Performance-based Specifications can spur innovation and green products, finds new report

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

WINNIPEG—October 28, 2014—Governments around the world have great potential to encourage the development of sustainable and eco-friendly products and services, by using performance-based specifications (PBSs) in their public procurement practices.

This is according to a new research paper by the International Institute for Sustainable Development (IISD) that investigated the use of PBSs in public procurement in the European Union and the United States. PBSs allow public authorities to state their needs in general terms by describing what general functions they require (e.g., lighting, mobility, information management) rather than specifying the minute details of the inputs and process required to get there.

“Governments really have the power to encourage innovation that will result in more sustainable practices and greener products and services,” said Oshani Perera, director, Public Procurement and Infrastructure Finance program at IISD. “By only specifying the outcomes they want to see, governments incentivize vendors, who have the necessary knowledge and skillsets, to come up with original solutions that benefit the environment.”

The report looks at the benefits and limitations of the use of PBSs at different points in the procurement cycle in different sectors, particularly around their ability to support sustainable development goals and deliver environmental benefits.

This week at the Green Growth Forum in Copenhagen, IISD partnered with the United Nations Development Programme to host a session entitled Public Procurement and Eco-Innovation in the Health Sector. The highly successful session explored how PBSs have the potential to spur green production of pharmaceuticals, medical devices and health products in the health sector on a large scale.

IISD’s Public Procurement and Infrastructure Finance program provides policy advice, technical assistance and research services to encourage governments to adopt sustainable public procurement practices, as they transition towards a greener economy. One of its most recently launched projects is an initiative to encourage green public procurement in Bhutan.

For more information please contact Sumeep Bath, IISD media and communications officer, at sbath@iisd.org or +1 (204) 958 7740.