Development of green public procurement in the Philippines

To ensure that climate action and resource efficiency become firmly established, patterns of consumption and product in business, politics, and civil society will have to be made sustainable in the long-term. Taking ecological and social criteria into account when buying products or services demands sustainable markets and production. This is of central importance in the rapidly developing Asian markets so as to effectively strengthen sustainable development there.

Against this background, adelphi is carrying out a four-year governmental advising project in the Philippines within the framework of the European Commission’s SWITCH programme. SWITCH is a regional environmental programme with the aim of promoting sustainable consumption and production (SCP) in Asia, with a special focus on small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). The project in the Philippines supports the government in developing and enacting a range of SCP policies. These include, among others, the gradual introduction of green public procurement (GPP) within public institutions.

adelphi is involved in the implementation of green procurement on the national level. Following preliminary work completed within the framework of an earlier project in the Department of Trade and Industries, this project will see the creation of a GPP action plan in coordination with the central procurements agency and the unit responsible for setting national procurement policy. The project will also develop technical specifications for a set of sustainable goods and services, in addition to planning for future evaluation measures.