Issues - Integrating SCP in Public Procurement & Other Government Operations

Governments have a dual role to play in optimizing sustainable consumption and production (SCP):

  • as the largest institutional resource consumer, governments can promote sustainable consumption patterns at a large scale through improving their own resource-efficiency
  • As the most influential purchasers in a national economy, who spend typically 15-30% of GDP on a diverse and wide range of goods and services, governments can drive the market for sustainable products through their procurement policies.

Governments are expected to demonstrate leadership to support sustainability, not only through setting policies, but also by ensuring that their agencies embrace and pursue sustainable consumption patterns through managing their own impacts generated in the course of conducting government business.

:: Priorities with high impacts

Among the areas of government spending, the priorities with high impacts for integrating SCP into administration policies in many countries include:

  • buildings and construction,
  • food,
  • energy waste,
  • office machinery and computers,
  • paper and printing,
  • furniture,
  • transport (air travel and government fleets),
  • clothing and uniforms.

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This paper deals with options available to governments wishing to integrate SCP into their administration policies, which are largely through policies for sustainable public procurement (SPP) and promoting resource efficiency.