Readout of the Thirteenth Greening Government Initiative Meeting
GGI Countries Shared Approaches for Greening Public Procurement
Today, representatives of 53 countries joined the thirteenth meeting of the Greening Government Initiative (GGI). The meeting focused on how national governments can reduce emissions through public procurement.
National governments are the largest purchasers of goods and services in many nations. The meeting featured presentations from Australia, Norway, and the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) on their sustainable procurement efforts. Alice Fenwick, Director of the Australian Government’s Department of Finance, and Catherine Caldwell, Director of the Australian Government’s Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water, opened the session with a presentation highlighting the Australian Public Service Net Zero in Government Operations Strategy and specific policy levers in place to enable sustainable procurement. Dag Strømsnes, Chief Procurement Officer of the Norwegian Agency for Public and Financial Management, followed with a presentation about Norway’s greening public procurement approach and its goal of a minimum of 30 percent weighting for environmental considerations. Finally, two representatives of UNIDO—Sol Reeve, Senior Green Procurement Specialist, and Fiona Skinner, Coordinator—described how the International Deep Decarbonization Initiative (IDDI) is convening leading governments to share knowledge on implementation of policies that require life cycle assessments and Environmental Product Declarations. IDDI is an international initiative seeking commitments from governments to purchase low and near-zero emission concrete and steel for public infrastructure projects.
GGI will hold its fourteenth meeting in January 2025.
About the Greening Government Initiative
Launched by the Governments of the United States and Canada in April 2021, the Greening Government Initiative (GGI) is a first-of-its-kind initiative that enables countries to exchange information, promote innovation, and share best practices to support global efforts to green national government operations and meet Paris Agreement commitments on climate change. To date, 60 countries have joined the initiative. For more information about the Greening Government Initiative, visit https://www.sustainability.gov/ggi/.
About the U.S. Federal Sustainability Plan
In December 2021, President Biden charged the U.S. Government to lead by example by using its scale and procurement power to achieve net zero emissions by 2050. Through Executive Order 14057, Catalyzing Clean Energy Industries and Jobs Through Federal Sustainability, and President Biden’s Federal Sustainability Plan, Federal infrastructure will be transitioned to zero-emission vehicles and energy efficient buildings, all powered by carbon pollution-free electricity. The Office of the Federal Chief Sustainability Officer, which is a part of the White House Council on Environmental Quality, is leading the implementation of the executive action and plan. For more information about the Federal Sustainability Plan, visit https://www.sustainability.gov/plan.
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