Both Estonia and Poland have recognized the benefits of mandatory green public procurement (GPP) policies. While the countries have set goals to increase environmentally friendly procurement, they have not set any mandates to make these happen.
As part of a series on GPP in the EU, this policy brief compares the policies in Estonia and Poland, with a focus on the road and construction sectors, both of which can go a long way toward cutting the countries’ greenhouse gas emissions.
Government spending on public works, goods and services accounts for about 14% of the EU’s GDP. Consequently, the EU and its Member States can help accelerate the development and adoption of low-carbon technologies through green public procurement (GPP).
Funded by Breakthrough Energy, this brief is part of a larger project comparing GPP uptake in different EU Member States and identifying key barriers to greater adoption, as well as opportunities ahead. Ultimately, the project’s goal is to contribute to greater policy coherence among Member States to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, as well as to increase policy support for GPP implementation and harmonized GPP target-setting. This brief studies the cases of Estonia and Poland.
Here, researchers highlight the construction and road transport sectors because of their high share of both GHG emissions and total government procurements. This highlights the large mitigation potential procurers can support by including environmental criteria in their purchasing.
SEI brief / Green choices in public procurement can help EU Member States reach their climate goals. This brief compares the policies of Sweden and the Netherlands.
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