miraballes |
| 10 | Ayuntamiento de San Sebastian |
| 11 | Bidasoa Oarsoko Industrialdea |
| 12 | Bizkaia Sortaldeko Industrialdea |
| 13 | CIFP BIDASOA LHII |
| 14 | Cuadrilla de Gorbeialde |
| 15 | Deba Bailarako Industrialdea |
| 16 | Ente público EITB |
| 17 | Ente Vasco de la Energía |
| 18 | Eukalduna Jauregia |
| 19 | Hospital de Santamarina |
| 20 | Itelazpi |
| 21 | IBAIZABAL BEHEKALDEKO INDUSTRIALDEA,2S.A. |
| 22 | Lankidetzarako eta Elkartasunerako Euskal Agentzia |
| 23 | Mancomunidad Nerbioi Ibaizabal |
| 24 | Mutualia |
| 25 | OSI Barrualde Galdakao |
| 26 | OSI Bilbao Basurto |
| 27 | OSI Goierri |
| 28 | OSI Tolosaldea |
| 29 | Parque Tecnológico de Álava |
| 30 | Parque Tecnológico de Bizkaia |
| 31 | Parque Tecnológico de Gipuzkoa |
| 32 | Red de Salud Mental de Bizkaia |
| 33 | SPRILUR |
| 34 | TALLER USOA LANTEGIA, S.A.U. |
| 35 | UPV/EHU |
| 36 | URA |
| 37 | Urdulizko Industrialdea, S.A. |
| 38 | Urolako Industrialdea, S.A. |
| 39 | VISESA |
Euskadi, a success story
More than two decades ago, countries around the world recognized that unsustainable production and consumption patterns were one of the main causes of environmental degradation and social injustice. Since then, the Basque Country has been among the European territories at the forefront of the transition toward sustainable models of economic and social development, committing to the robust and stable integration of environmental criteria into public procurement and contracting at all levels of strategic planning.
In 2002, the Basque Environmental Strategy for Sustainable Development established the objective of promoting public procurement based on ecological criteria, and Ihobe, to this end, began developing resources and tools. This objective was later included as a line of action in the Basque Country's Environmental Framework Programs, until the first Green Public Procurement and Contracting Program was approved in 2011, which established clear environmentalization objectives and defined new sustainable criteria.
In 2016, the second program (until 2020) was approved to continue encouraging the Basque public administration to integrate environmental criteria into its purchasing and contracting processes. This latest program has involved more than 35 public organizations, which have successfully greened 46% of their purchases.
The full story is included in the publication "Green Public Procurement and Contracting in the Basque Country 2005-2020. A Success Story."
An award-winning and world-class program
In January 2021, the Basque Government's 2020 Green Public Procurement and Contracting Program was recognized with one of the highest awards in the "2020 Sustainable Procurement Leadership Awards" awarded by the US-based Sustainable Purchasing Leadership Council (SPLC). The Basque Country was the best in the Public Administration category according to this organization, which has also recognized the work of Yale University, the World Bank, and the Hilton hotel chain in other fields.
The Basque Country's 2020 Green Public Procurement and Contracting Program was approved in 2016 to encourage the entire Basque Public Administration to integrate environmental criteria into its purchasing and contracting processes. 38 public organizations have successfully greened 46% of their purchases.
The Sustainable Purchasing Leadership Council (SPLC) is a U.S. nonprofit organization whose mission is to support and recognize purchasing leadership that accelerates the transition to a sustainable future. It brings together 180 members with over $300 billion in purchasing power.
Environmental criteria of products and services
This section considers the categories of products and services that are priority for the European Commission, along with the green public procurement criteria applicable in each of them.
Each category contains three stringency levels that must be selected according to the specific circumstances of each case.
The defined criteria in each of the product and service categories were previously agreed by Ihobe, the technical secretariat of the "Green Procurement and Contracting Program of Basque Country 2030" and the suppliers of each sector.
Before including any environment requirement from this list in the public tendering specifications, we recommend you take the following into account:
- Strict legal compliance is not sufficient for a specific purchase to acquire the green public procurement dimension.
- The environmental clauses will always be related to the purpose of the contract.
- Special attention will need to be paid to any mandatory environmental clauses.
- A prior assessment of these environmental clauses is also required to check if they are really effective on the market coming under the procurement process.
- Quantifiable and objective criteria need to be incorporated in that process.
Requesting advice
Ihobe offers an advisory service to the public sector of the Basque Autonomous Community on how to include environmental clauses in the tendering processes and how to subsequently proceed to assess the submitted bids.
The advisory service is on an individual and customised basis and meets the demands and needs of the authority in question.
Please send an email to compra.verde@ihobe.eus to request this service.
The advisory service offers:
- Proposal on how to include environmental clauses in the specifications or in the direct procurement process.
- Review of the greening specifications from the legal and technical perspective.
- Dealing with queries in the assessment process
- Dealing with queries or questions that arise in the tendering process (product labelling, including life cycle costs, etc.).
