Sustainable procurement is the procurement of environmentally friendly products and services that follow the principles of economy, efficiency and expediency and whose production or provision complies with social standards. At the same time, it also covers other guiding principles of sustainability such as regionality and innovation and the strengthening of regional economic cycles, while complying with EU legal requirements.

In the best case, sustainable public procurement is associated with improvements in all three dimensions (environmental, social and economic). If this is not possible, the minimum requirement are positive effects in one dimension and no deterioration in the other two.

Sustainable procurement is all the more successful the earlier ecological, social and economic criteria are included in the procurement process. For implementation, it therefore makes sense to consider not only the procurement of the products themselves, but also the decisions made in advance.

Careful and responsible use of our resources and our environment are the basis for a policy that meet the demands and needs of our population and future generations. In the fight against the climate crisis, this is more relevant than ever.

With a share of about 14% of GDP, public procurement is an essential economic factor in Austria. It is important to make use of this leverage for a sustainable future. In order to support the European path towards more sustainability and to fulfill the exemplary function of the public sector in Austria, the Austrian Action Plan for Sustainable Public Procurement was enacted by the Federal Government.

The task of sustainable public procurement is to reduce the negative ecological and social impacts by purchasing services and goods in line with needs and in accordance with the principles of economy, efficiency, appropriateness and the available budgetary resources.

The impact of sustainable procurement is manifold: