Green Public Procurement (GPP) is a process where public authorities seek to source goods, services or works with a reduced environmental impact. GPP is acknowledged as a vital policy lever in meeting environmental policy objectives.
The implementation of GPP has an important role to play in delivering Ireland’s environmental and wider sustainable development objectives. In April 2024 the government published Buying Greener: Green Public Procurement Strategy and Action Plan 2024-2027 to drive the implementation of green and circular procurement practices across the public sector.
The EPA has been actively supporting GPP implementation by:
The guidance and accompanying criteria support the inclusion of sustainable and green practices into public sector procurement procedures. They are aimed primarily at public sector procurers in central and local government, state agencies and other public bodies such as universities, hospitals and schools.
They are also relevant for utility sector procurers and may be of interest to private companies whether they are responding to tenders or applying green criteria in their own procurement. All criteria sets, with the exception of Office Buildings, have been fully updated to reflect legislation and policy in place as of April 2024. A review of the Office Buildings criteria will commence in quarter 3 2024.
The sectors covered are:
To facilitate use of these criteria, the Office of Government Procurement (OGP) has developed GPP Criteria Search. This online search tool allows the user to rapidly find, select, and download the GPP criteria relevant to a specific procurement. This tool was developed in collaboration with the EPA and the Department of the Environment, Climate and Communications, with support from the Public Service Innovation Fund.
This video, aimed at suppliers of goods and services to the public sector in Ireland, provides a brief introduction to Green Public Procurement.
This training presentation follows on from the introductory Green Public Procurement video and provides more detailed information for suppliers of goods and services to the public sector in Ireland. Its purpose is to provide all suppliers with background information, advice and practical tips on Green Public Procurement.
The Climate Action Plan 2019 assigned lead responsibility to the EPA for an action that Government Departments would measure and report on GPP on an annual basis, starting with calendar year 2020 (Action 148).
The EPA has published a report on GPP activity by Government Departments for reference year 2022. This is the third in a series. Previous reports are available to view below.
GPP activity by Government Departments for reference year 2021
GPP activity by Government Departments for reference year 2020
Guidance & Template for reference year 2023 are available here.
