The European Union’s newest member, Croatia, is wholeheartedly embracing the concept of green public procurement. A seminar run by GPP 2020 from 27 - 28 November 2013 aimed to equip procurers with the knowledge and skills to procure low-carbon products, services and works. The seminar was attended by a host of municipalities, national and regional ministries and organisations, and academic institutions from across Croatia.

The seminar focused in detail on the legal and organisational framework for green tendering procedures and on calculating life-cycle costing. Having received the training, participants will now implement low-carbon tenders in ten categories, demonstrating the impact that low-carbon criteria in public procurement can have and serving as examples to other procurers.

Implementation of the tenders will also contribute towards the EU’s target to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, increase the share of renewable energy and increase energy efficiency. Sandra Vlašić, Environmental Programme Officer at UNDP, said, “Trainings of this kind are helpful to public procurers because they have to follow legal procedures while taking into account technical requirements of the products and services with a low-carbon footprint.”

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