The Basque Country is a region in Spain with a population of over two million. The Basque Government has incorporated GPP into its strategic environmental programmes since 2004, and IHOBE - its Environmental Management Agency - promotes GPP and provides technical support for its implementation to all public administrations in the region, based on the objectives and actions defined in specific GPP policies (the most recent from 2016).
Sector of activity
Public Procurement
Type of initiative
Capacity Building & Implementation, Policy Frameworks & Tools, Research, Analysis, Assessment
Type of lead actor
Government / public sector
Start date
20/09/2016
End date
31/12/2020
Submitted on:
10/01/2018Objectives
The GPP 2020 Programme aims to mobilise the Basque public sector, as a whole, to establish GPP as standard practice, and introduce a life cycle approach into the procurement process. It sets two voluntary objectives to achieve this:
1) To progress towards the institutionalisation of GPP in the various participating public administrations. The degree of institutionalisation will be measured via the following:
• Leadership: Appointment of a manager tasked with leading and coordinating the GPP actions in the administration.
• Planning: Defining an annual work plan in the priority groups of the Programme (see point 2, below) and in at least one other sphere of interest (chosen by the entity) for each administration.
• Integration: Analysing and integrating GPP into procurement procedures and tools existing in the administration.
• Training: Increasing the number of contracting staff trained in GPP.
• Measurement: Monitoring the degree of ‘greening’ of procurement
2) To achieve a degree of greening in public procurement of 50% by 2020, in line with the general target set across the EU. Objectives regarding actual results achieved are measured by the inclusion of GPP criteria in 50% of tenders (calculated by number of contracts as well as by financial value) for more than 20 priority groups. Priority groups are split between:
• By 2018: Paper, computers, imaging equipment, cleaning services, vehicles, publications, food and catering, gardening services, street cleaning, civil works, and infrastructure.
• By 2020: Buildings, urban development, waste collection, electricity supply, public transport, courier services, office furniture, textiles, travel services and events.
The 50% target is a minimum target, and authorities are encouraged to display leadership and set targets higher. In addition, each authority is required to set individual targets for at least one other group which has not been prioritised but which is of special interest to that authority.
Activities
As collected through the One Planet Reporting
Outcome level
Policy instrument for SCP
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Green Public Procurement Programme of the Basque Country 2020
Green Public Procurement Programme of the Basque Country 2020
Regions
Europe and Central Asia
Lead organization
The Department of Environment (through its Environmental Management Agency, Ihobe) in collaboration with other Basque Government Departments and Basque public entities.
Objective
The GPP 2020 Programme aims to mobilise the Basque public sector, as a whole, to establish GPP as standard practice, and introduce a life cycle approach into the procurement process. It sets two voluntary objectives to achieve this: 1) To progress towards the institutionalisation of GPP in the various participating public administrations. 2) To achieve a degree of greening in public procurement of 50% by 2020, in line with the general target set across the EU. Objectives regarding actual results achieved are measured by the inclusion of GPP criteria in 50% of tenders (calculated by number of contracts as well as by financial value) for more than 20 priority groups. The 50% target is a minimum target, and authorities are encouraged to display leadership and set targets higher. In addition, each authority is required to set individual targets for at least one other group which has not been prioritised but which is of special interest to that authority.
Achievements
For the development of the GPP 2020 Programme 64 departments, public companies and local authorities from all levels of the Basque Government administration were involved through reflection and brainstorming meetings. These entailed four meetings (held during 2014) each bringing together different stakeholders, to make sure that the GPP Programme included their needs and priorities. The GPP 2020 Programme is a voluntary policy, therefore public authorities can commit to implementing it by signing a "Commitment Form" formalising their commitment to: • Establish an annual work plan in the Programme's areas of priority, and in at least one other area of interest to the organisation; • Analyse and integrate GPP in the procedures and tools existing in their administration; • Carry out staff training and share best practice with other authorities; and • Report on the results (monitoring) on an annual basis and send these to the Technical Secretariat. Furthermore, the GPP 2020 Programme includes a series of complementary activities to support public authorities in the actual implementation of green public procurement. The most greatly appreciated by authorities are: • the GPP criteria developed for priority groups of products, services and works to be used directly in tendering and procurement processes (in 2016 there are for more than 25 groups); • the annual training sessions (in 2016 about 230 persons participated in the different seminars organised on a variety of topics from more standard to more innovative); and specially • the Direct support for greening tenders, review offers and solve questions is provided for free to any Basque public authority (in 2016 about 60 demands were received and answered). The most challenging part is to obtain the formal commitment of public authorities, the process is slower than initially foreseen, but momentum has been gained after the regional Network of Towns for sustainability - Udalsarea 21 - signed its commitment to the GPP 2020 Programme. Having also one of the three regional capitals join, has spurred the commitment from the other two capitals, so "peer-pressure" and communication can contribute to further adhesion to the programme. Results are not yet available.
Impact and Results
We expect to reach at least 50% of green public procurement in the 20 priority product categories by 2020 and to embed GPP in the regular procurement culture of all Basque public authorities and entities.
Data from 2015 shows that, the Basque Government has greened about 30% of its procurement (both in number of tenders as well as in economic value).