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Green Public Procurement (GPP): from commitment to compliance

11 april 2013

The IDH (the Sustainable Trade Initiative) Tropical Timber Program (TTP) focuses both on creating supply of sustainable tropical timber as well as demand for sustainable tropical timber. Three existing programs focus on tropical forest certification: one in the Amazon region, one in Borneo and one in the Congo-Basin region and one existing program focuses on increasing demand for sustainable tropical timber in the Netherlands.

Sufficient demand for sustainable tropical timber is an important success factor for the business case for sustainable forest management and certification. Only a relatively small portion of tropical timber from the three tropical timber regions imported into Europe is imported by the Netherlands. Together with other partners and through strengthening existing initiatives, IDH therefore extends its existing focus of stimulating demand for sustainable tropical timber in the Netherlands to a focused approach in more countries in Europe. This is the Linking Europe program.

The past years many governments in Europe have committed to procure (only) sustainable timber. Some of these commitments entailed obligatory compliance, others voluntary compliance. In both cases however, compliance is low in most countries in Europe. Especially local authorities (e.g. cities and municipalities) seem to struggle with the implementation of policies on GPP. Limited awareness and/or interest as well as a lack of capacity of procurement officers underlies this situation.

In many countries in Europe, different actors have undertaken awareness raising activities and developed guidance materials, tools and trainings for GPP with regards to timber to support more effective implementation of GPP policies. There is however limited leverage, exchange and learning between countries and actors, and progress is slow. The Linking Europe program aims to overcome this by accelerating and up-scaling existing activities and facilitating exchange in three work streams:

  1. Up scaling trainings for public procurement officers.
  2. Facilitating exchange of materials, tools and trainings.
  3. Creating a push for compliance from central governments.

Probos is the Implementing Partner (IP) for the public sector part of the Linking Europe program.

Informatie

uitvoerder(s): Mark van Benthem en Annemieke Winterink
opdrachtgever(s): IDH
periode van uitvoering: 2012 en 2013