SCP Dialogue Series Ep.2: Boosting sustainable public procurement (SPP) through enhanced market information: E-catalogues and E-marketplaces

Background

Sustainable Public Procurement (SPP) is a powerful tool in the promotion of sustainable development. Public buyers, however, often lack the time, sustainability expertise and confidence needed to implement SPP. This raises the question – how can we make the buying of sustainable products and services easier and more streamlined?

One innovative approach is the provision of sustainable or green ‘e-catalogues’. These kinds of digital tools act as online shops, allowing procurers to browse and directly purchase from a list of pre-approved sustainable suppliers or products. In doing so, e-catalogues help overcome barriers to SPP, while also making sustainable products and services more visible, aggregating demand across the public sector, and further incentivising suppliers to invest in the sustainability of their offers.

As such, e-catalogues offer exciting opportunities for those countries committed to maximising the potential for SPP. In practice however, they are underutilised, potentially due to high barriers to entry, including the need for committed institutions, suitable digital infrastructure, and a supportive legal framework.

This webinar, which is part of the SCP Dialogue Series, will therefore bring together policy-makers and experts to discuss the potential of e-catalogues, as well as other digital tools to increase the visibility of sustainable products in the market, namely e-marketplaces. The strengths and opportunities of different approaches will be discussed, and real-life examples of how these tools are being used in practice by frontrunning countries will be presented.

Objectives

• To increase policymakers, experts, businesses and practitioners passion for SPP and EL as a means to influence consumption patterns to minimize the environmental damage caused by goods and services.
• To be inspired by country cases on policies, regulations, best practices, and business models that foster the implementation of EL and SPP.
• To gain knowledge on key-features for an impactful SPP and EL implementation.

Target Groups

• Policy- and decision makers, civil servants and practitioners from the ASEAN region, but also across the world, developing SPP and EL systems.
• Business associations, companies, organisations and individuals who are passionate about the topic of EL and SPP.