Rebuilding after disasters: Why sustainable public procurement can be a practical policy

This report by the International Institute for Sustainable Development (IISD) argues that sustainable public procurement (SPP) is a powerful tool for governments to rebuild economies and infrastructure following disasters and conflicts. It posits that by integrating economic, social, and environmental risks into procurement, governments can signal long-term demand for green goods, stimulate innovation in the private sector, and increase national resilience to future disasters.

• Sustainable public procurement (SPP) involves laws and practices that integrate "economic, social and environmental risks into public procurement processes and decisions" to achieve "value for money" across a product's entire life cycle. This includes considering the consequences of design, material use, production, distribution, operations, and disposal.
• Public procurement represents a significant portion of government budgets, spending 45–65 per cent of budgets on procurement. This equates to 13–17 per cent of GDP in high-income countries, and higher percentages in other nations: 35 per cent in South Africa, 43 per cent in India, and 47 per cent in Brazil.
• The World Bank estimates that natural disaster-related recovery and rebuilding costs typically range between 2 and 15 per cent of an exposed country's annual GDP. Specific examples from 1999–2000 show rebuilding costs as a percentage of GDP were 15 per cent in Nicaragua, 13 per cent in Jamaica, 12 per cent in Fiji, 9 per cent in Zimbabwe, 5 per cent in Bangladesh, 3 per cent in China, and 2 per cent in Argentina.
• Implementing sustainability in disaster risk reduction and rebuilding can yield significant economic benefits. Examples include: China's US$3.15 billion investment in flood-resistant infrastructure and conservation from 1970 to 2000 which "averted losses of about US$12 billion"; a mangrove conservation project in Vietnam (1994-2001) with annual net benefits of US$7.2 million; and the Rio de Janeiro Flood Reconstruction and Prevention Project which achieved an internal rate of return "higher than 50 per cent".
• Implementing SPP in post-disaster and post-conflict settings faces challenges, including a lack of dedicated SPP laws and policies in lower income economies and the presence of political instability. Effective SPP requires coordination across government departments and the integration of life-cycle thinking into disaster and conflict risk reduction strategies.

APA

International Institute for Sustainable Development (n.d.). Rebuilding after disasters: Why sustainable public procurement can be a practical policy. https://www.iisd.org/system/files/publications/rebuilding_after_disasters.pdf

Chicago

International Institute for Sustainable Development. Rebuilding after disasters: Why sustainable public procurement can be a practical policy. n.d. https://www.iisd.org/system/files/publications/rebuilding_after_disasters.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=International Institute for Sustainable Development |title=Rebuilding after disasters: Why sustainable public procurement can be a practical policy |url=https://www.iisd.org/system/files/publications/rebuilding_after_disasters.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{internationalinstituteforsustainabledevelopmentndrebuilding, author = {{International Institute for Sustainable Development}}, title = {{Rebuilding after disasters: Why sustainable public procurement can be a practical policy}}, institution = {International Institute for Sustainable Development}, url = {https://www.iisd.org/system/files/publications/rebuilding_after_disasters.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }