Buying into the Environment Experiences

Buying into the Environment
Experiences, Opportunities and Potential for Eco-procurement

Edited by Christoph Erdmenger
International Council on Local Environmental Initiatives (ICLEI)

March 2003 | 285pp | 234 x 156mm | Hardback | ISBN 1 874719 67 5 | £35.00 US$65.00

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GREEN PURCHASING—or eco-procurement—by local and central governments has long been recommended in documents such as Agenda 21 to be a key—although sometimes supplemental—ingredient in the achievement of more environmentally responsible economies. Certainly, sustainable consumption cannot be considered a realistic goal without the full engagement of public authorities. Many initiatives have been undertaken in OECD countries, most successfully in Japan and Denmark where green public purchasing has been proven to be workable and highly effective, while, in other countries, city municipalities have successfully pioneered the development of sophisticated public environmental purchasing policies. However, for the vast majority of countries and their major cities, the potential for green public purchasing remains woefully untapped. A key question is what would be the environmental impact if the majority of cities in Europe replicated the success stories of those leading the way? Public procurement has, after all, been an important tool in achieving other public policy goals such as defence. Why should it not be used as a tool to defend the environment?

The RELIEF project, funded by the EU’s ‘City of Tomorrow and Cultural Heritage’ programme was established to answer exactly this question: to define the true potential of eco-procurement and to develop a strategy for change in Europe. Buying into the Environment is the result of the research segment of the project which has now been completed. A further stage—to design a Europe-wide action plan will follow in 2004.

The book, organised under the auspices of the International Council on Local Environmental Initiatives (ICLEI) analyses national approaches already tested, and provides in-depth surveys on the pioneer cities such as Hamburg, Malmö and Zürich. Serious attention is given to city-specific hurdles which have been faced and overcome. The most relevant product groups for eco-procurement such as construction, transport, energy, information technology, furniture and food. are also analysed.

Uniquely, the book also provides calculations on the environmental benefits potentially achievable through greener purchasing. Tools were developed and tested by the RELIEF researchers on the environmental assessment of products, public buying power and on evaluations of market conditions in order to provide scenarios for the application of green purchasing at a European level. The conclusions are that there is huge potential for both local and central governments to adapt their behaviour patterns and purchase in a more environmentally responsible way. For example, 18% of the EU’s Kyoto Protocol commitment could be achieved if major cities in the European Union purchased green electricity. The results are complemented by new ideas on how best to foster innovation in public contractual arrangements—to encourage the development of products such as super-energy-efficient computers and fuel cells—and how the legal system may require adaptation and reform.

The results presented in this book will provide an indispensable resource for municipalities, governments, researchers and business practitioners looking for answers on how public procurement can have a fundamental and manifestly positive effect on the environment.

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This book represents European research results at their best: filling important methodological gaps, providing useful input to the day-to-day work of numerous European Scientists and, last but not least, developing practical approaches for innovation-oriented European, national and local policies.
Philippe Busquin. European Commissioner for Research

The instrument of green purchasing has been on the agenda of the German Environmental Ministry for a long time. This book documents the huge relevance of public procurement, so far unknown. All those who are exploring new ways to combine environmental protection with economic innovation will find a rich source of information in this publication.
Jürgen Trittin, Federal Minister for the Environment, Nature Protection and Nuclear Safety

Local authorities have immense purchasing power. They buy goods and services from all over the world, and their pension funds influence stock market investments and corporate portfolios. Should they place their muscle in buying sustainability, and in investing their pension funds in sustainable corporations and activities, they would move the planet towards health, security and improved environmental welfare. This important book shows how this might be achieved. It also reveals what a long way we all still have to travel. The vision is here in these pages: now the journey must begin.
Professor Tim O’Riordan, School of Environmental Sciences, UEA, Norwich

This book extends the traditional role of the public sector. By highlighting the challenges faced in greening public procurement it moves the environmental responsibility debate away from the purely regulatory and into the arena of meeting market demands.
Dr Wolfgang G. Schneider, Vice President, Legal, Governmental and Environmental Affairs, Ford of Europe

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Contents

1. Introduction. Public purchasing: a new, old policy tool
Christoph Erdmenger, Director, ICLEI Eco-Procurement Programme; Co-ordinator, RELIEF Project
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Part 1: Green purchasing in practice

2. Green purchasing in practice: experiences and new approaches from the pioneer countries
Amalia Ochoa, Vivien Führ and Dirk Günther, ICLEI Eco-Procurement Programme and Eco-efficient Economy

3. Hurdles in green purchasing: method, findings and discussion of the hurdle analysis
Edeltraud Günther, Dresden University of Technology, Germany

4. The European legal regime on green public procurement: corresponding and conflicting aspects of environmental law and procurement law in the EU
Regine Barth and Almut Fischer, Environmental Law Division, Öko-Institut, Germany

5. Local experiences: green purchasing practices in six European cities
Simon Clement and Géraldine Plas, ICLEI Eco-Procurement Programme, and Christoph Erdmenger, Director, ICLEI Eco-Procurement Programme; Project Co-ordinator, RELIEF Project

6. Triggering innovation
Luke Brander, Xander Olsthoorn and Frans Oosterhuis, Institute for Environmental Studies, Vrije Universiteit, Amsterdam, and Vivien Führ, ICLEI Eco-Procurement Programme and Eco-efficient Economy

Part 2: Quantifying environmental benefits

7. The financial power and environmental benefits of green purchasing
Christoph Erdmenger, Director, ICLEI Eco-Procurement Programme; Project Co-ordinator, RELIEF Project

8. Methods for calculating the environmental benefits of ‘green’ products
Anders Schmidt and Jeppe Frydendal, dk-TEKNIK ENERGY & ENVIRONMENT, Denmark

9. Results of the European calculation
Roger Pierrard, Institute of Public Finance and Infrastructure Policy, Vienna University of Technology, Austria

Part 3: Advanced tools for analysing eco-procurement options

10. Researching the market conditions for green purchasing
Edeltraud Günther, Ines Klauke and Lilly Scheibe, Dresden University of Technology, Germany

11. Integrating environmental and economic costs and benefits: approaches to and experiences with modified cost–effectiveness analysis
Roger Pierrard, Institute of Public Finance and Infrastructure Policy, Vienna University of Technology, Austria, and Stephan Faßbender, JOANNEUM RESEARCH Institute of Technology and Regional Policy, Austria

Part 4: Pathways to implementation

12. Views from the green public procurement community
Luke Brander, Institute for Environmental Studies, Vrije Universiteit, Amsterdam, Vivien Führ, ICLEI Eco-Procurement Programme and Eco-efficient Economy, and Xander Olsthoorn, Institute for Environmental Studies, Vrije Universiteit, Amsterdam

13. Green purchasing potential in Central Europe: the cases of the Czech Republic, Hungary and Poland
Peter Szuppinger and Vilma Éri, Center for Environmental Studies, Budapest, Hungary

14. Conclusions. Green purchasing: a concept lagging far behind its potential
Christoph Erdmenger, Director, ICLEI Eco-Procurement Programme; Co-ordinator, RELIEF Project

Bibliography
List of abbreviations
Author biographies
Index

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About the editor

Christoph Erdmenger is Director of ICLEI (International Council for Local Environmental Initiatives) Eco-Procurement Programme. He has a degree in geo-ecology from the University of Karlsruhe, Germany. Since 1996 he has been working on environmental management systems, eco-procurement and economic issues in the ICLEI European Secretariat. He is Co-ordinator of the RELIEF Project.