The Basque Government has approved a new green public procurement programme to bolster procurement as a means to advance environmental policy objectives. Covering the period up to 2020, the strategy targets the whole public sector in the region - not only the central government as the previous plan did - and foresees actions to institutionalise GPP and ensure coordination with the private sector.

The programme compiles objectives into two categories: process objectives, which relate to the integration of GPP into authorities’ procedures and procurement tools; and results objectives, based on greening of public tenders for more than 20 priority groups (ranging from office paper to building and infrastructure works).

To supervise and plan its deployment, an inter-agency Steering Committee is being set up with the participation of several government departments and public organisations, with Ihobe (the Environmental Management Agency) as coordinator. The promotion among Basque public authorities has already started, with the aim of fostering adherence and defining collaboration strategies to achieve positive results.

For more information, download the programme in Spanish and Euskera, or contact gorane.ibarra@ihobe.eus.