Session 25: What role and scope for green government procurement in an open international trade environment?

Description

SDG 12 of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development calls to "promote public procurement practices that are sustainable, in accordance with national policies and priorities" (target 12.7). Green government procurement directly supports this goal. But there is scarcely any debate about how this fits with the open international trading system.
Do international trade rules, including those in the WTO's Government Procurement Agreement 2012 and FTAs, support or hinder countries in achieving this goal? What should be done, and how, so that government procurement can be deployed to make international trade more sustainable and at the same time to help countries to make the shift towards more low-carbon and circular economies (i.e. build back greener)? How best to reconcile trade and the environment in the field of government procurement and "ensure that the WTO best supports the green and circular economy" (WTO DG Okonjo-Iweala)?
This debate is both timely and pressing.
Panellists:
Liesbeth Casier,
Senior Policy Advisor, International Institute for Sustainable Development
Sandra Hamilton, Ph. D. Researcher, Manchester Institute of Innovation Research
Jean Heilman Grier, Trade Principal, Djaghe, LLC
Ryohei Tobibayashi,
Deputy Director, International Trade Division, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Japan
Moderator:
Reto Malacrida, Counsellor/Head of the Government Procurement Group, World Trade Organization

Period	29 Sept 2021
Event title	WTO 2021 Public Forum - Sustainable Public Procurement: SDG 12.7: What role and scope for green government procurement in an open international trade environment?
Event type	Conference
Location	Geneva, SwitzerlandShow on map
Degree of Recognition	International