Decarbonizing the EU’s road and construction sectors through green public procurement

The document analyzes green public procurement (GPP) in Sweden and the Netherlands, focusing on the high-emission road transport and construction sectors. While both countries utilize GPP, the Netherlands employs more centralized, nationally developed tools and databases, whereas Sweden's approach is more decentralized. Key barriers in both nations include a lack of human resources, insufficient contract follow-up, and a need for better public-private dialogue. The briefing suggests that while GPP is widely practiced, more systematic implementation and standardized data reporting are required to meet national and EU climate objectives.

• In the Netherlands, GPP is extensively used, with 67% of public procurements including at least one environmental criterion according to the 2015–2020 Dutch National Action Plan assessment.
• Sweden has seen a decline in the adoption of environmental requirements in public procurements, dropping from 63% in 2018 to 58% in 2020, with municipalities showing the lowest performance.
• The Netherlands utilizes centralized tools to incentivize decarbonization, such as the CO2 Performance Ladder for certifying carbon emissions and DuboCalc for life-cycle assessments of construction materials, both of which can lead to price deductions for more ambitious projects.
• Sweden's GPP landscape is characterized by decentralization, where municipalities often develop their own criteria rather than using those from the Swedish Procurement Agency (SPA) or framework agreements from the purchasing center Adda.
• Significant implementation barriers in Sweden include a lack of capacity and expertise; 50% of procurers report lacking time and human resources, and 41% report lacking expertise to consider environmental impacts.
• Both Sweden and the Netherlands face a gap between high-level policy ambitions and concrete implementation, specifically regarding the lack of systematic follow-up on awarded tenders to ensure environmental standards are met.
• Stakeholders in both countries emphasize the need for standardized data reporting on greenhouse gas emissions and material circularity, as well as increased dialogue between public and private sectors to align industrial transitions.

APA

Lewis, A. N., & Machlowska, M. (2022). Decarbonizing the EU’s road and construction sectors through green public procurement. Stockholm Environment Institute. https://www.sei.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/green-public-procurement-sweden-netherlands.pdf

Chicago

Lewis, Astrid Nilsson, and Magdalena Machlowska. Decarbonizing the EU’s road and construction sectors through green public procurement. Stockholm Environment Institute, 2022. https://www.sei.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/green-public-procurement-sweden-netherlands.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Lewis |first1=Astrid Nilsson |last2=Machlowska |first2=Magdalena |title=Decarbonizing the EU’s road and construction sectors through green public procurement |publisher=Stockholm Environment Institute |date=July 2022 |url=https://www.sei.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/green-public-procurement-sweden-netherlands.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{lewis2022decarbonizing, author = {Lewis, Astrid Nilsson and Machlowska, Magdalena}, title = {{Decarbonizing the EU’s road and construction sectors through green public procurement}}, institution = {Stockholm Environment Institute}, year = {2022}, month = jul, url = {https://www.sei.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/green-public-procurement-sweden-netherlands.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }