1. ”Howcan Public
Procurementhelpimprove
public sector services,
solvesocietalchallenges and
spur innovation? ”
Comments by Anders Wijkman, Chair of the
Swedish GvtInquiry on Public Procurement, at
Nordic Health Arena on May 22nd, 2013

2. Public Procurement Review –
mainfindings
• Lack of leadership and strategy
• Legal perspectivetoodominating
• Opp:s for negotiation and dialoguelimited – prevents
innovative solutions to surface
• Skillslackingamong PP responsibles
• Data and statisticslacking
• Uncertaintyaboutwhat social and environmentalclaimscan
be put
• Impact studies on impact of PP envi and social claimsfew
and far between
• Qualitycriteriaoften lack precision; Monitoring is poor
• Lowestprice vs Quality; Life-cyclethinking is rare
• Toomanycourtcases

3. Swedish Inquiry Report addresses
major problems
• Gvtdevelop a National Strategy to be approved by Parliament; Strategies
at County/Municipal level as well
• PP-responsiblesshould be member of Management Teams
• Make PP rulessimpler and flexible
• Increasethreshold for DirectProcurement
• Priority given to Negotiation and Dialogue – therebyopening the door for
innovation
• Partnerships for Innovation
• Priority given to Quality work + Monitoring
• Court reviewsconcentrated to fewercourts
• Strengthen PP support and guidance
• Developfurther GPP criteria, incl LCA
• Public Sectorleadrole in innovative solutions
• Nordic cooperation on GPP + social criteria, inclmonitoring

4. Environmental and social
requirementsdo make a difference
• General policy instruments to prefer – butoftendifficult to
obtain; here PP cancomplementwell
• In spite of limitedimpact studies, a general conclusioncan be
drawn:
GPP is a good instrument to helpreachenvironmentgoals
Studies re the impact of social requirements in
procurementcontracts are fewer, butwhatweknow is positive
• GPP has potential to be a major driver of innovation
• GPP often offer financialsavings, in particularwhenbased on
LCA
• SMEsoftenbenefit from GPP
• Important not to ”overburden” contracts with
toomanyparalleldemands

5. Major futurechallenges
• World population likely to reach 9 Billion in 2050
• 3 Billion new middle-classconsumers in 2030
• 50-100 % increase in demand for food, energy, water, steel,
cement etcuntil 2030
• Climatechangelikely to make
foodproductionincreasinglydifficult in large regions
• Prices for energy and key commoditieslikely to increase
• Resource-constrained world
• Unemployment, not leastamong the young
• Equal rights and opportunities
• Aging population

7. Global Warming did not stop in 1998
- as many deniers claim
Source: Skeptical Science, Church et al 2011
Climate

9. Real commodity prices, 1980-2011*
0
50
100
150
200
250
300
1980 1985 1990 1995 2000 2005 2010
Energy Metals & Minerals Agriculture
Note: 2011 is Jan-Feb average

10. In a resource-constrained world
• Competition for water, land, energy and
materials will be fierce
• Investments in resource-efficientinfrastructure
and renewables must havetoppriority
• Recycling and reusewill be KEY
• R&D must be aiming at sustainableinnovation
• Movetowards a circulareconomycrucial

11. Role of Public Policy critical
• To address market failures and to provide public goods
• A mix of regulation and economic instruments will be
needed at international, regional and national levels
• Global governance a failure; EU gives somehope
• Individual nations can and must do a lot
• PP representsroughly 20 % of the economy
• In many areas Public Sector major actor
• PP can be a veryusefultool, not least to stimulate
innovative and/or transformative solutions
• The new PP Directive is more flexible and allows for
negotiation and innovation partnerships

12. Different levels of ambition for GPP
• Replacingproducts of poorenvironmental
performance
• Incrementalchangewithinexistingtechnologies
• Innovative solutions –
radicallyimprovedproducts
• Transformative solutions – replacingproducts
with services and/or minimum 80% reduction
in energy/materialdemand (Factor 5)

13. Social policiescan be advanced
• Human rights – as well in ThirdCountries
• Anti-discrimination
• Accessibility for people with different
handicaps
• A better work environment
• Employmentopportunities
• Engaging non-profit sector offers special
opportunities – home for elderlyetc

14. 二十一世纪新前线
21st Century Frontiers
Present Green Strategies are insufficient; IEA WEO 2011 was dynamite
but did not cause much alarm:
2017
The world is locking
itself into an
unsustainable energy
future which would
have far-reaching
consequences

15. 二十一世纪新前线
21st Century Frontiers
http://ec.europa.eu/environment/ecoap/about-eco-innovation/policies-
matters/eu/20121015-potocnik-eco-innovation-requires-systemic-rethink_en.htm
Eco-innovation should go
beyondincrementalenvironmentalimprove
ments and efficiencygains, and aim at
“breakingoutoflocked-in systems and
thinking”
.
Environment Commissioner
Janez Potocnik

16. Transformative solutions are
verymuchneeded
• Defined as a reduction in energy- and material
consumption of minimum 80 % (Factor 5)
• Examplescould be
- substitutingphysicalmeetings and travel with
virtualmeetings
- zero-energybuildings
- reducingmobilitythroughband-with
- business modelsbuilt on HQ-service and leasing, instead of
a constantstream of new products – therebyfacilitating
recycling and reuse and promotingproduct life extension
• Public Procurementcanhelpbringsuch solutions to the
market

18. Transformative solutions already emerging
二十一世纪新前线
21st Century Frontiers
http://www.transformative-applications.net/UnderstandInfrastructure/index.html

19. Promisinginitiatives
• The Legal, Financial and Administrative Services Agency
is running a pilot project for transformative solutions –
Indian Gvt has joined the effort
• Swedish Agency for Economic and Regional
GrowthInitiative for ”transformative clusters”
• Vinnova on Innovation
• Nordic Innovation
• The Nordic Built Charter
• Potential for transformative solutions is significant and
the role of PP is critical
• The healthsectorshould be no exception