Green and Sustainable Public Procurement—An Instrument for Nudging Consumer Behavior. A Case Study on Romanian Green Public Agriculture across Different Sectors of Activity

Rocsana Bucea-Manea-Țoniș,Violeta-Elena Simion,Mădălina Belous,Cezar Braicu,Radu Bucea-Manea-Țoniș,Dragan Ilic,Oliva Maria Dourado Martins

doi:10.3390/su13010012

Abstract

Green Public Procurement (GPP) became an efficient instrument to achieve the objectives of environmental policy expressed by the European Commission in its Communications. At the same time, it must be addressed by the public authorities as a complex process, in which all purchased goods and services must integrate perfectly into an entire puzzle-like system of legislation, the construction field, innovation, healthcare, food, and education. Scientific references published in the Web of Science (WoS) mainly between 2017 and 2020 were investigated, and they analyze the implications of green public procurement in various fields, as presented by scientific communities. This article brings as a novelty in this context the identification of some barriers in the adoption of these processes, so that they can be overcome. Based on good practices and international standards and trends, the article shows how aspects related to the implementation of green procurement in society can be taken into account. In the second stage, we added a case study on Romanian green agriculture and discussions regarding inter-correlation between different fields and GPP.

Highlights

The procurement of goods, services, and works, in particular green public procurement (GPP), must be done with as little impact on the environment as possible
We aimed to fill the gap regarding the transition from Green Public Procurement (GPP) to sustainable public procurement (SPP), focusing on urban sustainability in building design and construction, trend in food consumer behavior for a sustainable environment, healthcare services, good practices in education for sustainable development, GPP innovation and its influence on consumer behavior and especially green public procurement applied in organic agriculture in Romania
We highlighted some barriers that can be found in implementation and suggested a five-step plan that can be done before implementing any change

Summary

Introduction

The procurement of goods, services, and works, in particular green public procurement (GPP), must be done with as little impact on the environment as possible. Roehrich shows in a study that green supply chain management (GSCM) should exist before moving to procurement [1]. There is a need for permanent information on suppliers and finding the best short-term solutions with long-term impacts [1]. Chain Management (CSCM) offers a new and compelling perspective on the field of supply chain sustainability. Farooque et al identifies a number of important directions that are not sufficiently covered and require further study in the future [2]. The collaboration in the supply chain and factors and barriers of CSCM are the ones we considered important [2]

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Discussion

Conclusion