Public sector bodies, such as local councils and universities, are major buyers of a wide range of product groups. They can use their role as buyer to increase the demand for sustainable products. The Dutch government, for example, has expressed the ambition to purchase 100% of its products and services sustainably. If this is applied properly, it can provide a huge stimulus for a cleaner and fairer method of production.
SOMO is active in the sustainable purchasing working group of the MVO Platform, and is a participant in the Procure IT Fair project. This project focuses on the sustainable purchasing of computers by local councils and universities throughout Europe. SOMO produces manuals for sustainable purchasing, monitors the major computer brands and organises workshops and meetings.
Sustainable Procurement News
24-01-2012
Despite earlier promises, electricity companies continue to withhold important information about the origin of the coal they use. As a result, it is likely that coal imported into the Netherlands comes from mines where abuses of human rights and the environment are taking place. This is one of the conclusions of The Black Box: Obscurity and Transparency in the Dutch Coal Supply Chain, a report published today by SOMO in collaboration with Greenpeace. SOMO and Greenpeace call on the electricity companies to be transparent about the coal supply chain and guarantee consumers that no coal is used from mines where human rights and the environment are threatened.
24-12-2010
In the context of the Procure IT Fair project, SOMO collected information on public institutions and other organisations in Europe that actively engage in the sustainable public procurement of IT hardware. Examples of procurement of IT hardware are presented that take into account social considerations, such as adherence to the ILO Core Conventions for the benefit of public purchasers, policy makers and other interested parties. These examples illustrate what is possible within the framework of the European Procurement Directives.
21-05-2010
Alongside carrying out research, SOMO regularly gives training and advice to social organisations in the area of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR), in the context of building capacity and spreading knowledge. In March, SOMO gave a training to Chinese social organisations in order to deploy CSR effectively in the promotion of sustainable agriculture in sectors such as tea. Furthermore, SOMO issued advice to the research of a coalition of consumer organisations. This advice was targeted at their research methodology for a study into the effects of spending at European supermarkets for food suppliers in developing countries.
