§ Baroness Miller of Chilthorne Domerasked Her Majesty's Government:
Whether consideration of the environmental impact of procurement decisions is an essential tool in developing a truly sustainable procurement policy. [HL4409]
§ Lord WhittyThe consideration of the environmental impacts arising from procurement is an essential tool in developing a truly sustainable procurement strategy. Government departments are required to identify the possible adverse environmental impacts of their operational activities and to eliminate them as far as practicable by specifying environmental criteria for the products and services they purchase.
The cross-government Sustainable Procurement Group set up by the Secretary of State will seek to identify opportunities for public sector buyers to purchase more effectively to help achieve government commitments on sustainable development within the policy and legal framework for pubic procurement. It is intended that the group will make recommendations that will form part of a new framework for sustainable development on the government estate that will be rolled out by spring 2003 to cover key operational areas such as energy, water, travel, waste, bio-diversity and procurement.