Cities and counties: Be methodical as you map out your green initiatives and policies

When they implement sustainable procurement, local government officials need to create a step-by-step approach with clear targets, priorities and timeframes, says Delfina Curi, sustainable procurement officer at ICLEI Europe, part of ICLEI – Local Governments for Sustainability, a global network of local cities, counties and other regional or public agencies devoted to solving the world’s sustainability challenges.

In advising government administrators, Curi says they need to assess actual needs as well as determine what the scope of the procurement is. For instance, are the buys covering one department or the whole jurisdiction? “Other strategies may include identifying the main environmental impacts that have to be considered,” she explains.

ICLEI offers standards, tools and programs that can help communities reduce greenhouse gas emissions, improve lives and livelihoods and protect natural resources. ICLEI USA is the largest of ICLEI’s country offices and was incorporated in 1991. The U.S. group issues a blog that has information on local climate actions in U.S. cities. ICLEI acts as coordinator of the Global Lead City Network on Sustainable Procurement.

Curi says it’s important for city officials to show the benefits of sustainable procurement as the wheels start turning on green purchases. She adds that city leaders should identify existing policy goals that can be linked to sustainability, and suggests that cities consider using best sustainability practices that other cities have adopted. She says that a search of existing contracts may show that some sustainability criteria are already being applied to city purchases.

With sustainable procurement, Curi says, “the goal is to achieve a balance within the three pillars of sustainable development: environmental, social and economic, in order to reach the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.”

She adds that sustainable purchasing is all about driving behavioral change by government taking the lead and showing other organizations what can be done. “Green public procurement can be combined with these objectives and positively contribute to them.” One example she offers is that through sustainable procurement initiatives, governments can encourage suppliers to update the products and services that they provide to the public sector.

City-county administrators should have clear targets to help them assess progress in sustainability programs in their communities, Curi says, while also urging administrators to clearly communicate their green purchasing plans and intentions within the organization and to the general public. “By cooperating and sharing information on, for example, environmental and social criteria used in prospective contracts and acquisitions, public buyers can see how others have applied them and how they have achieved their sustainability goals.”

She says that it is also necessary to change the concept of “lowest price only,” where only the purchase price is the main/single criteria, to “value for money.” Curi explains: “To do this, it needs to be demonstrated that the financial benefits of using life-cycle costing are both more environmentally friendly and contribute to financial gains in the long term.”

It is important to ensure that staffers responsible for sustainable procurement have the appropriate practical skills, knowledge and access to information to do their jobs. Those tools, Curi says, can help cities monitor their green purchasing performance. “External experts can be brought in to train those in charge of purchasing, for example, in specific areas of sustainable procurement.”

OMNIA Partners offers a robust portfolio of cooperative contracts in the public procurement space. OMNIA Partners Public Sector lists more than 20 cooperative contracts with “Sustainability” as the keyword at this site.

Michael Keating is senior editor for American City & County. Contact him at [email protected].