PUBLIC PROCUREMENT NEWS

  

Deep dive

26 August 2019

Green cities - the role of public procurement

Earlier this month, London, UK, was acknowledged as the first National Park City - a commitment to making the city greener, healthier, and wilder. According to the National Park City Foundation, other cities such as Glasgow, Scottland are about to follow this pledge, scaling into a fast-growing movement.

 

Green places in cities bring a wide array of benefits from reducing air, water pollution, and flooding to absorbing carbon and cooling ever warmer cities. However, implementing green infrastructure over grey infrastructure is a complex challenge that needs buy-in at all different levels of the planning, design, contracting and delivering processes.

 

What can public procurement do in support?

The approach of Green Public Procurement (GPP) enables public procurers to leverage green criteria or specifications in tenders across sectors. The European Commission facilitates this approach through a set of GPP criteria. For example, on building design and construction, Green Infrastructure Public Procurement (GIPP) means to push for nature-based solutions that could include features such as green roofs and walls, habitats in courtyards and patios, Sustainable Urban Drainage Systems (SUDS) as part of landscaping, street trees and urban gardens.

 

 

Read more about how to get started with GPP and the business case for it: Buying Green Handbook

Access EC GPP Criteria here.

Learn more about National Park City.