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GREEN PURCHASING NETWORK – A Landscape of Practice to Achieve SCP

  • Published on January 12, 2022

The report provides an overview of what the Green Purchasing Network is, features case studies of International Green Purchasing Network-IGPN members’ contribution to green purchasing practices, and describes how the Green Purchasing Networks contributes to the Sustainable Consumption and Production transition within its four focus areas: market, private, business and public level.

Green Purchasing refers to purchase of environmentally friendly products and services, taking into consideration not only quality and price but also need of environmentally conscious businesses. It was recognized as an effective tool to shift toward not only a reduction of environmental load but also sustainable consumption and production.

The International Green Purchasing Network is a global multi-stakeholder partnership founded in 2005, with its mission to (a) Promote globally the development of environmentally friendly products and services and green purchasing activities; (b) Share information and know-how on green purchasing and environmentally friendly products and services internationally; (c) Harmonize the efforts of green purchasing and the development of environmentally friendly products and services from a global viewpoint.

The International Green Purchasing Network (IGPN) works with its members of Green Purchasing Networks from Japan, Korea, Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore, the Philippines, India, Vietnam, China, China Hong Kong, and Chinese Taipei etc. through the activities of disseminating green purchasing best practices and latest trends; regular workshops and webinars in regions; and to support the regional sustainable consumption and production transition by facilitating green purchasing practices.

The report identifies in which areas the Green Purchasing Network made progress, where it faced challenges, and what lessons were learnt. In the analysis of the applied green purchasing practices, the new report concludes that there are six common characters of importance: “the ground practice, inclusion of diversity, ecolabels as market mechanism tool, criteria support implementation, different approach in private sector, and circularity and innovation in the business sector”. The report closes with four recommendations: “synthesis of ecolabel scheme and green purchasing; advocacy for the accessibility of green products in the private sector; proactive support of the innovation practices in business sector; and deepening of the pilot effect of public green procurement”.

This report brought together the IGPN members existing experiences who shared examples of the synergy between environmentally friendly products/services and green purchasing, with the objective to accelerate knowledge sharing and encourage action on green purchasing.

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