During the last week of August, public and private sector managers, and experts from around the world gathered at the 2nd International Seminar on Sustainable Public Procurement to exchange experiences and propose new practices for the Federal Government. The event took place at the headquarters of the Federal Court of Accounts (TCU) on the 27th, 28th, and 29th.

ICLEI was one of the organizers of the event, along with the Ministry of Planning and the British Embassy in Brasília, through the project. Sustainable Procurement through Innovation and a Green and Inclusive Economy, The main objective of this event is to increase the institutional capacity of the Brazilian Federal Government (Ministry of Planning and Ministry of Development, Industry and Foreign Trade) to implement Brazilian legislation on sustainable public procurement (Decree 7.746/2012 and IN 10/2012). The Executive Secretary of ICLEI SAMS (Secretariat for South America), Jussara Carvalho, was present at the opening session, welcoming the audience, and then gave a presentation on the products developed throughout the project, in conjunction with the Ministry of Planning, as well as the evolution and tools of ICLEI within the scope of the Sustainable Public Procurement program.

Among the main tools presented by the Executive Secretary, which were developed by ICLEI Europe, an organization that has been working on public procurement for over 15 years, are: the Global Center for Public Procurement, which supports public authorities in implementing methodologies, disseminates new concepts and best practices, the Search+ Campaign, and also the platform Purchasing through Innovation (PPI, in English).

At the beginning of the presentations, Steven Grinden, Technical Secretary of the RICG (Inter-American Government Procurement Network), gave the audience an overview of sustainable public procurement in Latin America. The Secretary presented case studies of sustainable public procurement (SPP) in several Latin American countries, such as Argentina, Paraguay, Ecuador, Uruguay, Panama, among others, and added that, even at different levels of development, most Latin American countries have SPP projects or plans. Grinden emphasized that the main barrier remains the pressure from the procurement system to always opt for the cheapest products, and that there is still a lack of political support, knowledge of the criteria on the part of buyers, and a closer relationship between buyers and environmentalists.

ICLEI SAMS also featured three UK experts invited to speak: Barbara Morton, Director, Sustainable Procurement Ltd; Mervyn Jones, Head of Collaborative Programmes, WRAP Institute; and Norma Tregurtha, Senior Policy, ISEA Alliance.

Morton presented how her institution, Sustainable Procurement Limited, works on the topic of sustainable public procurement, assisting the public and private sectors, and how to develop strategies to introduce this type of policy in organizations. The Director emphasized the importance of adopting a CPS policy, which outlines paths with clarity and objectives, enables the adoption of legitimate procurement actions, and provides transparency for all levels of stakeholders, including department heads, financial administrators, users, and contractors.

Among the conversations between the audience and the speakers, made up of very enthusiastic experts, one of the main themes was the lack of criteria to encourage a green economy and the pressure of the contracting system to always choose the most economical option. The Director of Logistics at the Ministry of Planning (MP), Ana Maria Vieira dos Santos Neto, insisted that there is a need to change the standard thinking when contracting public services and that agencies should consider the economic, social, and environmental impacts of purchases when planning acquisitions.

Day 28

On the 2nd day (28) of the Seminar, Fabiana Barbi, Associate Consultant at ICLEI SAMS, went into detail about the project activities. Sustainable Innovation, implemented by ICLEI and funded by the British Embassy in Brasília, presenting some results and products developed throughout the project. Among them are: the development and implementation of Sustainable Logistics Management Plan by the MDIC, establishing a benchmark for public institutions in Brazil for the promotion of innovation and a green and inclusive economy, and also an international Technical Visit to the United Kingdom, carried out in early 2014, for the sharing of experiences on the subject.

Regarding the products developed, for the second half of 2014, a collaborative online platform on sustainable procurement and innovation was created for the Ministry of Planning's website, facilitating the dissemination of best practices, tools, methodologies, and promoting learning and dialogue among relevant stakeholders, which will be available soon: http://cpsustentaveis.planejamento.gov.br/ 

Next, still within the scope of the 'Sustainable Innovation' project, we had the participation of GVces researchers Gabriela Alem and Ricardo Dinato, who presented the technical studies on carbon footprint carried out within the scope of the 'Sustainable Innovation' project, with the aim of supporting the implementation of the MDIC's Sustainable Logistics Management Plan for products with recommendations on sustainability attributes. To achieve this, researchers Alem and Dinato emphasize that decision-making should encompass issues such as a systemic view understanding the product/service life cycle, subsidies that allow balancing negative externalities and positive impacts, and also shared responsibility for risks and damages.

According to the carbon footprint methodology, they first analyzed the use of printing and digital services using the GHG Protocol method, followed by a comparative analysis between the two types of service. Finally, through a life cycle analysis of printed and digital materials, they were able to identify which would be the most viable based on social, economic, and environmental criteria. In this case, screen-fed reading proved to be the best option, considering the difference in emissions between 5.9 g CO2eq for digital reading and 14.85 g CO2eq for printed material reading.

Day 29

On the last day (29) of the event, ICLEI held a course on Public Policies for Sustainability in Public Procurement, which was opened by Florence Laloe, Former Executive Secretary and Consultant, ICLEI SAMS, who gave an overview of the ICLEI network's work in Sustainable Public Procurement and presented the ICLEI methodology, consisting of 5 steps: Preparation, setting goals, developing an action plan, implementing the action plan and monitoring progress and reporting results.

Next, Barbara Morton delivered an exceptional lecture on the inclusion of sustainability criteria in public procurement, drawing on extensive experience with cases in the United Kingdom. The course aimed to clarify for the audience how sustainable public procurement has the power to support public progress towards economic development with social inclusion and optimize the use of natural resources.

The 2nd International Seminar on Sustainable Public Procurement is a partnership between ICLEI – Local Governments for Sustainability, the Ministry of Public Administration, and the British Embassy, with support from the Brazilian Federal Court of Accounts (TCU).