Mission Possible Partnership Report identifies the nations that are prioritising green public procurement

Leading countries (largely wealthy nations in Europe and North America) are prioritising green public procurement of concrete and construction projects by investing in databases and tools to track emissions, setting targets, and implementing policies to incentivise low-carbon design and use of low-carbon materials. A new Mission Possible Partnership Report by the World Economic Forum and the Global Cement and Concrete Association (GCCA) in collaboration with Boston Consulting Group (BCG), titled Low-Carbon Concrete and Construction — A Review of Green Public Procurement Programmes, identifies a framework for how the 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 policies 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.

The paper’s additional key findings include:

• Massive demand for concrete will come from developing economies in the decades to come; identifying public procurement solutions to support decarbonisation of concrete and construction in these countries is critical.
• Further international collaboration is needed to avoid fragmentation of standards and approaches, solve challenges of existing systems, accelerate progress, and support developing nations in the decarbonisation of cement through public procurement.
• It is critical that procurement offices consider the whole lifecycle of construction projects, including the production and sourcing of materials, the construction phase, use and maintenance, through to end of life when evaluating a project’s carbon footprint.
• The private sector plays an important role by providing environmental product disclosures and often establishing baselines and targets through trade associations.

“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 Project

“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).

“Increased international collaboration is critical to expanding green public procurement of construction projects, which is essential for decarbonizing 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 Organisation (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).

Read the article online at: https://www.worldcement.com/europe-cis/22062022/mission-possible-partnership-report-identifies-the-nations-that-are-prioritising-green-public-procurement/