The main procurement of the Basque public sector falls into 12 prioritised categories, as follows: works and infrastructure services, textiles, electricity, heavy vehicles, building and urban planning, food, street lighting, computer equipment, furniture, gardening, light vehicles, and printing equipment. In those cases, 3 out of every 4 products or services purchased will have to comply with the sustainable criteria set out in the Green Public Procurement Programme.

The programme seeks to reach the whole Basque public sector and has set the target of increasing the number of participating public institutions to 150 and of having at least 50 private companies signed up. Some of the expected results over the life of the programme would be for the carbon emissions associated to the purchase and use of green products, works and services to be reduced by 26% and for 100% of the electricity of Basque public institutions overall coming from renewable sources.

The Basque Country, at the forefront in Europe

The Basque public sector is a trailblazer in Europe in the implementation of green public procurement, endorsed by its 20-year track record. Its third programme in this area, the 2030 Basque Public Procurement Programme, is in line with the strategic priorities of European policies, with the European Green Deal and with the priorities of Basque environmental policies — established in the Basque Green Deal —, to drive green procurement in the Basque Country.

As a key aspect, the new Programme strengths the role and prominence of the Basque business sector, by promoting, among other aspects, the range of ecodesigned products and services. At the same time, the aim is to drive private green procurement in coordination with the market and extend the benefits of public-private action so that they only not help to protect the environment, but also have a real effect on business competitiveness and the wellbeing of the people in the Basque Country.

The new 2030 Basque Public Procurement Programme identities 5 policy areas with 10 lines of action:

• Consolidating green procurement as an essential tool to deploy policies in the Basque Country, by strengthening its role in the legal and political framework of the Basque public sector.
• Moving forward with the commitment to public and private green procurement, by giving momentum to the participation of the whole public sector, and raising awareness and mobilising Basque companies.
• Converting green procurement into a structural and innovation aspect in organisations, by providing resources for strategic and systemic implementation, and professionalising all the staff involved in the process.
• Having an appropriate market, that is first rate and ready, fostering dialogue and cooperation with it, and preparing suppliers, particularly SMEs, to face the environmental demands of the contractors.
• Highlighting the advances, achievements and benefits of green procurement, by measuring the implementation and its results, along with disseminating and promoting them internally, in Europe and internationally.
• This is all deployed in two five-year Action Plans: the first in the medium term (2021-2025), set out in the programme presented today, and a second long-term action plan (2026-2030), which will be prepared once the first has ended.

Two decades of green procurement in the Basque Country

Over more than two decades ago, countries worldwide acknowledged that one of the main reasons of environmental degradation and social injustice were unsustainable consumption and production patterns. The Basque Country has since been among the European territories leading the transition to social and economic sustainable development models, by undertaking to integrate robust and stable environmental criteria in public procurement and in all strategic planning levels.

In 2002, the Basque Environmental Strategy for Sustainable Development already set the goal of promoting public procurement with green criteria. Ihobe thus began to prepare resources and tools, along with working with the business sector to improve the environmental quality of the products and services offered. That goal was then included as a line of action in the Environmental Framework Programmes of the Basque Country. It was set as a priority following the 2008 Government Cabinet Agreement regarding the incorporation of environmental and social criteria and other public policies into the procurement process of the Administration of the Autonomous Community and its public sector.

In 2011, the first Green Public Procurement Programme was approved and it positioned “green procurement” in the political agenda. Furthermore, that plan successfully established clear greening targets, while arguing for new criteria in coordination with the market. Training was consolidated in that regard and a tailored support services was established for public institutions.

Between 2015 and 2020, a qualitative leap was made in the use of green public procurement both in Europe and in the Basque Country. The latter integrated it as a support instrument in the vast majority of Basque sustainable development policies and strategies, and legislation was introduced requiring the green procurement of certain products, works and services.

In 2016, the Basque Government approved the 2020 Basque Green Public Procurement Programme of the Basque Country, the second such programme and which established the necessary framework to encourage the Basque public administration to integrate environmental criteria in its procurement processes. Over 35 public organisations were involved in the second programme and they managed to green 46% of their purchases.

The programme was also awarded the global winner of the top prize of the “Leadership Awards for Sustainable Purchasing 2020” by the US Sustainable Purchasing Leadership Council-SPLC). The Basque Government was the best in the Public Administration category in last year’s awards, which recognised the work carried out to ensure the whole Basque public administration purchases according to environmental criteria.

We are now embarking on a new stage until 2030. This new Basque Green Procurement Programme is therefore embracing new challenges, by ensuring Basque environmental and economic political coherence in the three priority areas – circular economy, climate change, and natural environment and biodiversity -, securing the implementation of green public procurement and, as the main innovation, mobilising the business sector so that it also offers sustainable solutions, combining greater environmental performance and better competitiveness.

Ihobe, technical secretariat

Ihobe will continue to be the Programme’s technical secretariat. It will offer advisory and support services for the tendering processes of the member entities, training for suppliers and for people in charge of purchasing departments, and support for SMEs to help them be more competitive on this market.

The plan is for the green procurement criteria to be reviewed and updated every 3 years, to align them to Basque priorities, along with holding an annual forum to recognise best practices and share experiences.