5.30 Procurement policies must include sustainability requirements for digital goods and services

[mgifford]

I realized today that we'd missed procurement. There is a lot more available on this topic from @jannekalliola's book https://www.exove.com/green-it-purchasing-guide/

5.30 Procurement policies must include sustainability requirements for digital goods and services.

Description

Procurement is a strategic lever for sustainability. Organizations must embed environmental, social, and technical sustainability criteria into procurement policies and processes. This includes selecting vendors and products that align with sustainability goals, reduce environmental impact, support accessibility, and promote long-term digital resilience. Requirements should be integrated into Requests for Proposals (RFPs), evaluation criteria, and contract terms.

How to test

Review procurement policies and procedures. Confirm the presence of sustainability-related requirements in documentation for recent digital purchases (e.g., cloud services, software tools, hardware, consulting). Evaluate whether these requirements include measurable environmental criteria, accessibility standards, lifecycle considerations, or open standards.

Why it’s important

Procurement determines what tools, platforms, and services are adopted and maintained. Embedding sustainability in procurement ensures that digital services support broader climate, equity, and resilience goals. It reduces reliance on energy-intensive systems, prevents vendor lock-in, and promotes transparent and maintainable digital infrastructure.

Examples

• A government agency includes sustainability scoring in vendor evaluations, favoring cloud providers with verified renewable energy sourcing and carbon reporting.
• A nonprofit’s procurement checklist requires vendors to disclose accessibility conformance reports and product energy usage profiles.
• A digital service contract includes clauses requiring performance efficiency metrics and commitments to maintaining open APIs and data export.
• A public-sector body adopts open-source, modular platforms to reduce long-term technical debt and environmental impact.
• An RFP requires vendors to meet EU Green Public Procurement criteria or equivalent regional standards for digital services.

[mgifford]

Is there too much overlap with 5.16 Provide a supplier standards of practice?

• Success Criterion: Vetting potential partners

  • The organization has created specific policies to vet potential partners in its supply chain based on PPP principles.

• Success Criterion: Collaborative measurement Human-testable

  • The organization has partnered with suppliers to create, track, and measure collective impact on issues that impact their stakeholders.

• Success Criterion: Informative partner promotion

  • The organization has promoted its partnerships in a publicly available place, along with information on how the partnership creates a collective impact.