Participants in the Global Lead City Network on Sustainable Procurement (GLCN on SP) have come together on Saturday 5 December at the COP21 to celebrate their first annual Summit in the Cities & Regions Pavilion – TAP2015.
Auckland, Cape Town, Denver, Ghent, Helsinki, Oslo, Quezon, Rotterdam, Seoul and Warsaw are all participants of this Network, which is a joint initiative of Seoul Metropolitan Government and ICLEI – Local Governments for Sustainability. On the occasion of their first Summit, the ten cities presented their sustainable procurement activities and commitments, and shared their knowledge and experience. In leading by example, participants of the Network aim to accelerate the implementation of sustainable purchasing worldwide.
Park Won Soon, Mayor of Seoul Metropolitan Government, was elected chair of the GLCN on SP during the session. “We, the Network participating cities, try to protect the Earth through sustainable public procurement. Our desire and efforts will help protect the Earth and our citizens. If we walk together, it will become a road for us. If we dream together, it will become a reality. Let us write a history together that provides sustainable future for both the humankind and the environment”, Mayor Park said.
Mayors, Deputy Mayors and other political representatives from the cities speaking at the Summit highlighted the role of sustainable procurement in combating climate change. With a unified voice, they emphasized the power of local authorities to introduce sustainable criteria in their tenders, in order to improve their citizens’ lives and achieve other social, economic and environmental benefits. All ten cities have shown their commitment to share this message in their regions, and persuade both the public and private sectors to introduce sustainable procurement practices which move them forward along the path of sustainable development.
GLCN on SP city authorities want their cities to be liveable, healthy and green, influencing other cities to copy their actions. Several achievements were mentioned by the cities, such as including fuel efficiency in city fleet tenders, using social clauses in tenders, running capacity building workshops for city procurers, and introducing life cycle assessment to take account of environmental costs when awarding tenders. They have expressed their willingness to continue championing sustainable public procurement and public procurement of innovation to make their societies resource efficient, low carbon and socially responsible. In order to do this, they will set new targets within the Network and report on their progress towards meeting these targets.
The GLCN on SP was launched in April 2015 with Seoul (Republic of Korea), Cape Town (South Africa), Helsinki (Finland), Ghent (Belgium) and Rotterdam (The Netherlands) as founding cities. United Nations Environmental Programme (UNEP) and Korea Environmental Industry and Technology Institute (KEITI) have welcomed the initiative and are looking forward to its integration in the 10YFP on SPP Programme.
For more information, visit the GLCN on SP website: www.glcn-on-sp.