Green Public Procurement for Natural Gas, Cement, and Steel

Expanding green public procurement programs to include materials and fuel with large CO2 and methane emissions could create market incentives for producers and encourage innovation and best practice.The most important drivers for a program’s success are the design, funding, industry engagement, policy strength, staff, and leadership commitment.The perception that environmentally friendly products are more expensive than traditional ones is a major barrier to green procurement programs. Another significant barrier is the lack of implementation expertise for procuring green materials (such as cement and steel) for buildings, roads, bridges, and vehicles. Still, governments in Europe and, very recently California, are moving down this path, with the federal government poised as well.Design decisions on green standards, certification bodies and processes, as well as tools for firms to calculate their carbon footprint are critical to program success.