Search Climate Insights Directory

This guide by RMI outlines how building product manufacturers in India can use Environmental Product Declarations (EPDs) to ensure market access, comply with emerging regulations, and improve operational efficiency as the country moves toward a low-carbon future.

This report by the International Institute for Sustainable Development (IISD) provides detailed recommendations to strengthen the first draft of the outcome document for the Fourth Financing for Development Conference (FFD4). The document focuses on enhancing domestic resource mobilization, reforming private finance, improving climate financing for vulnerable nations, updating international trade rules, and establishing more robust debt-relief mechanisms.

This fact sheet describes the Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) Environmental Product Declaration (EPD) Assistance Program, funded by the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA). The program provides grants to support the development, standardization, and transparency of EPDs—tools that quantify the environmental impacts of construction materials—to facilitate the procurement of low-embodied carbon materials through initiatives like Buy Clean.

This policy brief by RMI argues that the lack of universally accepted, machine-readable data standards for carbon accounting hinders the ability of companies to exchange and compare emissions data, thereby slowing decarbonization. The document proposes the creation of an ecosystem based on open standards, open-source collaboration, and industry-wide software support to enable real-time, interoperable carbon tracking acrossSS across supply chains.

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.

This report examines the role of international finance institutions (IFIs) in supporting the transition to low-carbon steel production, particularly in emerging and developing economies. It finds that IFIs have historically had limited exposure to the steel sector and are only in the early stages of developing green industrial strategies. However, the report argues that IFIs can accelerate the transition by de-risking first movers, supporting the development of green hydrogen and circular economy strategies, and creating demand for green steel through sustainable procurement in infrastructure projects.

This case study by GreenCape examines the City of Cape Town's (CCT) '50/Fifty' refuse bin procurement programme, which uses circular procurement to integrate recycled high-density polyethylene (HDPE) into municipal infrastructure. By requiring bins to be made from 50% recyclate and implementing a closed-loop exchange system for damaged bins, the city has reduced landfill waste, lowered procurement costs, and supported local job creation and industry resilience.

This case study describes the MyHIJAU Mark, Malaysia's official green recognition system for environmentally sound products and services, which aims to transition the country toward a resource-efficient and low-carbon economy through government-led procurement and certification.

This research paper examines whether Canada's international trade obligations, specifically under the WTO Agreement on Government Procurement and CETA, hinder or facilitate sustainable public procurement. It concludes that while trade agreements do not impede sustainable procurement, they do prohibit 'buying local' and discourage favoring specific social groups. The paper argues that the primary barriers to sustainability are not regulatory, but rather relate to agency capacity, funding, and political will.

This report describes the methodology for the IISD Supply Risk Tool, designed to help Chinese companies and policymakers assess and manage sustainability risks within global inbound supply chains to ensure security of supply.

The International Institute for Sustainable Development (IISD) provides a 21-element checklist designed to assist public procurers in implementing or enhancing sustainability practices, shifting the procurement culture from a narrow 'value for money' focus to a 'value for money across the life cycle' approach.

This report assesses the preparedness of Vietnam to implement Sustainable Public Procurement (SPP), with a specific focus on the timber industry. It identifies a supportive political and legal environment, including the planned Law on Green Procurement for 2015, but notes significant hurdles such as a lack of specific implementation guidelines, limited human resource capacity, and higher initial costs for sustainable goods. The report recommends using the timber industry as an entry point for SPP due to its high political profile and the existing capacity of export-oriented enterprises to provide certified products.

This report analyzes the compatibility of eco-labeling standards and green procurement policies with World Trade Organization (WTO) rules, specifically for World Bank borrowers. It concludes that WTO rules generally do not present significant legal barriers to 'greening' project procurement, primarily because government procurement is largely excluded from the main WTO agreements for goods and services. However, the report highlights significant concerns from developing countries regarding the costs, technical burdens, and potential market access restrictions associated with eco-labels, particularly those based on non-product-related process and production methods (npr PPMs).

This briefing paper examines the Agreement on Government Procurement (GPA) within the WTO framework, focusing on its structure, the challenges of reaching consensus, and its implications for sustainable development and developing countries.

The document is a briefing from GreenCape detailing a 'CircEcon Intervention Map' for the City of Cape Town (CCT). It outlines a comprehensive set of current and proposed circular economy interventions categorized by resource prioritization, lifetime extension, and waste recovery, with a strong focus on green procurement, sustainable urban planning, and economic inclusion for SMMEs.