Sustainable procurement is happening everywhere, in the international community, in states and local authorities, in the private sector and in the civil society. A vast amount of material is available on the internet for organizations and companies wishing to improve their sustainability performance.

This page contains reference documents, on-line tools, links to other useful sites, projects and initiatives on sustainable procurement developments.

In the international community:

• Buying Green! A handbook on environmental public procurement, European Commission, DG Environment
• Green Public Procurement Training Toolkit, European Commission, DG Environment
• Greener Public Purchasing, OECD, Environment Directorate
• IGPN, International Green Purchasing Network
• Interagency Working Group on Environmentally and Socially Responsible Procurement, started by multilateral development banks and United Nations organisations.
• Marrakech Task Force on Sustainable Procurement, led by the Swiss Government
• SUN, UNDP Sustainable United Nations initiative
• The Flower, the European eco-label
• UN EMG, the United Nations Environment Management Group webpage on climate neutrality
• UNEP, Green Office Guide

In countries, regions and cities:

• Buy green toolkit, developed by the Queensland Government
• CARPE, Cities as Responsible Purchasers in Europe
• Energie-Cités, an association of European local authorities promoting sustainable energy policies
• Environmental issues in purchasing, UK DEFRA
• Green Public Purchasing, the Swiss Government policy
• Guidance for Sustainable procurement, provided by the Swedish Environmental Management Council
• Local experiences, green procurement in Spanish municipalities
• National plan for sustainable procurement, French Government (FR)
• National Procurement Service, Danish Government (DK)
• New American Dream, US initiative to support institutional purchasers in green procurement
• Procuring the future, report of the UK Sustainable Procurement Task Force
• SIDA’s policy for green procurement, Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency
• Social issues in purchasing, UK DEFRA
• Sustainable procurement task force, established by the UK Government
• US Environmental Protection Agency - US database of environmental information
• US Environmental Protection Agency – US environmentally Preferable Purchasing (EPP)

In the private sector and civil society:

• Acquisti Verdi, portal of producers and distributors of green products (IT)
• Ecolabelling.org, the independent global guide to eco-labelling
• Equator-principles, a benchmark for financial institutions
• Ethical trading initiative, an alliance of companies, non-governmental organisations and trade union organisations
• Fairtrade, Fairtrade Labelling Organizations International’s certification
• GEN, Global Ecolabelling Network
• Global Reporting Initiative, a multi-stakeholders network on sustainability reporting
• GRIP, a Norwegian foundation promoting sustainable consumption and production (N)
• ICLEI Procura+ campaign, Local Governments for Sustainability
• IFC Sustainability, environmental and social standards for the International Finance Corporation’s clients
• Interest Group for Ecological Purchasing, Swiss website with information on sustainable procurement (D)
• International Institute for Sustainable Development – IISD sustainable procurement expertise
• UN Global Compact, the voluntary UN-business framework