The Commonwealth Procurement Rules require that, when conducting a procurement on behalf of the Australian Government (i.e. the central-level government), an official must consider the relevant financial and non-financial costs and benefits of each submission, including the environmental sustainability of the goods and services (e.g. energy efficiency, environmental and climate change impact, and the use of recycled products). Moreover, the Sustainable Procurement Guide provides a step-by-step guidance for officials on how to consider sustainability across the different stages of the procurement process - from the identification of business needs to the ending phase of the contract, including review and reporting. The Guide is designed to be sufficiently flexible for entities to apply the guidance within their own departmental frameworks.

In 2010, the Federal Government adopted the first version of the Austrian Action Plan on Sustainable Public Procurement (naBe-Action Plan) promoting sustainability in its three dimensions: environmental, social and economic sustainability. The new action plan took effect on 1 July 2021 and is already mandatory for public-sector authorities at the federal level. The naBe-Action Plan pursues three goals:

At the national level in Belgium, there is a unique structure that includes the federal level, the three regions, and the communities. When it comes to various national responsibilities in Belgium, they are jointly managed by both the federal government and the three regional authorities, and there is no hierarchical arrangement among them. In practical terms, this approach means that GPP strategies are developed for each of the respective administrative bodies.

In Brazil, at the time of the Survey, sustainable national development is addressed by the bidding law 14, 133/2021, which establishes GPP both as a guiding principle and as an objective of all purchasing processes in Brazil, so that public purchases, without distinction, seek to promote positive socioeconomic and environmental impacts. In addition, it provides for environmental sustainability criteria as one of the parameters for defining variable remuneration associated with the contractor's performance. Brazil decided not to have a segregate policy on sustainable purchase so that there is no option to conduct a non-sustainable purchase. Therefore, sustainability in Brazil has been sought in a systemic and integrated manner to all the phases of the procurement process.

At the time of the Survey (2022), the Draft Decision of the Council of Ministers on the adoption of the Strategy and Action Plan for the transition to a circular economy of the Republic of Bulgaria for the period 2022-2027 was under public consultation (July-August 2022). In its response to the Survey, Bulgaria indicated to have already set up the National Waste Management Plan (NWMP) for the period 2021-2028 as well as the Integrated Plan in the field of energy and climate for the period 2021-2028.

In Canada, there is no dedicated policy for GPP defined at the national level and covering provinces and territories, as well as the federal government. Nonetheless, there are different federal government strategies and policies that include GPP, such as the Healthy Economy Healthy Environment Strengthened Climate Plan (2020), the Federal Sustainable Development Strategy (2022-2026), the Policy on Green Procurement, the Policy on the Planning and Management of Investments (amended 2021), the Directive on the Management of Procurement (amended 2022) and the Greening Government Strategy (last revised in February 2024).

Chile does not have a national-level strategy or policy specific to GPP. Nevertheless, GPP is covered by broader national initiatives. For example, the National Action Plan for Sustainable Consumption and Production (2017-2020) promotes the use of environmental criteria in public tenders to enhance the sustainability of the public sector. Notably, the envisage the provision of training for procurement officials for the use of environmental criteria in public tenders and the establishment of a monitoring system to keep track of sustainable public purchases. Moreover, GPP is part of the Estado Verde Programme, an accreditation system managed by the Ministry of the Environment with the objective of promoting good environmental practices in the daily work of public entities, including through green public procurement. Similarly, GPP is also promoted at the municipal level through the Municipal Environmental Certification System.

In 2015, the country adopted the National Policy of Sustainable Public Procurement (SPP) and set up the basis for the creation of the National Steering Committee of Sustainable Procurement. The National Policy on SPP aims at promoting the strategic use of public procurement to support the production and consumption of goods and services that are innovative and provide the best economic, social, and environmental performance.

At state-level, sustainable public procurement (including green public procurement) has been advocated for many years, e.g. with the establishment of the Forum for Sustainable Procurement in 2010. In October 2020, the previous government introduced the strategy for green public procurement (the GPP strategy). This strategy aimed at ensuring that the public procurement at state-level would contribute to the national target of reducing Denmark's greenhouse gas emissions by 70 percent in 2030.

In Estonia, the National Strategy “Estonia 2035” (adopted in 2021) and the Action Plan “Estonia 2035” (adopted in 2022) promote sustainability, and flexible and value-based public procurement, including the prioritisation of environmentally friendly, socially responsible, and innovative services and construction works.

Finland’s National Public Procurement Strategy (2020) aims at strengthening the strategic use of public procurement to achieve wider societal goals, including environmental sustainability. The Strategy promotes ecological responsibility in public procurement operations and activities, at all levels of government, and it defines a set of indicators and an action plan with concrete measures.

A National Plan for Sustainable Procurement (PNAD) has been adopted for 2022-2025. This national strategy includes all public and private purchasers, this roadmap sets common objectives and provides for the deployment of tools and support programmes for all buyers.

The Federal Climate Change Act (last amended in 2021) sets the overarching goal of a climate-neutral Federal Administration by 2030. The Act stipulates a requirement according to which the Federal Government needs to consider, in public procurement procedures, how it can contribute to achieving climate protection targets, as specified in the Act itself. The Government must give preference to procuring products that achieve the goal of reducing GHG emissions at the lowest cost, over the entire life cycle.

In Greece, the first GPP National Action Plan (NAP) was published in 2021 and over the period 2021-2023. The Action Plan is revised every three years, or earlier if needed.

National GPP strategy in development at the time of the survey.

Iceland has a GPP strategy in place, which was last revised in 2021. A detailed action plan accompanies the strategy that ensures alignment between the relevant bodies.

In Ireland, “Green Tenders” (2012) constitutes the National Action Plan on Green Public Procurement (GPP). In addition to that, GPP is also part of Ireland’s Climate Action Plan 2019 and 2021.

In Israel, Government decision No. 1057 – "Green government" and its correction - Government decision No. 5090, direct all ministries to lessen its use of water, energy, fuels and paper, as well as consider environmental issues in its procurement. The legal framework on GPP was last revised in 2012.

Italy, under a primary law, approved its first Green Public Procurement National Action Plan (GPP NAP) back in 2008. The Plan was reviewed and updated in 2013 and replaced in August 2023, after the closure of the Survey.

The Act on Promotion of Procurement of Environmental Goods by the Government (Green Purchasing Act) was last revised in 2022.

The Republic of Korea has the Act on the promotion of purchase of green products, based on which GPP issues are tackled. The purpose of this Act is to prevent waste of resources and environmental pollution and contribute to the reduction of the greenhouse gas emission and the sustainable development of the national economy by encouraging purchase of green products. (Article1)

In Latvia, the regulatory instrument prepared by the Ministry of Environmental Protection and Regional Development and approved by the Cabinet of Ministers – Regulation on Requirements for Green Public Procurement and Procedures for Application – is in force since 1st of July 2017. The regulations of Cabinet of Ministers No. 353 determine the requirements and criteria for green public procurement (GPP) and procedures for its application. In 2020 and 2023 amendments were made to the regulations of Cabinet of Ministers No. 353 reviewing GPP criteria for several groups of goods and services and creating new GPP criteria.

The XVIII Programme of the Government of the Republic of Lithuania, approved by Government Resolution on the 11th of December 2020, has set the vision for GPP as one of the key instruments in greening the public sector and shifting the market towards a green economy. The National Progress Plan 2021-2030 (Government Resolution 2020-09-09 No. 998) also highlights the need to increase the proportion of GPP in public procurement. This Pan is of most significant importance for Lithuanian development which defines objectives and indicators for sustainable development.

At the time of the survey, there was not an active policy or framework dedicated to GPP in Mexico.

In 2015, the Government of Netherland published the Action Plan for Responsible and Sustainable Procurement (RSP) by governments for the period 2015 - 2020. The main purpose behind the Plan was to raise awareness on the potentials of public procurement to achieve national environmental objectives and to strengthen capacity of public buyers to adopt sustainable procurement solutions.

In New Zealand, GPP is part of a wider national strategy to accelerate the reduction of emissions within the public sector, which is also known as the Carbon Neutral Government Programme or CNGP (2020). Most relevantly, public procurement is mentioned as a key leverage to achieve two priorities:

In 2021, Norway has launched a new Action Plan to increase the proportion of green public procurement and green innovation for the period 2021 – 2030, and the Norwegian Agency for Public and Financial Management (DFØ) is responsible for the follow-up and updating of the action plan. A revision and update of the action plan is scheduled in 2024 and 2027.

In Peru, there is not an active national policy or strategic framework specific to GPP. Nevertheless, the National Supply System has a series of principles, among which are included Environmental, Social and Economic Sustainability principles, which are oriented towards respect for the environment, social and economic development, in order to strategically prioritise the needs of citizens and the efficient use of public resources.

The strategic framework governing GPP is Portugal currently defined by the (second) National Strategy for Green Public Procurement for the period 2017-2020 (or ENCPE 2020), which applies public entities that are part of the State’s direct and indirect administration, as well as to the State's business sector.

The fourth National Action Plan on Sustainable Public Procurement for the period 2017-2020 has been replaced by the State Purchasing Policy (adopted by the Council of Ministers on 11 January 2022) for the period 2022 – 2025. The State Purchasing Policy defines Poland’s priority actions in public procurement and encourages contracting authorities to purchase innovative or sustainable products and services.

The regulatory framework for public procurement Article 187,(5) a) and Article 188, (2), (3) of Law no.98/2016 on public procurement, Article 209, (4), (^4), (5) a) and Article 2010, (3) of Law no.99/2016 on sectoral procurement. sets out the mandatory requirement for all contracting authorities and contracting entities, across all levels of government, for GPP. In addition to that, the country has a specific primary legislation on GPP since 2016 (Law no. 69/2016) and a Guide for implementation has been approved by Order of the Ministry of Environment, Water and Forests together with the National Agency for Public Procurement no.1068/1652/2018.

The (2019) National Strategy for Environmental Policy until 2030 recognises the potential of GPP to support green innovation and the country’s transition towards a circular economy. The Strategy sets the target to implement GPP in at least 70% of the total number and value of public procurement contracts. To ensure success, GPP will be made mandatory for central government authorities, self-governing regions, and municipalities. The mandatory requirement to use GPP will initially be limited to a selected number of product groups, which will gradually expand to reach the target set by 2030. Moreover, the electronic system for public procurement will help disseminate information of GPP and monitor implementation.

In addition to the Public Procurement Act (2015) the Government of the Republic of Slovenia adopted a Decree on GPP in 2012, with the aim of reducing emissions and making the public sector a role model for society and the private sector. The GPP Decree was revised in 2018 (Uradni list RS, št. 51/17 z dne 19. 9. 2017) in order to promote markets for green products and support the country’s transition to a circular economy. The last update of the GPP Decree was in 2021 (Uradni list RS, št. 121/2021 from 23. 7. 2021) with the additional two green subjects. In particular, the GPP Decree provides for the obligation of contracting authorities to integrate environmental considerations for different procurement categories (e.g. products, services, and works).

At the national level, the Ecological Public Procurement Plan 2018-2025 (Order PCI/86/2019) constitutes the strategic framework for GPP, and it applies to the General State Administration, its autonomous bodies, and the managing entities of Social Security system. The Plan is managed by the Interministerial Commission on the use of ecological criteria in public procurement, under the leadership of the Ministry for the Ecological Transition and the Demographic Challenge and the Ministry of Finance. The Interministerial Commission ensures the co-ordination of the National Government, its public bodies and the Social Security management bodies in the incorporation and use of green criteria in public procurement. There are also many state bodies responsible for the management of the Green Public Procurement Plan in its different phases (supervision, review, monitoring, training) - the Interministerial Commission is involved to a greater or lesser extent in all of them. For the subnational level, the national legal framework on public procurement (Act 9/2017, of November 8, on Public Sector Contracts or LSCP) allows subnational entities to develop their own regional public procurement strategies, which can include GPP. Some Autonomous Communities are now approving their own strategies, which also cover green public procurement.

Switzerland has not developed a national strategy or action plan specific to GPP. Nevertheless, Sustainable Public Procurement (SPP) is part of the broader national Strategy for Sustainable Development 2030. Notably, the Strategy states that the Swiss Confederation “procures products, services and construction works that meet stringent economic, environmental and social specifications throughout their service life. It establishes a strategic framework that sets the level of ambition for sustainability criteria and provides for appropriate controlling and monitoring”.

Public procurement is part of the government's climate action plan, which states that public procurement must contribute to achieving Sweden's climate goals. Sweden’s climate action plan mentions that environmental costs over the entire life cycle should be taken into account for reduced climate impact, that public procurement plays an important role in designing the transport infrastructure in accordance with the environmental and climate goals and that investments in transport infrastructure should gradually develop to become climate neutral. The climate action plan is part of the climate policy framework. According to this framework, the government must issue a climate action plan every four years.

The Greening Government Commitments set out the actions UK government departments and their agencies will take to reduce their impacts on the environment in the period 2021 to 2025.https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/greening-government-commitments-2021-to-2025/greening-government-commitments-2021-to-2025. This includes the following commitments pertaining to procuring sustainable products and services:

Executive Order 14057, Catalyzing Clean Energy Industries and Jobs Through Federal Sustainability (December 8, 2021) and the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) Part 23 - Environment, Energy and Water Efficiency, Renewable Energy Technologies, Occupational Safety, and Drug-Free Workplace, last revised in 2021 constitute the US legal framework on GPP.