The ICLEI World Congress, taking place in ICLEI Member Malmö (Sweden) from 11-13 May, is fast approaching. The event aims to showcase how cities, towns and regions worldwide are advancing sustainable urban development and accelerating the sustainable transition. The World Congress will host two sessions highlighting the key role public procurement has in this context:
- Building equity into public procurement processes - 13 May (11:15 – 12:15 CET) – on site
- The role of AI in achieving sustainability in cities – 13 May (13:45 – 14:45 CET) - online
A recent framework co-developed by the World Economic Forum notes that public procurement is responsible for 15% of global GHG emissions. This lends a lot of potential for a positive social and environmental impact with purchases of works, goods and services. In the ‘building equity’ session participants will hear how the city of Malmö and social enterprise Yalla Trappan are working together to achieve a just and equitable recovery from the COVID pandemic.
In addition, speakers will share their own stories of using public procurement as a tool for social and ecological resilience, contributing to attractive local communities, and a pandemic recovery based on the principles of social justice, equality and inclusion. Their examples illustrate that providing decent working conditions in global supply chains and promoting gender equality, public buyers have a lot of power to boost local economies, create a green shift, and foster a just transition.
By making just and sustainable choices public buyers can make a big difference, particularly in the realm of emissions reduction. But what if the right choice remains unclear? The “AI & Sustainability” session will highlight how cities can contribute to and make use of Public Procurement of Innovation (PPI) to find innovative AI-based solutions that will reduce CO2 emissions.
For the past two years, ICLEI has been involved in AI4Cities, where six cities and regions joined forces to find innovative AI-based solutions that will reduce CO2 emissions in their energy and mobility domains. In the “AI & Sustainability” session participants will hear from cities currently in the process of acquiring one of these solutions. Furthermore, the session will provide an overview of the processes and challenges municipalities need to take into account when implementing new technologies.
ICLEI’s organisation of these sessions fits its longstanding efforts to support public authorities in using their public spending to achieve social and environmental objectives. Through projects and flagship networks, such as the Procura+ European Sustainable Procurement Network and the Global Lead City Network on Sustainable Procurement, ICLEI provides professional information, advice, networking opportunities, training and tools to public authorities wanting to implement better, more cost effective sustainable and innovation procurement practices.
Register here for the World Congress.