Collaboration for advancing green purchasing in the Asia region

I’ve seen the term “sustainable consumption and production” used more often than “sustainable procurement” in Asia, but I guess deep down both terms share the same core meaning which is sustainable and environmentally balanced supply and demand. Clearly, we see a need for procurement to take a more active role and use their leverage to drive change.

There are several parties impacting sustainable purchasing. Some of them are the national green purchasing networks, the efforts from the organizations behind ecolabels, and the regulations and GPP frameworks from governments. Collectively they encourage industries to supply more certified products and services, conforming with environmental sustainability criteria, which to a certain extent leads to more sustainable consumption habits.

IGPN is the abbreviation for the International Green Purchasing Network, which aims to promote the spread of environmentally friendly product and service development and green purchasing activities, internationally share information and know-how on green purchasing and environmentally friendly products and services, and harmonize the efforts of green purchasing and the development of environmentally friendly products and services from a global viewpoint

IGPN is an international organization as you can find institutions and organizations that operate globally in the council members, advisory board members (TCO Development is one of them) and associated members. Besides this global profile, I think it’s really encouraging to see that IGPN is also heavily focusing on activities in Asia, with both the secretariat and the bulk of member engagement stemming from Asia-based organizations.

IGPN gathers thought leaders who have the leverage to influence procurement policy and action. At TCO Development, our commitment in Asia builds on our experience helping purchasers in Europe and North America use TCO Certified to mitigate sustainability risk and achieve sustainable and responsible IT procurement. With this track record, our expertise in IT sustainability, and the rigor of TCO Certified as a tool, we are poised to also contribute to progress in Asia as well as other global initiatives and organizations such as UNEP, OnePlanet, ICLEI, SPLC etc.

Like IGPN, we share the same values of promoting more sustainable products and the demand side power of purchasing drives action from the supply side – resulting in more sustainable device options.

Asia is the most populated continent in the world and buying power here is strong. Public procurement spending is growing fast and almost all countries in the region either have – or plan to – develop their own ecolabels to identify more sustainable products. While this action is positive, the lack of coordination behind a set of unified rules or criteria is problematic. This clearly stands out as different from the European Union approach for example.

IGPN has the opportunity to offer a platform that brings purchasing Networks in different parts of Asia together, sharing and learning from each other, and also to capture guidance from independent experts in a variety of fields. With IGPN, organizations become stronger through collaboration and collective effort but at the same time, retain the flexibility to set things at their own pace. Gathering behind a common set of principles is key to raising impact.

As an Advisory Board Member, our aim is to use our expertise in IT sustainability to help the members increase their knowledge of how procurement can use its voice to drive positive outcomes. We definitely expect the IGPN to be more active than it was over the past few years, which means that the whole network can better influence market supply and demand for more sustainable products. We’ve seen that with the new secretariat, IGPN is actively building the network and designing member programming aimed at raising awareness and engagement in sustainable procurement. The expansion of members geographically can bring different experiences, practices and needs, which diversifies the network. We would love to see that, too.

TCO Certified is the world’s most comprehensive sustainability certification for IT products, helping buyers make responsible product choices that drive the electronics industry in a sustainable direction. Using TCO Certified also supports your organization’s efforts to reduce risk and take the next step in social and environmental responsibility.

TCO Development, the organization behind TCO Certified, can play an important role in IGPN by sharing our experience from purchaser engagement, sustainable procurement, as well as our expertise in the IT industry, which is unique amongst members, to grow IGPN’s reach and influence. By engaging in IGPN we can through the network support purchasing organizations throughout the region to make more sustainable choices for the IT products they buy. For us, IGPN is a great platform for engaging with procurement professionals in the region and helping them understand how to use their purchasing for good. We’re looking forward to sharing what we have learned along the journey since 1992.

Using TCO Certified supports your organization’s efforts to reduce risk and take the next step in social and environmental responsibility. Do you have questions about what’s included in TCO Certified and how to use it in contract language? Our dedicated purchaser support team is here to help. Let’s talk – our support is free of charge and focused on helping you make a more sustainable choice easier.