Accelerating sustainable infrastructure development: the power and potential of public procurement

In this webinar and panel discussion, prominent experts will discuss how to incorporate sustainability considerations in infrastructure procurement. The event is used to officially launch the policy brief on the same topic, which was jointly developed by UNEP and the One Planet Network.

The One Planet Network and UNEP invite you to join us for a webinar on Wednesday, 9 February, 2022: Accelerating sustainable infrastructure development: the power and potential of public procurement (07:00 EST/13:00 CET/17:30 IST).

The world needs approximately $94 trillion in infrastructure investment by 2040 to meet sustainable development needs, but if this investment follows a “business-as-usual” approach, we risk locking in damaging patterns of economic activity that will last for decades. It is therefore imperative that sustainability considerations are embedded across the entire infrastructure life cycle to minimize negative impacts on people and the planet. The procurement phase influences the infrastructure life cycle throughout and presents a critical opportunity to embed sustainability considerations into—and throughout—infrastructure development. Despite being essential for achieving the Sustainable Development Goals, infrastructure development can often undermine them if not implemented correctly.

One Planet Network and UNEP have released a policy brief on the topic (available here), and are hosting a conversation with panelists from the Netherlands Ministry of Infrastructure and Water Management, UNDP, Tata Projects — a private sector infrastructure developer in India, and OECD.

In the policy brief “Driving sustainability through public procurement of infrastructure” policy makers, procurement managers and stakeholders find an introduction to the importance of sustainable public infrastructure procurement, as well as nine key messages that summarise the most important tasks to focus on to realize the full potential of sustainable infrastructure developments.

We hope you can join us! Please register here https://unep.webex.com/unep/j.php?RGID=r9bfb5d275356ced26c222823cb26bfb1

Draft Agenda

Beibei Gu, UNEP, Opening Remarks
Dominic MacCormack, UNEP, moderator
Introduction: Sanjay Kumar, Sustainable Infrastructure interest group of the One Planet Network SPP Programme
Panelist #1, Jeroen Van Alphen, Project Leader SPP, Netherlands Ministry of Infrastructure and Water Management: Incorporating sustainability into Infrastructure projects – The Netherlands national perspective
Panelist #2, OECD, (speaker TBC)
Panelist #3, Ravishankar Chandrasekhran, Vice President and SBU Head, Tata Projects: Infrastructure Procurement in India
Panelist #4, Carsten Hansen, Chief, Global Procurement Services, UNDP: UNDP Sustainable Procurement Integration Approaches
Moderated discussion and Q&A