The Australian government has introduced the Environmentally Sustainable Procurement Policy (ESP Policy), which aims to enhance the government’s ability to measure the environmental outcomes of its agreements with suppliers.
The Infrastructure Sustainability Council (ISC) has expressed its support for the policy, which will apply the ISC’s Infrastructure Sustainability (IS) Rating to assess environmental sustainability.
It emphasises three key areas: climate, the environment, and circularity, which involves using resources for as long as possible through refurbishment, reuse, repair, recycling, and alternative methods like leasing/renting.
Under the policy, suppliers will need to report against relevant metrics on all government contracts covered by the policy, including infrastructure projects with a procurement value threshold of $7.5 million or more from 1 July 2024.
The other categories will be introduced from 1 July 2025 for procurements at or above $1 million, including furniture, fittings and equipment; information and communication technology (ICT) goods; and textiles.
One of the metrics endorsed in the ESP Policy Framework is the achievement of a verified IS Rating from the ISC.
Patrick Hastings, Acting CEO of the Infrastructure Sustainability Council, highlighted the significance of the policy in driving sustainable procurement practices.
He praised the selection of the ISC’s IS Rating Tools by the Minister for the Environment and Water, the Honourable Tanya Plibersek MP, as a powerful endorsement of environmentally sustainable procurement.
The ISC also expressed its support for the annual reporting of performance results against the ESP Policy key indicators, believing it will drive progress towards achieving net zero emissions by 2050.
The success of the policy will be measured against three key performance indicators: minimisation of greenhouse gas emissions, increased use of circular economy principles, and the number of suppliers with a Supplier Environmental Sustainability Plan (SESP) in place.
The federal government is committed to holding itself accountable for performance under the ESP Policy, with results against the key performance indicators to be published annually on the Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water’s website for transparency.
