Completed ICLEI SPP projects
Buying Green! – A Handbook on green public procurement (2010 - 2011)
ICLEI worked with the European Commission to develop the Commission's revised version of Buying Green! – A Handbook on green public procurement. The handbook is a concrete tool to help public authorities to buy goods and services with a lower environmental impact. It is also a useful reference for policy makers and businesses responding to green tenders.
ICT4EE (2010 - 2011)
A European Commission funded study to identify good practice approaches for driving energy efficiency using clever ICT solutions. A series of case studies together with guidance was produced and published in an online wiki.
Euro-Topten Plus (2009 - 2011)
Topten is a consumer-oriented search tool, which presents the best appliances in various categories of products. Key criteria are energy efficiency, impact on the environment, health and quality. Euro-Topten Plus expands the scheme and now includes information specifically for public procurers.
GPP training in Germany (2009 - 2010)
Sponsored by the German Federal Enviroment Agency (Umweltbundesamt), the training sessions on green public procurement (GPP), geared towards public procurers, were developed and carried out across five urban clusters in Germany. These were concluded in November 2010.
SMART SPP - Innovation through sustainable procurement (2008 - 2011)
The SMART SPP project, looked at public authorities can identify and buy innovative sustainable products and services - with a focus on engaging with the market before tendering. Several pilot procurement activities took place in , Denmark, Portugal, Spain and the UK.
Guidance was produced on procuring innovative solutions, and a tool for calculating life cycle costs (LCC) and/or CO2 emissions in procurement.
EUPOPP - Policies to promote sustainable consumption patterns (2008 - 2011)
The project analysed the impacts of policy strategies and instruments on consumption patterns in order to examine how sustainable consumption (SC) policies can successfully tackle the problems caused by unsustainable consumption patterns - with a particular focus on housing and food.
SPP Guidelines for UNEP (2007 - 2010)
In co-operation with the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), ICLEI developed guidance for sustainable procurement by the United Nations. The guidance is specifically for office IT equipment, office furniture, office stationery (paper, paper consumables, writing implements, and toner cartridges) for 6 UN regional offices - Europe, Latin America, North America, East Africa, Middle East and Asia-Pacific.
Public Affairs - Mobilising fair trade public procurement (2007 - 2010)
The overall objectives of this project were to help progress towards the eradication of poverty in the developing countries and to contribute to sustainable global development. The specific objective is to reach a critical mass of public authorities using public procurement as a tool for sustainable production and consumption by systematically including Fair Trade criteria into their tenders.
Pro EE - Public procurement boosts energy efficiency (2007 - 2010)
The project aimed to harness the buying power of public authorities to drive the market for innovative environmental technologies. The project explored how joint procurement actvities of technologies could help secure a higher market share for the most energy efficient products.
Fostering Sustainable Public Procurement in Brazil (2007-2009)
To foster sustainable public procurement (SPP) practices in the city of Sao Paulo and the states of Sao Paulo and Minas Gerais with the further aim of influencing other Brazilian states and the Federal Government to promote these practices throughout Brazil.
GPP Costs and Benefits (2007)
The overall goal of this study was to collect evidence on the economic and administrative costs and benefits of GPP versus standard purchasing for national governments and individual purchasing authorities.
Biofuel Cities (2006 - 2009)
Biofuel Cities was a forum for the application of biofuels. Open to all stakeholders in the area of biofuels for vehicles. Biofuel Cities worked to build a European partnership that facilitated networking, exchange and independently assesses biofuel projects.
EU GPP Training Toolkit (2006 - 2008)
A toolkit designed to provide any European public authority with advice and information on the straightforward implementation of GPP, including a management model for gradual implementation, advice on the legal framework, and purchasing recommendations for 11 high-priority product groups. Produced on behalf of the European Commission, DG Environment.
EU GPP workshops (2006 - 2007)
A series of awareness raising workshops on GPP was organised in Greece, Ireland, Italy, Portugal and Spain. The workshops included the awarding of a national GPP best practice prize.
Promoting sustainable timber (2006 - 2007)
Funded by the UK Department for Food, Environment and Rural Affairs (Defra), the project developed guidance and promoted the take up of sustainable procurement of timber products by government bodies in Italy.
Marrakech Task Force Toolkit (2006 - 2007)
The work involved the development of an online toolkit for stakeholders from across the globe involved in public procurement to assist them with implementing sustainable public procurement.
Sustainable procurement in Germany (2006 - 2007)
The project aimed to increase awareness about sustainable procurement in Germany and was carried out together with the German-based organisation agenda-transfer.
Buy Fair (2005 - 2006)
The Buy Fair projectexplored the opportunities for promoting the concept of fair trade, and in particular a decent wage for workers, within public procurement.
The Buy Fair Guide (available in English, German, Spanish, Catalan and Slovenian) provides advice on how to integrate fair trade within the EU legal framework for public procurement. The project also developed a series of good practice case studies from different European countries, and a training toolkit.
Calculating the downstream impacts of sustainable procurement (2005 - 2006)
The study (carried out on behalf of the Department for Enviroment, Food and Rural Affairs, United Kingdom) developed a robust evidence base on the outcomes that can be achieved from sustainable procurement in the public sector. The study principally focused on the impacts sustainable public procurement policies and contracts have on market supply and wider market demand.
DEEP - Energy efficiency in public buildings (2004 - 2007)
The DEEP project provided a variety of tools aimed at promoting energy efficiency within the public building stock through procurement. The 2nd edition of the Procura+ Manual was produced within the project, containing guidance on sustainable construction and green electricity procurement.
Further tools related to life cycle costing and self-assessment of energy efficiency were also developed.
Training in Ghana on SPP (2004)
This training project for "Environmentally and Socially Responsible Procurement (ESRP)" was a cooperation between the World Bank, the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and ICLEI towards the development of a training resource package on sustainable procurement. The training course was focused on purchasers and managers working on national development projects.
LEAP - Local authority EMAS and procurement (2003 - 2006)
The LEAP project focused principally on testing joint procurement as a means of promoting market penetration for sustainable products, and integrating SPP into EMAS systems. A range of tools were produced for public authorities on these and other relevant areas.
In addition a number of case studies were produced by the project.
GreenMed (2003 - 2006)
The GreenMed project was a co-operation project between Greek and Portuguese municipalities. GreenMed aimed to increase the uptake of green purchasing activities in Greek and Portuguese municipalities.
SIPTRAM (2003 - 2005)
The project's goal was to encourage local and regional authorities across Europe to improve environmental and social standards in urban public transport through the competitive tendering process.
PICOlight - Public internal performance commitment (2003 - 2005)
The PICOlight project examined the possibilities offered by Public Internal Performance Commitment (PICO), as a means for tackling the lack of investment capital available for updating inefficient lighting systems.
A brochure was produced by the project providing practical advice and case studies on implementation. A further brochure provided an introduction to PICO and the potential benefits for a public authority.
Eco-Procurement Survey (2002 - 2003)
The main objectives of the survey, commissioned by the EU, were to find out the proportion of public authorities including environmental criteria into calls for tender in the EU-15, the geographical trends and the extent of green purchasing activities practices.
RELIEF (2001 - 2003)
The RELIEF project provided quantified figures on the potential environmental benefits of green public procurement (GPP) in Europe for the first time. The results of the project have been widely quoted by the European Commission and other international institutions.
NaBesI - German research on GPP (2001 - 2003)
This project served to identify hurdles for green purchasing for public authorities. It also explored the legal framework and quantified the environmental "relief" potential for Germany.
Hidden Subsidies (2001 - 2002)
The aim of this project was to identify how much a municipality subsidises motorised private transport.
Green purchasing good practice guide (2000)
One of the first European guides produced on how green purchasing was being implemented in practice among local governments in the EU. Download the executive summary here. Please contact ICLEI if you would like an electronic copy of the Guide sent to you (hard copies are no longer available).
Check It (1999 - 2001)
A consortium of Austrian institutions, together with ICLEI, set up a green criteria catalogue to serve as a detailed guide for both public and private purchasers.
