The program of the event included the presentations by the representatives of the Ministry of Economy and the EU Delegation to Ukraine, international and national experts, who provided the recommendations for defining and applying criteria for sustainable public procurement and outlined the role of ecolabelling as a reliable tool for environmental performance of goods, materials and services.

Video

Olga Simak, Environment Coordinator of the EU Delegation to Ukraine, spoke about the EU policy on greening public procurement, the impact of the European Green Deal and the role of ecolabels in shaping the EU green market.

Farid Yaker, Economic and Trade Policy Officer, United Nations Environment Program

UNEP Recommendations on the Definition and Application of SPP Criteria

Public procurement, which accounts for up to 20% of GDP in Eastern Europe and the Caucasus, provides a largely untapped opportunity to stimulate business and domestic markets to innovate and increase sustainability. By purchasing more sustainable goods, works and services, the public sector can significantly reduce its environmental impact and greenhouse gas emissions, increase energy and resource efficiency, and achieve high social standards and quality of life.

Sustainable Public Procurement (SPP) is a widely recognized key policy tool to support sustainable development and the inclusive transition to a green economy. International, European, national and other standards allow manufacturers to implement sustainable management systems and increase their efficiency based on uniform requirements in accordance with best practices and taking into account current issues.

Björn-Eric Lenn, Senior International Adviser on Nordic Swan Ecolabel (Scandinavian countries, Ecolabelling Norway), Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Global Ecolabelling Network; experience in the field of eco-labeling - since 1993; the organizer of the working group on the revision of the international ecolabelling standard ISO 14024 in 2014-2018.

Principles, methods and advantages of ecolabelling according to ISO 14024, their role in the formation of green markets and in the field of public procurement..

The initial boom in claims and labels about the "environmental friendliness" of products began in the 1980s. The information on various environmental issues at the local and global levels became relevant and spread rapidly. At the same time, very often people's minds were manipulated by simplistic and false "green statements" about aspects of activities, their consequences or products. The first independent ecolabelling programs were aimed at preventing “green eye-catching” declared by the manufacturers themselves, and provided for the introduction of standardized certification systems and assessment methods that could be trusted. The minimum requirements for the provision of truthful environmental information were set in the early 1990s, and the first international standards were adopted in 1998-2000 that set out the conditions for declaring certain environmental characteristics or confirming environmental benefits according to clearly defined criteria for independent peer review.

Over the past three decades, the seriousness of various environmental threats has become understood in almost all countries in the world, as referred to in a number of Conventions and other policy documents. The UN Decision on 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) is a document with a global perspective. SDG 12 aims to ensure sustainable consumption and production. This is the issue on which all ecolabelling programs implemented in accordance with ISO 14024 and certified by the Global Ecolabelling Network - GENICES program of mutual trust and recognition are now focused. In particular, the Ukrainian program, which is represented by the logo "Green Crane", has successfully passed the audit and maintained the status of certified under the GENICES program since 2010.

The state has a wide range of tools that can be used to reduce environmental impacts and prevent climate change: laws and regulations, permits, environmental taxes and others. But along with them, voluntary standards provide an opportunity to choose more environmentally friendly solutions. This choice can only be based on reliable information based on the life cycle.

The Global Ecolabelling Network is an international organization that supports the development of this area, steadily increasing the level of use of bona fide ecolabels at the national and regional levels. We are on the path to reducing our environmental impact through the systematic application of ecolabelling standards, which are developed globally in accordance with the best technologies and methods and are the most demanding to the components, the finished product and all stages of the life cycle associated with it. We have existed for decades in many markets and will stay here for a long time…

At the workshop successful practices of SPP application in Ukraine, plans to strengthen the capacity of application of sustainability requirements for goods and services, ecolabelling standards in the field of public procurement, the new draft recommended criteria for sustainable public procurement and environmental criteria for life cycle assessment were presented.

Presentations

• The changes in national legislation that affect the possibility of applying SPP in Ukraine. The recommendations and examples of application of SPP criteria.
• Presentation and discussion of the draft SPP criteria for road repair and construction
• Presentation and discussion of draft criteria for food and food services
• The role of ecolabels in the implementation of SPP in Ukraine
• Presentation and discussion of the draft ecolabelling standard for furniture, flooring and other wood products
• Presentation and discussion of the draft ecolabelling standard for plastic products

Lesya Nikolaeva representative of the EU4Environment, outlined the next steps of the project and invited all the participants to take an active part in discussing the new SPP criteria and ecolabel standards developed by the NGO Living Planet experts, which will last until November 1, 2021.

Draft updated environmental standard for furniture, floor coverings and timber products

Draft updated environmental standard for plastic products

Moderator

Oleksiy Bakhtinov, Project Manager for Public Procurement Reform, ProZorro Reform Support Team of the Ministry of Economy , Sustainable Public Procurement Expert.

Organizers

The United Nations Environment Program together with the Ministry of Ecology and Natural Resources of Ukraine, the Ministry of Economy of Ukraine and the NGO Living Planet.

The workshop is part of the EU-funded EU4Environment program, which helps six partner countries: Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, the Republic of Moldova and Ukraine, preserve their natural capital and improve the quality of the environment for people by supporting activities, related to environmental protection, demonstrating and unlocking opportunities for environmental growth and creating mechanisms for better management of environmental risks and consequences.