Harnessing Public Procurement for the Green Transition

Chile

Framework, scope, action-plans

Chile does not have a national-level strategy or policy specific to GPP. Nevertheless, GPP is covered by broader national initiatives. For example, the National Action Plan for Sustainable Consumption and Production (2017-2020) promotes the use of environmental criteria in public tenders to enhance the sustainability of the public sector. Notably, the envisage the provision of training for procurement officials for the use of environmental criteria in public tenders and the establishment of a monitoring system to keep track of sustainable public purchases. Moreover, GPP is part of the Estado Verde Programme, an accreditation system managed by the Ministry of the Environment with the objective of promoting good environmental practices in the daily work of public entities, including through green public procurement. Similarly, GPP is also promoted at the municipal level through the Municipal Environmental Certification System.

Implementation

The legal framework underpinning public procurement does not include any mandatory requirements for GPP, however, the 2015 amendments to the procurement regulatory system have introduced the possibility for contracting authorities to include sustainability criteria in public tenders and framework agreements. Moreover, the 2016 Directive n.25 introduces a clear definition of what “sustainable public procurement” is and provides guidance and (non-binding) recommendations on how to integrate considerations related to energy-efficiency and environmental sustainability in the procurement of four priority categories: vehicles, lamps, paper and heating products.

More recently, in 2019, the Ministry of the Environment has developed a Guidance for public contracting authorities on the use of sustainability criteria across five different procurement categories: light and medium vehicles, computers, printers, printing paper, and catering services.

Measurement and impact

In Chile, there is no monitoring system to keep track of the use of GPP by contracting authorities. Similarly, there is no mandatory requirements for contracting authorities to report on their green purchases as well as on the achievement of environmental objectives. Nevertheless, some contracting authorities are reporting on green public purchases on a voluntary basis.

The Ministry of the Environment has set up the Chilean National Greenhouse Gas Inventory System (SNICHILE) to inform the public about the country production and removals of GHG emissions. However, Chile does not have a standardised methodological framework to assess CO₂ emissions for public procurement operations and activities.

Recent developments

Chile is now working to strengthen the role of sustainability considerations in public tenders in the legal framework governing the public procurement system.