Buying Green Making a difference through GPP

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European Commission
GPP Training Toolkit
Introduction
Buying Green! - Making a difference through GPP
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The power of GPP
Climate change

• Average temperatures set to rise by 2 - 4C by
  2100, leading to
• Rising sea levels, threatening coastal regions
  worldwide
• Reduced agricultural productivity, especially in
  the developing world

• Spread of diseases, such as malaria and yellow
  fever
• Loss of biodiversity, with 20-50 of land species
  threatened with extinction
• Increased extreme weather events

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The power of GPP
Climate change (cont.)

• Main cause burning of fossil fuels for energy -
  electricity generation, transportation, heating,
  industrial operations 80 of total CO2
  emissions

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The power of GPP
Climate change (cont.)

• How can GPP help?
• Energy efficiency
• Improve the energy performance of new and
  renovated public buildings
• Buy energy efficient office equipment (PCs,
  printers, copiers etc.)
• Buy more efficient cars for public fleets

• Promoting renewable energy sources
• Buy green electricity
• Use alternative fuels for public transport and
  public car fleets

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The power of GPP
Air and water pollution

• Between 1997 and 2004 up to 60 of the urban EU
  population was exposed to excessive levels of
  Particulate Matter, Nitrogen Dioxide or Ozone -
  causing a variety of health problems

• Nearly 90 of the EU area is affected by
  eutrophication (excessive nutrients in water
  systems), leading to reductions in biodiversity
  and affecting human consumption

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The power of GPP
Air and water pollution (cont.)

• Main cause of urban air pollution vehicle
  emissions
• Main cause of eutrophication agricultural
  practices

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The power of GPP
Air and water pollution (cont.)

• How can GPP help?
• Reducing air pollution in cities
• Buy buses and fleet cars with low emissions of
  particulates and Nitrogen Oxides
• Reducing eutrophication
• Buy organic food

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The power of GPP
Deforestation

• Each year 13 million hectares of forests are lost
  around the world - an area 3 times the size of
  Denmark - much of it logged illegally

• Reducing the ability of the world to absorb CO2
• Loss of habitat threatening the extinction of
  huge numbers of plants and animal species

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The power of GPP
Deforestation (cont.)

• How can GPP help?
• Only purchase wood/wood products from legally
  harvested sources
• Increase the proportion of wood coming from
  sustainably managed forests

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The power of GPP

• Other areas where GPP can help - some examples
• Saving natural resources
• buying products made using recycled material
• reducing the use of paper through buying printers
  able to print on both sides promoting the use of
  multi-functional devices
• Healthy working conditions for staff, students,
  hospital patients etc.
• using non-toxic cleaning products
• serving organic food in canteens
• excluding harmful substances from building
  construction and renovation works

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GPP - a definition

• Green public procurement procedure where
  environmental considerations are taken into
  account within the procurement process
• GPP is smart procurement it means improving the
  efficiency of public procurement and at the same
  time using public market power to bring about
  major environmental benefits locally and
  globally.

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Why implement GPP?

• GPP
• is powerful
• is smart
• tackles local policy goals
• drives innovation
• is popular
• is forward-thinking
• is possible!

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GPP is powerful

• European public authorities spend each year over
  1,800 billion on goods services (14 -16 of
  the GDP)
• Directing this spending power towards the
  purchase of greener products and services can
• Achieve huge direct environmental benefits
• Help drive the market for greener products and
  services
• Set an example for corporate and private consumers

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GPP is powerful

• Electricity produced from renewable sources
• If all European public authorities bought green
  electricity 18 of the Kyoto commitments could be
  met.
• Energy intensity CO2 reduction
• EU Public authorities buy 2.8 million computers
  annually - 12 of market

• If the European market could be moved to
  producing slightly more efficient PCs then over 8
  million tonnes CO2 could be saved - equivalent to
  the emissions of almost 1 million people

Source RELIEF project - www.iclei-europe.org/reli
ef (see notes page)
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GPP is powerful

• Organic farming
• Public authorities buying organic food could
  offset the eutrophication impacts of over 3.5
  million people
• Buying organic provides huge greenhouse gas
  reductions equivalent to the emissions of
  600,000 people, just for public sector food
  alone.

Source RELIEF project - www.iclei-europe.org/reli
ef
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GPP is smart

• GPP doesnt mean spending more money
• Life-cycle costing (LCC) Critical to consider
  the costs of a product/service throughout its
  useful life - purchase price, usage and
  maintenance costs, disposal costs
• Efficient procurement GPP involves meeting your
  needs with the most efficient use of resources -
  consider the real need to buy
• Example The City of Tübingen in Germany saved
  30,000 per year by centralising cleaning product
  and service procurement and by using innovative
  products.

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GPP tackles local policy goals

• Achieve local environmental and health goals
• Most local environmental and health concerns are
  influenced by the products we buy and the way
  services are carried out - GPP is an effective
  tool for tackling these at source.

• Example In a central Frankfurt am Main street
  54 of NOx emissions were generated by buses -
  only 4 of the total traffic volume. The local
  authority now tenders for buses with very low
  emissions and this has had a major impact on
  improving the local atmosphere

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GPP drives innovation

• Driving innovation
• The market for green products is growing rapidly
  internationally.
• Providing a market for such products helps
  European suppliers to develop innovative
  approaches and improve the international
  competitiveness of European, national and local
  industry
• In both Japan and the US, the national
  governments have put laws in place to foster the
  creativity of industry and forge a competitive
  advantage internationally through compulsory
  public purchasing of eco-friendly products

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GPP drives innovation

• Driving innovation (cont.)
• Example In Maidstone (UK), following intensive,
  open dialogue with the market, an offer for low
  environmental impact cleaning services,
  excluding a large number of hazardous chemicals
  was provided at no extra cost.

• The winning company has now rebranded itself as
  an environmentally friendly cleaning company. Now
  most of their other contracts also use this
  approach.

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GPP is popular

• Improving the public image
• 85 of EU Citizens feel that policymakers should
  consider the environment to be as important as
  economic and social policies
• implementing a policy of GPP is a very effective
  way to demonstrate your authoritys commitment to
  sustainability as a whole.

• through leading by example, public authorities
  can also encourage private sector companies and
  the general public to change their consumption
  habits

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GPP is forward-thinking

• Preparing for future legislation
• Environmental legislation across Europe is
  becoming increasingly strict
• Compulsory emission standards for vehicles
• Energy efficiency standards for buildings and
  energy-consuming products
• Restricted use of harmful substances
• GPP can help provide a testing ground for
  suppliers to improve the environmental
  performance of their products, before standards
  become mandatory for all

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GPP is possible!

• GPP is straightforward to implement
• Helpful guidance available - this Toolkit
  presents clear guidance on implementing GPP
• No legal barriers - legal framework for GPP now
  clarified (see Module 2 of the EC GPP Training
  Toolkit)
• Many success stories - good practical examples
  from around Europe

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GPP in practice

• Zurich, Switzerland
• purchased 2,166 energy efficient computers
  127,114kg CO2 saved during its use
• used energy efficiency sustainable building
  materials criteria for 45,081 m2, covering
  contracts worth 175.1 Million
• purchased organic food worth 390,000 5.6 of
  its total budget

• Amaroussion/Kalithea, Greece
• Purchased recycled paper jointly with several
  other authorities. The cost of recycled paper
  decreased to less than that for conventional
  paper

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Good Practice

• Freiburg, Germany
• The Department for Schools and Education
  implemented a 4-year leasing of A-class copy
  machines. No maintenance costs. 75 schools pay
  for the number of copies only. The cost of the
  service has been reduced by 50

• German Austrian Federal governments
• Both the German Ministry of the Environment, and
  the Austrian Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry,
  Environment and Water now purchase 100 green
  electricity

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Good Practice

• Kolding, Denmark
• has changed nearly 100 of its purchasing
  policies to include environmental considerations.
  The overall procurement budget has been reduced
  by 10

• Barcelona, Spain
• All Barcelonas cleaning services (worth 16.2
  Million) use non toxic products

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Why start GPP NOW?

• GPP
• is powerful
• is smart
• tackles local policy goals
• drives innovation
• is popular
• is forward-thinking
• is possible!
• So start now!

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Further information

• For the full GPP Training Toolkit please visit
• http//ec.europa.eu/environment/gpp/toolkit_en.htm
  

Toolkit developed for the European Commission by
ICLEI - Local Governments for Sustainability,
2008 Owner, Editor European Commission, DG
Environment-G2, B-1049, Bruxelles Disclaimer The
European Commission accepts no responsibility or
liability whatsoever with regard to the
information presented in this document
Pictures courtesy of Renee Brautigam (slide 7),
Peter Defranceschi (s. 12, 19), Mark Hidson (s.
15), Kolding Kommune (s. 25), and StockXchng BSK
(s. 2), Claudia Meyer (s. 3), Jim Frech (s. 4),
Ramzi Hashisho (s. 5), Terence O'Brien (s. 6),
Peter Hellebrand (s. 8), Kimberlee Kessler Design
(s. 9), Stefanie L. (s. 14), Sarah T. (s. 17),
Sanja Gjenero (s. 20), Daniel Furger (s. 23),
Vangelis Thomaidis (s. 23), Taylor Hart (s. 24),
Nina Briski (s. 25)