This innovative book addresses the links between sustainability and human rights in the context of infrastructure projects and uncovers the human rights gap in every stage of public procurement processes to deliver on infrastructure assets or services.

Public Procurement accounts for 6.5 trillion euros annually and plays a fundamental role in achieving the Sustainable Development Goals. All public services and functions depend on public procurement to be delivered. This report aims to draw attention to the “added value” that sustainable public procurement can contribute towards these goals, directly or indirectly, going beyond delivering core public sector objectives. The report establishes clear linkages between Sustainable Public Procurement and the SDG targets, and aims to validate those linkages with specific and real-life case studies from Nordic settings.

This timely work reflects on the role and obligations of the state as a buyer of goods and services, from the dual disciplinary perspectives of public procurement and human rights. Through theoretical and doctrinal analyses, and practice-focused case studies, it interrogates the evolving character of public procurement as an interface for multiple normative regimes and competing policies. Challenging the prevailing paradigm which subordinates human rights to narrowly-defined economic goals, insightful contributions advance a compelling case for greater inter-disciplinarity and policy coherence as crucial to realising international policies such as those embodied in the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights and 2030 Sustainable Development Goals.

This book explores the development of sustainable public procurement (SPP) as a strategic policy instrument to support decoupling of economic growth from environmental degradation and enhancing social well-being. Offering an in-depth case study of India’s SPP implementation trajectory, it discusses the challenges of integrating sustainability criteria into purchasing decisions, and examines policy choices and best practices to address them. It investigates the legislative, institutional, and governance framework for SPP in India, and identifies priority actions to accelerate wider uptake of SPP policy and practices. Furthermore, the book highlights the evolving role of SPP policies in response to emerging global mega trends, such as international trade, low carbon economy, circular economy, and Industry 4.0. Given its scope, this book appeals to scholars of economics, public administration, and environmental and social sciences, as well as to policymakers, practitioners, and advocates interested in steering transformational changes towards mainstreaming sustainable procurement practices in developing economies at the desired scale. "This book comes at the right time to compensate for the lack of in-depth works on the origins, nature and reality of the implementation of sustainable purchases.” - Farid Yaker, Programme Officer, Sustainable Public Procurement, Economy Division, UNEP, Paris, France. “...If you are a procurement or sustainability professional anywhere in the world, please read this book. It will change the way you think and feel about your profession.” - Shaun McCarthy OBE, Chair, Supply Chain Sustainability School, London, UK & Director, Action Sustainability, London, UK

Engineering for Sustainable Communities: Principles and Practices defines and outlines sustainable engineering methods for real-world engineering projects.

This volume addresses different issues related to green innovation procurement as well as exploring the challenges involved in public procurement. It offers a broad array of perspectives, addressing both general, abstract problems of optimal public procurement and concrete cases of national or even local public procurement systems.

Why Sustainability Should Be Integrated Into Infrastructure Contracts To enable and incentivize the amount of investment in sustainable infrastructure needed for the achievement of the SDGs, and to ensure and maximize the economic, social and environmental co-benefits of sustainable infrastructure, an enabling investment environment must be in place. [...] Including sustainability criteria in procurement would shift public financing toward sustainable infrastructure, indirectly influence the private sector by sending market signals that there is demand for sustainable infrastructure and setting the example, and increase the ability of the private sector to design, build and © 2014 The International Institute for Sustainable Development IISD.org. [...] The contract can embed incentives for the investor to prioritize the purchase of local or national goods and services, obligations regarding technology transfer and requirements to guarantee that the infrastructure project will be developed in an economically responsible manner, contributing to broader economic development of the beneficiary community and country. [...] Nor can national commitments to climate change mitigation and adaptation (in the context of the Paris Agreement), the promotion and protection of human rights and the achievement of other SDGs.