The State and Municipal Purchasing Service in Denmark (SKI) held their annual meeting in Denmark in January 2020 with over 800 participants.
The Director of SKI welcomed with the following words:
“We have to buy green, yes. But how does one do that? What are the requirements for products and processes? What should we actually buy? And how should we buy in? These are the questions we need to ask if we are to succeed. There are no easy answers – and we can’t find them separately.”
In Denmark, the Climate ambitions is very, very high – and so are the expectations for the public purchasers. If you read the government’s climate plan with a target of 70 % climate reduction, The National Association of Municipalities (KL) new CO2 strategy and the Confederation of Danish Industry (DI) new “green public procurement” you can see that there is a broad consensus that public procurement is one of the most important tools for the green transition in Denmark.
The former Minister of Environment in Denmark and former EU Commissioner Connie Hedegård gave her advice: We need to invest to reap in the long term. It takes political courage to do so. The low-hanging fruit lies with the purchaser who have to consider life-cycle assessments, the after-use phase, design circular and transport in tenders.
There was also break out section with a lot of good cases from all over Denmark. The day was full of activity and small talk with well-known and new faces.
