Green Public Procurement (GPP) is a process where public authorities seek to source goods, services or works with a reduced environmental impact. GPP is acknowledged as a vital policy lever in meeting environmental policy objectives.
Ireland has committed to implementing GPP in all tenders using public funds by 2023. This will require a major shift in the practices of public bodies and the businesses they contract with.
The EPA is supporting this transition by:
The guidance and accompanying criteria support the inclusion of sustainable and green practices into public sector procurement procedures. They are aimed primarily at public sector procurers in central and local government, state agencies and other public bodies such as universities, hospitals and schools.
They are also relevant for utility sector procurers and may be of interest to private companies whether they are responding to tenders or applying green criteria in their own procurement. They have been fully updated to reflect legislation and policy in place as of March 2021.
The sectors covered are:
To facilitate use of these criteria, the Office of Government Procurement (OGP) has launched GPP Criteria Search. This online search tool allows the user to rapidly find, select, and download the GPP criteria relevant to a specific procurement. This tool was developed in collaboration with the EPA and the Department of the Environment, Climate and Communications, with support from the Public Service Innovation Fund.
This video, aimed at suppliers of goods and services to the public sector in Ireland, provides a brief introduction to Green Public Procurement.
This training presentation follows on from the introductory Green Public Procurement video and provides more detailed information for suppliers of goods and services to the public sector in Ireland. Its purpose is to provide all suppliers with background information, advice and practical tips on Green Public Procurement.
The Climate Action Plan 2019 assigned lead responsibility to the EPA for an action that Government Departments would measure and report on GPP on an annual basis, starting with calendar year 2020 (Action 148).
The EPA has published a report on GPP activity by Government Departments for reference year 2021. This is the second in a series. The first report is also available to view here.
