Green Public Procurement Guides

The Industrial Deep Decarbonization Initiative (IDDI) is a coalition of governments and private sector, academia and civil society creating an enabling environment for industrial decarbonization through:

In 2022 IDDI launched the Green Public Procurement Pledge (GPP Pledge), which sets out four levels of commitment to the procurement of low and near-zero emission steel, cement and concrete in public construction projects. A Statement of Intent was added to the Pledge, providing an on-ramp for governments wanting to signal their intention to explore procurement of low emission materials.

This series of Green Public Procurement guides aims to support implementation of the IDDI GPP Pledge. Collectively the guides cover the main implementation steps of setting commitments, updating procedure manuals, and considering market readiness.

Preliminary Consultations: Assessing jurisdictional readiness to begin procuring low emission materials for construction projects

In 2023 at COP28 the governments of Canada, Germany, the United Kingdom, and the United States announced commitments to the GPP Pledge. Before making commitments, each government conducted consultations to seek feedback from stakeholders and assess the implications of setting procurement requirements for low and near-zero materials in public construction projects. This guide includes a summary of the four government’s consultations, and key takeaways from what they learned. It is assumed that governments contemplating setting Pledge commitments have their own established consultation processes. This guide provides a short list of recommendations for consultation development that are particular to procurement of low emission construction materials.

Disclosure Requirements: Giving suppliers advance notice and beginning to collect EPDs

This Guide describes how Pledge Level 1 can be used to support market readiness and policy development for the procurement of low and near zero emission concrete and steel in public construction projects.

Time is of the essence for suppliers to begin collecting data and creating EPDs in advance of GPP and regulatory policies, and it is strongly recommended that disclosure requirements (i.e., a process to begin consulting with suppliers and initiating EPD creation and collection) starts as soon as possible. The goal of Level 1 – disclosure requirements is to give suppliers advance notice and to begin collecting data from EPDs. Disclosure requirements can be organized as a program or can be announced as new procurement requirements and then added to tender documents. Requirements should be based on extensive industry consultations and should align with any reporting processes.

How to set commitments to buy low and near-zero emission concrete, steel and construction projects in public procurement practices

This guide is intended to support governments in adopting GPP Pledge commitments (i.e. commitments to purchase low and near-zero emission concrete and steel for construction projects) into existing procurement practices. This guide is for setting advance commitments, it does not include technical guidance for the life cycle assessment of either materials or construction projects. The primary target audience for this guide is government officials assigned with a) assessing the government’s readiness to adopt Pledge commitments and b) developing a policy proposal to adopt and implement Pledge commitments. The guide could also be followed to set commitments for other materials and products. All readers should come away with a greater understanding of how a public procurement practice can be leveraged to meet environmental objectives.

Learn more about the IDDI´s work and the Green Public Procurement Pledge.