ISO 20400 Sustainable procurement – Guidance, the new international standard for sustainable procurement, is now close to publication. Developed with participation from nearly 50 countries and international NGOs such as the OECD, UN and SPLC, the standard provides guidelines to the public and private sector, including large, medium and small companies, on integrating sustainability into procurement policy and strategy, organising the procurement function to ensure sustainability and integrating sustainability into the procurement process.

This standard will assist organisations in meeting their sustainability responsibilities by helping them to understand:

• What sustainable procurement is;
• The sustainability impacts and considerations across the policy, strategy, organisation and process aspects of procurement activity; and
• How to implement sustainable procurement.

Sustainable procurement is a critical element of social responsibility and ISO 20400 will complement ISO 26000 Guidance on social responsibility by enabling organisations to identify key sustainability issues, establish objectives and goals, and set priorities. By practicing sustainable procurement, organisations place themselves in excellent positions to improve their social, environmental and economic performance.

Reference: ISO/DIS 20400