ICLEI East Asia launched Procura+ East Asia at the EcoProcura China 2018 held in Beijing on 16-17 May. Welcomed by 11 Chinese local governments gathered at EcoProcura China, the Procura+ East Asia network will serve the interests of local governments in the East Asian region to accelerate green procurement.

Green Public Procurement (GPP) is a globally recognized policy tool for leveraging the purchasing power of public authorities to stimulate market transition towards green production and consumption and is receiving the attention of decision-makers from emerging economies in Asia as an effective mechanism to achieve emission reduction targets and sustainable development goals.

During the EcoProcura China 2015 held at the Eco-Forum Global Guiyang Conference, ICLEI East Asia, together with Chinese and global Partners launched the Green Public Procurement China Partnership to scale up GPP implementation in China. Since then, ICLEI has expanded its work on GPP in China by promoting the latest knowledge and advanced practices of GPP.

In 2016, ICLEI started the 2-year program “GPP Implementation and Impact Monitoring” under the 10-Year Framework Programme on Sustainable Public Procurement (10YFP on SPP) to support Chinese and Korean cities. Due to the success of this initiative and the enthusiasm of cities to continue working together, ICLEI decided to reinforce the existing GPP Partnership by modifying and expanding its structure to embrace more East Asian cities, under the new name of Procura+ East Asia.

As an affiliated network of Procura+ Europe, a network of over 40 European public authorities and regions that connect, exchange, and act on sustainable and innovation procurement, Procura+ East Asia is designated to support and connect local governments and public authorities in East Asia to enhance sustainable and green procurement.

Participants of Procura+ East Asia will be brought together through regular events and exchange programs to collectively develop new policies and criteria on specific areas related to green procurement. The Procura+ East Asia will also showcase participants’ achievements on the global stage and celebrate their success through the Procura+ Awards.