Sustainable Procurement

A number of large companies have signed a letter to the Prime Minister asking him to give a minister responsibility for sustainable procurement.

The letter follows on from a report by the government’s Sustainable Procurement Task Force and the signatory companies include BT, Carillion, KPMG, Vodafone, Redfern Travel and Willmott Dixon.

The signatories “firmly believe that sustainable procurement is essential for the future prosperity of the country and that it is wholly compatible with running a successful country and business in today’s world”.

The letter also says the procurement activities of the public sector are “a significant and effective but currently sadly under-utilised tool” which could be used for meeting the government’s sustainable development aims. It asks that the PM “appoint a Minister to drive forward sustainable procurement within our sectors”.

The signatories commit to actively supporting the government in developing and improving sustainable procurement methods within the sectors in which each organisation operates, and they also commit to providing the Minister and the government with active support to help drive the initiative forward..

Finally the letter proposes that the signatories and the Minister issue a sustainable procurement progress report each year.

It is an interesting and positive sign that the environment is getting more attention that a group of businesses should send such a letter. With one important caveat – that it should not be implemented in a way which favours large businesses over small ones or is too heavily bureaucratic – I hope that the government will listen and act on this letter.

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