How to make public procurement sustainable?

Check against delivery

Ladies and gentlemen,

I wish you all a warm welcome to the lovely town of Hamar and to this international roundtable.

I am very pleased to see participants from so many countries all over the world, from government, business and from various organisations. I feel certain that we have a lot to learn from each other.

The Nordic Council of Ministers has taken the initiative to this roundtable. The roundtable is also supported by the Finnish presidency in the European Union. Norway is this year the chair of the Nordic Council of Ministers, and we are proud to host this important meeting. I am also happy and proud that Norway will host the third meeting in the UN task force on sustainable public procurement straight after this roundtable.

Green or sustainable public procurement has been on the agenda for many years both in the UN, the OECD, the EU and in the Nordic Council of Ministers. We will be hearing more about all this work during the roundtable.

In most countries, the focus up to now has mainly been on environmental impacts of public procurement, green public procurement or GPP. There is now a growing emphasis on social and ethical impacts of public procurement as well. We are happy to learn from those countries and businesses that are frontrunners in this field.

With all the ongoing processes in many countries, it is especially important to share our experiences. We must work together across national borders, learn from each other, and actively seek advice from important stakeholders.

Today I would like to address two main topics. First I want to address the role of innovation in sustainable development and why public procurement matters. Secondly I would like to share our experiences from Norway: what steps and actions we already have taken, what we have learned and what are our further plans.

The wish for a better standard of living is a very strong driving force for people and society everywhere. Already, our production and consumption puts too much pressure on the global environment and social conditions. A sustainable economic development means that we must find better ways of doing things, new products, new solutions, new ways of thinking and meeting our needs. In other words - innovation.

We know that we have to act! Natural resources and biodiversity are under strain. Global warming and climate change are very real threats to our future. Both man and the environment are in danger from chemicals that are released into the air, water and soil, and pollute our food and daily lives.

To reach sustainable development requires great efforts from us all - from government, business and households. As governments we have to send the right signals to the market through regulation, economic instruments and information, and we must of course act as responsible buyers in the same marketplace.

The public sector is a major consumer. For example, public authorities in Europe spend around 16% of EU's gross domestic product. It is important that we use this market share and market power wisely. Our job is to use tax payers' money for the greater good of society. Through high environmental standards and more focus on value for money on a "whole life" basis, public purchasing will open up opportunities for innovation and new business. A key issue when developing national strategies is of course also to assure fair and open competition.

Some countries have already come quite far, whilst others are just starting out. But the problems facing us are much the same for all: the need for regulation, better goals, better assistance for those who do the actual purchasing, and better statistics and reporting.

In Norway, green public procurement has been on the national agenda since the middle of the 1990'ies. Results show that real economic and environmental benefits can be achieved. In 2001 we got a new Public Procurement Act, which states that environmental impacts must be taken into consideration for all public purchasing. In my opinion, having this legal foundation in place gives us a good starting point for further steps.

To make green procurement work in practice, experience has shown that it is very important to get the idea well grounded at all levels of the organisation. In 2001 we therefore set a national target to get a basic environmental management system into use in all government organisations by the end of 2005. We have not reached this target yet – so far around 60% have introduced the system. Feedback from government organisations is that they feel the need for more specific advice on which products to buy, which standards to set, better information and support, and better reporting and data.

Last year we set up a five-year program to help public procurement officers buy greener in their day-to-day work. We also established a national panel for green procurement as an advisory body for the Ministry of the Environment. Panel members represent relevant authorities, organisations, trade and industry.

So – to sum up – what have learned?

Firstly, we see the need to move forward on better reporting systems and indicators. Secondly, we see the need to consider how we can develop specific product-oriented targets. Finally, we see the need to take a first step towards introducing social responsibility in public buying.

The Norwegian government thinks that the public sector should be leading the way. We have therefore started work on a national action plan for environmental and social responsibility in public purchasing, which will address these three important issues.

We aim to have the final plan ready by spring 2007. The action plan covers the whole of the public sector, but will also include a special environmental policy for government purchases. We will set high priority on product groups with large environmental or social impacts and cost-benefit potentials but we will also consider closely areas where public procurement can lead to more sustainable solutions, influence market behaviour and promote technological innovation. Amongst product groups that will be considered are construction and energy, transport, food, information technology, textiles and timber.

So, this was the Norwegian experience. We hope that some of you may get some useful ideas from us. I certainly expect to get some useful input from this roundtable to our own further work.

The need for more sustainable purchasing is a challenge that must be met. We have already made some real progress, but there is still far to go. I am confident that these two days with the roundtable will provide many good examples, insights and ideas that we can share and learn from.

Thank you for your time and interest. I wish you all a very fruitful meeting!