Building Global Capacity for Sustainable and Circular Public Procurement in High-Impact Sectors

This project supports the strategic outreach and implementation of the Global Framework for Action: Harnessing sustainable and circular public procurement to drive demand for a near-zero emission and resilient built environment. The project is led by IISD and funded by UNEP.

Public procurement is a powerful lever for accelerating the transition to low-carbon, climate-resilient infrastructure. Yet many procurement officers and policy-makers lack the practical tools and guidance needed to implement sustainable and circular practices. To address this gap, we developed a modular online course to raise awareness, build competencies, and engage key actors across the procurement and construction value chains. 

IISD is also designing and delivering a workshop for procurement officers and ministry representatives in Senegal, at the request of the Regulatory Authority for Public Procurement (ARCOP), in collaboration with the Ministry of Environment and Ecological Transition. The workshop aims to develop a national action plan for implementing the Global Framework for Action. Following the workshop, we will bring together procurement officials and suppliers in a facilitated engagement on market readiness. Insights from these discussions will inform a future regional buyer-supplier dialogue and help identify concrete public works projects where circular criteria could be applied.

The resources are designed to be accessible and adaptable across different regions, and to support countries in integrating sustainability and circularity into procurement decisions, helping translate the ambitions of the Global Framework for Action into implementation on the ground.

By equipping procurement professionals and decision-makers with the knowledge and tools to shape demand, this project contributes to a broader transformation of the built environment—one that advances climate mitigation, resilience, and resource efficiency.