Insights series Sustainability - Worldwide

Sustainability in Government Procurement Sector

Overview

One of the effects of the financial slowdown is that the governments as a procurer of large scale of

goods and services are noticed more and seen a long-lasting source of business and income.

Government spendings have always been significant – just that there is now a renewed focus on

government as a buyer of goods and services. The governments worldwide, at least in the developed

countries are trying to transform sustainable ideals into concrete laws, policies and strategies. With

this background, the PPPs (Public Private Partnerships) will gain a competitive edge for bidding and

winning by offering something more than just meeting minimum sustainability requirements.

Europe

Europe will soon have thorough legislative requirements for sustainability that will raise the bar on

sustainability requirements for major PPPs. The European Commission's 2008 voluntary instrument,

Green Public Procurement (GPP), targets having clear and ambitious environmental criteria for

procurement of products and services across the EU member states.

Since correct nomenclature and boundary setting is essential, the European Commission

distinguishes:

Green public procurement as being where public authorities seek to procure goods and services with

the aim of reducing environmental impact through the life-cycle of the goods or services; and

Sustainable public procurement as being where public authorities seek to achieve the appropriate

balance between the three pillars of sustainable development - economic, social and environmental

- when procuring goods, services or works at all stages of a project.

The GPP recommends setting common environmental criteria for the whole European community.

Once such common environmental criteria are adopted, they are likely to have a follow-on effect in

environmental requirements around the world. As providers in Europe are required to meet these

standards when tendering for government projects, other government bodies around the world are

likely to be influenced to adopt similar standards and the private sector is likely to be driven to

develop greener technologies and products.

Insights series Sustainability - Worldwide

Formulate minimum technical specifications for such a policy is a complex and elaborate task.

Difficulties include insufficient information on lifecycle costs of products, poor awareness of the

benefits of environmentally friendly products and services and a lack of political support.

The objectives of the program, however, are not unachievable and provide some guidance for both

those who set tenders and those who tender for PPPs when considering minimum environmental

requirements.

Changes in the UK

UK shows an increasing emphasis on sustainable public procurement and the incorporation of

environmental and sustainability criteria in PPPs. In the 2008 publication, "Strategy for Sustainable

Construction", the UK Government clarified its aim to procure more sustainable properties and

infrastructure, achieve greater use of design quality assessment tools to ensure that buildings,

infrastructure and public spaces are fit for purpose, resource efficient, sustainable and resilient, as

well as utilise the construction industry's capacity to innovate and increase the sustainability of both

the construction processes and the resultant assets.

Recent changes that are noticeably shaping tender requirements in the UK include:

1. changes to what is required of public bodies and the buildings that house them;

2. bespoke accreditation processes (such as BREEAM) which are tied to Kyoto protocol-related

legislation (similar to Australia's Green Star and NABERS rating systems);

3. revised building regulations requiring new buildings to meet minimum sustainability

requirements; and

4. guidance from Treasury to public bodies on how to negotiate changes in service agreements to

enable existing PPP projects to meet rolling legislative demands around climate change.

Insights series Sustainability - Worldwide

New South Wales (Australia)

In September 2010, the NSW Government recently updated its Guidelines for Economic Appraisal –

under which the economic appraisals of new public infrastructure by Government agencies should

now explicitly include an evaluation of climate change. Climate change considerations in such

economic appraisals would include the estimated benefits (expressed as damages avoided)

compared with the cost of asset adaptation for new and existing assets, where adaptation refers to

adjustments in response to actual or anticipated climate changes or their effects. The new guidelines

emphasise that climate change uncertainty should be explicitly acknowledged and built into

decision-making processes in connection with the procurement of new infrastructure. Tenderers can

expect that their bids will also need to specifically consider climate change.

In some of the upcoming developments, PPP bids are also likely to be required to address social and

environmental considerations more fully in project objectives at the commencement of PPP

contracts and reflect these considerations in project specifications and monitoring of outcomes.

Various government agencies have started taking sustainability targets for themselves. For example -

the Transport Construction Authority (formerly TIDC) in already in the process of setting short,

medium and long term sustainability targets. One of TCA's long term targets is to ensure that the

cost-benefit analysis process used at the project feasibility stage considers whole-of-life costs and

makes adequate provision for community benefit and sustainability ("Sustainability Targets"

publication (2009)). These are now likely to pass on to the bidders targeting business from these

agencies.

Only costs?

Sustainability requirements are forming a greater part of tendering, not only as a reaction to

legislative and policy changes, but also as a reaction to the environment around us. Real project risks

relating to the environment, for example, climate (extended and unpredictable dry and wet periods)

and weather (severe storms, flooding) and the market (carbon trading, rise and fall of costs of

natural resources) are transforming because of the changing nature of the planet. These risks are

now being considered during the bid phase in greater depth - public bodies are requiring more

definition and risk allocation on such risks that were previously simply "acts of God" or "changes in

law". The private sector will need to consider how to address these risks.

Insights series Sustainability - Worldwide

Holistically, since construction industry depends on both numerous natural resources and the built

environment itself to support it, building sustainable projects, not only will the environment benefit

but also the construction industry itself.

These significant changes to legislation, policies and strategies are strong indicators of the change in

direction of the public sector to build more sustainable projects. The follow-on effect will be that

those in the private sector tendering to build these projects will need to meet these ever-increasing

requirements. Gearing up for these changes will definitely allow companies to respond to more and

more stringent guidelines that may come up soon. It will therefore be a strategic more of the

company to invest in preparing itself for such processes.

Linking to profitability

Until tougher sustainability requirements become minimum requirements in tendering

documentation and/or legislation, bidders need only comply with what is set as the minimum.

However, to stand out from other bidders, investing in sustainable options analysis could generate

good returns in the long run.

Some of the approaches could be using alternative costing approaches in line with the identified

sustainable targets such as

climate change

waste minimisation

use of materials from sustainable resources

energy and water use

integrated supply methods, or

a project carbon footprint.

These alternatives could give a bidder an advantage where the tender prescribes minimum or "nice

to have" sustainability requirements. Even if such alternatives are not put to use first time around,

the investment in sustainable thinking now will reap disproportionate rewards in the long term.

Insights series Sustainability - Worldwide

Summary

Change towards building more sustainable projects is well underway with government agencies

already beginning to include their own tough sustainability requirements in tenders. However, these

demands are only in their infancy. The private sector will be well served by anticipating where the

sustainability market is heading and being innovative with green ideas when bidding for PPPs. The

leading edge is no longer just about the best technology, best skills, best experience or best price but

also about what's best for a sustainable future.

About us

Agneya Carbon Ventures came into existence with the purpose of “To help our clients in

understanding, establishing sound Environment Management Systems, and pursuing sustainable

business solutions through our various services to abate direct and indirect impact on ecological

balance.”

We have expertise in the areas of carbon accounting and management, energy management

systems, voluntary/compliance carbon markets, environment management and sustainability and

carbon branding.

We have worked with companies across Private, Government and non-Government sectors enabling

them to create carbon accounting, monitoring and reporting systems.

We have undergone training in the area of sustainability reporting in the GRI framework of reporting

sustainability.

To know more about us, please visit http://www.agenya.in

To schedule a meeting or a discussion with us, do reach us on

Kedar - +91-9665407848 – kedar@agneya.in

Indrajeet - +91-9028788430 – indrajeet@agneya.in

References

http://www.lexology.com/library/document.ashx?g=affb6adb-b210-4899-9551-

4941217ac831#page=1