Sustainable Procurement

The combined purchasing power of UN organizations holds significant potential to influence the market in favour of sustainable development. Sustainable procurement practices “integrate requirements, specifications and criteria that are compatible and in favour of the protection of the environment, of social progress and in support of economic development, namely by seeking resource efficiency, improving the quality of products and services and ultimately optimizing costs” (United Nations High Level Committee on Management Procurement Network - HLCM PN, 2009).

As part of the ASR, participating UN organizations report annually through a voluntary online survey on the extent to which sustainability considerations have been integrated into their procurement processes. For the 2022 report, 29 organizations provided information on sustainable procurement.

This section includes data from the most recent survey on sustainable procurement. An overview of recent trends can be found in the Report.

In addition to these statistics, UNGM provides a range of other materials and tools related to sustainable procurement in the UN context.

This includes information on the set of indicators developed in 2019 by UN organizations through the United Nations High-Level Committee on Management (HLCM) to improve the tracking, measuring and reporting on sustainable procurement implementation in UN procurement processes.

Policy, strategy and targets

The inclusion of sustainability considerations in an organization’s procurement policy and strategy reflects the high-level commitment of an organization to more sustainable procurement practices and provides the foundation and framework for action. UN organizations continue to develop and implement policies and strategies for sustainable procurement. Additionally, for reporting and accountability purposes measurable targets and objectives are set by some participating organizations.

The Annual Statistical Report on United Nations Procurement is produced by UNOPS on behalf of the United Nations. More information 

Sustainable procurement integration in the procurement process

Sustainability considerations can be incorporated into different stages of the procurement process. The sustainable procurement survey for the ASR concentrates on three areas of interest: sustainability criteria in requirements definitions, total cost of ownership in the financial evaluation, and sustainability aspects in contract terms. 

Sustainable procurement outlook

All survey questions taken together provide an outlook on what activities participating organizations plan to implement throughout the coming year in order to advance sustainable procurement considerations in their operations.

Internal capacity development

Providing training and developing internal capacity in sustainable procurement can be important enablers for organizations to successfully integrate sustainability considerations into their procurement processes. UN organizations regularly undertake and organize training sessions on sustainable procurement for their personnel or make other investments to enhance their internal capacity on sustainable procurement.

Supplier engagement

Suppliers also play an important role in the advancement of more sustainable practices and supply chains. Through the United Nations Supplier Code of Conduct, the UN has summarized its expectations of all suppliers in terms of labour and human rights, protection of the environment and ethical conduct. Ensuring that suppliers comply with the Code of Conduct and collaborating with them to enhance sustainability practices can help UN organizations address potential and current sustainability risks throughout the entire supply chain. 

Total cost of ownership

Total cost of ownership is defined as the sum of all recurring and one-time costs over the full life span of a good, service, structure or system. It includes, among other things, the purchase price, installation costs, operating costs, maintenance and repair costs and the remaining residual or salvage value at the end of ownership or its useful life.

To capture trends in the type of sustainability considerations addressed, participating organizations are asked to report on whether they include environmental, social and economic considerations in their procurement processes. In 2022, 22 out of 29 reporting organizations incorporated all 3 dimensions of sustainability considerations in procurement, as demonstrated in the dashboard below.

The share of organizations that had included or planned to include sustainability criteria in requirements definitions reached 90 per cent.

As part of the survey, participating organizations are also asked to estimate the percentage of administrative and technical tenders in which sustainability considerations were incorporated. Administrative tenders are considered to relate to the procurement of office needs such as paper, computers and furniture, while technical tenders correspond to the procurement of project–related needs that are not administrative. Please note, these two categories are general descriptions and do not correspond to the taxonomy of the UNSPSC.