The State of the Global Climate 2023

This report analyzes whether Canada's international trade obligations, specifically under the WTO Agreement on Government Procurement (GPA) and the Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA), act as barriers or opportunities for sustainable public procurement (SPP). It concludes that these agreements provide significant flexibility for implementing green, social, and strategic procurement, provided that requirements are not based on national origin.

• Sustainable public procurement (SPP) is defined as achieving value for money across the life cycle of an asset, optimizing for financial viability, reduced environmental impact and greenhouse gas emissions, and increased socioeconomic benefits.
• Public procurement represents a significant portion of economic activity, averaging 15 per cent of GDP in OECD countries and 13.44 per cent of GDP in Canada, making it a powerful lever for driving a low-carbon and inclusive economy.
• CETA has a broader scope and coverage than the WTO GPA, including approximately 20 more central government entities and a wider range of subnational entities, such as most municipal governments and publicly funded health and academic entities.
• The non-discrimination principle in the WTO GPA and CETA prohibits origin-based discrimination (buying local) but does not prohibit preferences for green or social criteria, provided they are not used to implicitly favor local suppliers.
• WTO GPA Article X explicitly allows procuring entities to use technical specifications to promote the protection of the environment or the conservation of natural resources.
• The 'most advantageous tender' principle under WTO GPA Article XV enables agencies to award contracts based on life-cycle costing and sustainability performance rather than solely on the lowest initial purchase price.
• Canada's federal framework already includes instruments supporting green procurement, such as the Policy on Green Procurement (2006), the Greening Government Strategy, and the Supply Manual, though similar policies for social or strategic procurement are lacking.
• The report recommends that Canada develop a comprehensive 'Procurement Package' to professionalize the procurement workforce, create a one-stop shop for sustainable technology consultations, and establish a national database for life-cycle assessments of construction materials.

APA

International Institute for Sustainable Development (2023). The State of the Global Climate 2023. https://www.iisd.org/system/files/publications/canada-international-trade-spp.pdf

Chicago

International Institute for Sustainable Development. The State of the Global Climate 2023. 2023. https://www.iisd.org/system/files/publications/canada-international-trade-spp.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=International Institute for Sustainable Development |title=The State of the Global Climate 2023 |date=2023 |url=https://www.iisd.org/system/files/publications/canada-international-trade-spp.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{internationalinstituteforsustainabledevelopment2023state, author = {{International Institute for Sustainable Development}}, title = {{The State of the Global Climate 2023}}, institution = {International Institute for Sustainable Development}, year = {2023}, url = {https://www.iisd.org/system/files/publications/canada-international-trade-spp.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }