Sustainability in tendering; up to date and updated

Sustainability is also a topical issue in tendering. The development of socially responsible purchasing and tools for this is in full swing. This is a good thing, because in practice it is not always easy for a contracting authority to properly implement objectives in terms of social return, for example, in a tender procedure. To assist with this, the knowledge file on social return at PIANOo (Tendering Expertise Centre of the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Climate Change) has been updated. This knowledge file pays attention to the various possibilities for incorporating social return into the tender procedure. Information can also be found on items that an organisation should take into account in purchasing with a social impact.

This knowledge file is not the only one that has been updated. In order to use the purchasing power of governments for the sustainability transition in the Netherlands, the central government has made updated government-wide CSR criteria available. SRP stands for socially responsible procurement. Many governments, including the central government itself, have committed themselves to always applying SRP requirements in 45 impactful product groups. To help with this, there is an online SRP criteria tool, the updated version of which has been online since 21 May. The update pays attention to aspects such as social return and the protection of human rights in the labour chain. The requirements for reducing CO2 emissions from transport have also been tightened and a new award criterion has been added that can be used to steer towards more renewable energy production.

Hence it is clear that the central government wants to encourage socially responsible procurement. Hopefully, these updated tools will ensure that social return and sustainability requirements are used in a feasible and careful manner.

This is a Legal Update from Walter Engelhart.

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