UNEP Rio+20 Sustainable Public Procurement Side Event

[Carlos Andrés]

Delivering sustainable development and enabling
the transition to the green economy through
sustainable public procurement

When:
Monday 18 June 2012 17.00 to 19.00

Where:
Main Auditorium, UNEP Pavilion
Athlete’s Park, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

Public procurement, which represents between 15% and 25% of GDP, offers a tremendous opportunity to drive markets towards green innovation and sustainability. The side event will showcase the potential, the achievements and challenges of SPP as a tool to promote sustainable development objectives and enable the transition towards a green economy.

The side event will also be the opportunity to present and launch the International Sustainable Public Procurement Initiative (SPPI) aimed at promoting the worldwide implementation of SPP through increased cooperation between stakeholders and the demonstration of the potential benefits and impacts of SPP. On the occasion of the side event, UNEP will release a number of publications and tools on the subject.

Opening Speeches

Dr. Samyra Crespo - Deputy Minister of Environment, Brazil

Mr. Achim Steiner - Executive Director, United Nations Environment Programme

Session 1: Potential to promote sustainable development objectives and enable the transition to a green economy

Introduction and moderation: Mr. Bruno Oberle - Swiss State Secretary for the Environment

Mr. Karl Falkenberg  -Director General, DG Environment, European Commission

Mr. Seung-Joon Yoon - President of the Korea Environmental Industry & Technology Institute

Ms. Walker Smith - Director, Office of Global Affairs and Policy, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency

Session 2: How can we scale up SPP through increased collaboration between major stakeholders?

Moderation: Ms. Sylvie Lemmet - Director, DTIE, United Nations Environment Programme

Panel Discussion

Ms. Inge Lardinois - Head of Division for Global Affairs, Ministry of Infrastructure and Environment, The Netherlands

Ms. Maria Noel Vaeza - Regional Director for Latin America and the Caribbean, UNOPS

Mr. Jorge Barros Vice-President for Institutional and Governmental Affairs, Siemens

Mr. Konrad Otto-Zimmermann - Secretary General ICLEI - Local Governments for Sustainability

Mr. Mark Halle - European Representative and Director, Trade and Investment, International Institute for Sustainable Development

Closing Speech

Ms. Adriana Soto - Vice-Minister, Ministry of the Environment and Sustainable Development, Colombia

You can download the event flyer here http://www.unep.fr/scp/procurement/docsres/ProjectInfo/SPPIRioFlyer.pdf

For more information visit http://www.unep.fr/scp/procurement

Contact
Mr. Farid Yaker
+ 55 61 82716495
farid...@unep.org
United Nations Environment Programme