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sustainable
PROCUREMENT
Sustainable and fair forest
products
Many public authorities have
introduced sustainable timber
purchasing policies – to ensure that the
wood-based products they buy come
from sustainably managed forests.
However, how can we also ensure that
forest communities and small forest
producers benefit from this trade?
currently undergoing consultation. The
final version is due to be published in
September 2012. Those interested in
participating in the consultation, or
in piloting sustainable and fair timber
procurement, see contact details below.
For more information, contact:
procurement@iclei.org or visit:
http://www.sustainable-timber-action.org
For many smaller producers in the south,
sustainable forestry certification is simply
too expensive to achieve, with the costs
typically borne by the producers and not
the consumers. Applying the successes
of the fair trade approach to the timber
sector may be one way to address
this problem and help to improve the
livelihoods of these communities.
Image: Ignacio Izquierdo
The Sustainable Timber Action project
aims to help public authorities discover
how to purchase timber products
produced in line with the principles
of both sustainable forestry and fair
trade. Draft procurement guidance is
LANDMARK project on the
move
By changing the consumption patterns
of public authorities, the living and
working conditions of workers in
Asia and parts of Sub-Saharan Africa,
particularly those in the textiles, food,
construction and electronics sectors can
dramatically improve. The LANDMARK
project enables European local
authorities to act as key drivers for the
promotion of fair working conditions in
global supply chains for products and
services purchased by the public sector.
The training and capacity building
programme successfully kicked-off with a
training given to the Federal Procurement
Agency of the Ministry of the Interior
of Germany in February 2012. This
strengthened the capacity of professional
trainers to include aspects of social
responsibility in their curricula, with a
special focus on the impact on the supply
chain and decent working conditions.
The LANDMARK project also published
a legal guidance document that
provides useful information for verifying
compliance with social criteria along the
supply chain. It includes an analysis of the
strengths, weaknesses and opportunities
for a public authority that wants to make
social responsibility a key component of
their purchasing decisions.
For more information, visit:
http://www.landmark-project.eu
Textiles, ICT and food are some of the
various groups LANDMARK focuses on
Sustainable Procurement
Resource Centre
Gathering the latest and most relevant
information in one place, the Sustainable
Procurement Resource Centre is a one-stop
access point for procurers, policy makers,
researchers and other stakeholders.
The Sustainable Procurement Resource
Centre contains key knowledge on how
to effectively undertake sustainable
procurement, saving public authorities
money and driving the market towards
sustainable solutions.
The latest news and events on
sustainable procurement are available,
and visitors can also take advantage
of networking opportunities, discover
ongoing initiatives to participate in
and tap into an extensive searchable
database. Examples of what can be found
include procurement criteria, policies
and strategies, tools and guidance and
good practice cases, studies and reports.
For more information, visit:
http://www.sustainable-procurement.org
Image: istockphoto.com / Micky Wiswedel
14 CoNNECTIoNS 41 - 2012