Implementation of Sustainable Public Procurement: Action Plan - Final Report

Sustainable Procurement is a process whereby organisations meet their needs for goods, services, works and utilities in a way that achieves “value for money on a whole life basis” in terms of generating benefits not only to the organisation, but also to society and the economy, whilst minimising damage to the environment1 . Among these actions, there are also those regarding the introduction of environmental issues in public management. The need to adopt a sustainable and environmental approach to implement public procurement derives from the reality, according to which communities from the whole world are facing the dramatic consequences of climate change, overexploitation of natural resources and threats to biodiversity. Our habit of unsustainable consumption, without considering long-term effects, is the key problem involving all other problems mentioned above. Sustainable procurement - spending public money in a responsible manner for goods, services and works that contribute to sustainable development - must therefore be a priority.