New report identifies the countries that are prioritising green public procurement

The World Economic Forum and the Global Cement and Concrete Association (GCCA), in collaboration with Boston Consulting Group (BCG), have today released a Mission Possible Partnership Report which identifies the nations that are prioritising green public procurement: The Netherlands, Sweden, Germany, France, the UK, and select US states.

The report titled, Low-Carbon Concrete and Construction—A Review of Green Public Procurement Programmes, identifies a framework for how these six countries are demonstrating leadership in green public procurement of concrete and construction.

The first component of the framework is the foundation, which includes establishing standards for reporting emissions, databases and tools for tracking emissions and establishes baselines. The second part of the framework, procurement polices builds upon and reinforces the foundation by setting policies that require environmental disclosures, mandate carbon limits, and incentivise low-carbon design, and use of low-carbon materials.

Approximately 7% of global carbon emissions come from cement, and about half of the cement used globally is procured by the public sector. Governments also spend $11 trillion per year on procurement, about 12% of global GDP and regulate the construction industry via building codes. Therefore, governments play a critical role in driving demand to decarbonise the concrete and construction sector to achieve net zero goals.

The full report can be downloaded here.

QUOTES

“Delivering the cement and concrete commitments GCCA members have made in our 2050 Roadmap to Net Zero requires a real effort to decarbonise the procurement pathway. This involves utilising all levers, including government procurement practices worldwide. We welcome this report which includes valuable tools and recommendations for heightening demand for low carbon concrete and concrete projects.” -Thomas Guillot, CEO of the Global Cement and Concrete Association (GCCA)

“The demand signals in the market for green industrial products are among the most important opportunities to accelerate the path to net zero across industrial sectors. For material sectors like cement and concrete, government procurement practices will play an especially important role. This report summarises the current best practices in government procurement for green cement across multiple markets. Insights like these provide the government procurement professionals practical tools and technical insights that they can use today to create demand-pull for the most innovative low carbon cement and concrete offerings in the market.” – Matt Rogers, CEO of The Mission Possible Partnership (MPP)

“Increased international collaboration is critical to expanding green public procurement of construction projects, which is essential for decarbonising the concrete sector and mitigating climate change. By providing a framework for green public procurement and a set of examples and considerations, this report serves as a valuable resource which the international community can leverage when setting standards, targets and policies.” – Stephan Sicars, Managing Director of the Environment and Energy Directorate at the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO)

“Public procurement is both a major driver of carbon emissions and a powerful tool for stimulating the demand of low-carbon design and use of low-carbon concrete. In order to achieve climate goals, it is imperative that governments provide leadership, not only by developing policies, but also supporting ecosystems which enable green construction and the design of green building and infrastructure projects. This report provides examples of how six countries are approaching this today and considerations for achieving scale and effectiveness in green public procurement globally.” – Joerg Hildebrandt, Managing Director and Senior Partner at Boston Consulting Group (BCG)