ICLEI Members are among the growing list of bodies that have signed two new key documents, both of which contain ambitions and commitments to leverage public procurement to make construction zero-emissions and circular. Organisations are invited to join the growing list of signatories of these two documents, namely the: Joint Statement of Demand of the Working Group on Zero Emission Construction Sites and the Joint Declaration of Intent of the Working Group on Circular Construction.

“Construction contributes massively to cities’ carbon emissions, and is a field where local governments spend a lot of public money,” explains Mark Hidson, Deputy Regional Director, Sustainable Economy and Procurement, ICLEI Europe. “Leveraging cities’ purchasing power thus has enormous potential both to push the industry to be greener, and to make large gains in emissions reductions to help Europe reach its climate goals.”

The Joint Statement of Demand contains a number of ambitions to move to fossil fuel free construction machinery by 2025 and to gradually increase the use of emission free machinery to at least 50% by 2030. This statement, which has been signed by ICLEI Members Copenhagen (Denmark), Oslo (Norway), Helsinki (Finland) and Vantaa (Finland), is a clear signal to the market that there is a demand for emission free construction machinery, should it be made available by manufacturers. Signatories of the JSoD commit to:

• Require fossil-free construction machinery in own public projects from 2025, with at least 20% emission-free machinery, where available.
• Require fossil-free construction machinery in own public projects from 2030, with at least 50% emission-free machinery, where available.

For its part, the Joint Declaration of Intent demonstrates an unmet need in the field of road construction, in particular asphalt pavements. It aims to provide Public Buyers and the market with a recommended direction for investments in road construction, with a view to tendering approaches and to addressing ongoing challenges that require further analysis, such as identifying risks and potential for broader use of circular asphalt. ICLEI Members Haarlem (the Netherlands), Rotterdam (the Netherlands), Lisbon (Portugal), Vienna (Austria), Zürich (Switzerland), and Nantes Métropole (France) are among the public authorities who have signed this Declaration.

The aim of the Joint Statement and Joint Declaration is to make future demand predictable and help other public buyers across Europe use procurement to effectively support innovation, while ensuring sustainability and high quality.

These documents were composed and agreed upon by the members of Working Groups on Zero Emission Construction Sites and on Circular Construction, respectively. Both Working Groups are convened by the Big Buyers for Climate and Environment Initiative, coordinated by ICLEI Europe and Eurocities on behalf of the European Commission. The Big Buyers Initiative establishes such Working Groups of public purchasers to focus on unmet public procurement needs, in order to drive market demand for innovative and sustainable products and services in Europe.

To sign and learn more about the Joint Statement of Demand of the Working Group on Zero Emission Construction Sites, click here.

To sign and learn more about the Joint Statement of Demand of the Working Group on Circular Construction, click here.