Also under the EaP GREEN project, UNEP organized a Regional Workshop on Sustainable Public Procurement (SPP), on 7 and 8 May in Paris. The workshop introduced the SPP concept to a wide audience of national public and private decision makers.

The main objectives of this workshop were to raise the awareness of public and private decision makers about SPP and how to implement it, and discuss with national experts and other stakeholders the benefits that could be derived from it. Participants were also trained in the UNEP SPP Approach.

Forty-one participants attended the event, including government officials from the ministries of environment, finance and economy and procurement agencies, as well as business-sector representatives from the six EU EaP countries.

Also, UNEP in partnership with the Agency of Public Procurement of the Republic of Moldova organized an SPP Inception Workshop on 14 and 15 May in Chisinau, at the Ministry of Finance.

The objective of the workshop was to launch the country-level SPP activities in the Republic of Moldova and enhance synergies between SPP and eco-labelling. In particular, the workshop aimed at raising awareness about the potential benefits that could be derived from the joint application of SPP and eco-labelling. It also presented to the Steering Committee members the UNEP Approach for SPP policy development and the contribution of eco-labelling to SPP implementation. Participants agreed on the institutional and project management modalities and the scope of the SPP component.

The workshop brought together the major SPP players of the Republic of Moldova such as public procurers, civil society and business sector representatives, and other stakeholders, including consumer associations. It was attended by 27 participants.

As a result of the workshop, the Steering Committee was formally established and its members were trained on SPP and eco-labelling. The project implementation plan for 2014 was approved by the Committee and the scope of the project defined. It will target both central and local levels of government, procurement entities and certain public enterprises.

More information: rie.tsutsumi@unep.org