2005 September Report of the Commissioner of the Environment and Sustainable Development

6.10 Public Works and Government Services Canada and the Treasury Board Secretariat, in co-operation with other responsible departments and agencies, should take all necessary steps—including setting milestones, allocating adequate resources, and assigning staff with appropriate expertise—to ensure that the green procurement policy is completed, approved, and implemented by 2006. This is the timeframe promised in the 2004 Speech from the Throne. (6.6–6.9)

6.18 Through the green procurement policy and strategy, Public Works and Government Services Canada, in co-operation with other responsible departments and agencies, should promote the inclusion of green procurement expectations in the performance evaluation of managers with significant procurement responsibilities, and should require departments and agencies to report on implementation. (6.12–6.17)

6.24 Public Works and Government Services Canada, in co-operation with other responsible departments, should ensure that the green procurement strategy sets out the role of the sustainable development strategies in green procurement. It should also ensure that guidance on green procurement is developed in time for the 2007 strategies, including a core set of practical and progressive green procurement objectives and targets that departments and agencies would be expected to incorporate. (6.19–6.23)

6.27 Public Works and Government Services Canada and the Treasury Board Secretariat, in co-operation with other responsible departments, should

• ensure that the green procurement policy establishes clear accountability for reporting annually on progress; and
• develop a plan to improve green procurement reporting through the sustainable development strategies. (6.25–6.26)

6.35 Public Works and Government Services Canada, in co-operation with other responsible departments, should ensure that

• the green procurement strategy establishes a consistent, co-ordinated approach to green procurement training and to the development and delivery of tools;
• green procurement is a required competency, and is a mandatory part of any required training program, for procurement personnel. (6.28–6.34)

6.40 Public Works and Government Services Canada should review standing offers and other pre-negotiated arrangements to determine which should be greened. It should also ensure that procurement officers give first consideration to green offers. (6.37–3.39)

6.45 In light of its new lead in greening government operations, Public Works and Government Services Canada, with support from the Privy Council Office, should clarify the responsibilities of other departments and interdepartmental committees that have an important role in greening government operations, including green procurement. It should continue to build on the organizational structure that has been evolving through the Sustainable Federal House in Order. (6.41–3.44)

6.48 Public Works and Government Services Canada should include green procurement as a key part of initiatives to improve and increase central management of procurement. Specifically, it should include green procurement in the mandate of the commodity councils and management teams. (6.46–3.47)

Public Works and Government Services Canada's overall response, on behalf of the responsible departments and agencies. We agree with your recommendations. The following summarizes current and proposed actions that respond to the recommendations.

Foundation initiatives. The Prime Minister has given the Minister of Public Works and Government Services the lead in greening government operations, in co-operation with his colleagues the President of the Treasury Board and the Minister of the Environment. In order to help realize this objective, Public Works and Government Services Canada (PWGSC) established, in May 2005, the Office of Greening Government Operations. Since then, this office has worked with other government departments to undertake a number of foundation initiatives to help fulfil this mandate, including:

• the consolidation of the interdepartmental governance structure to provide clear and focused leadership in this area. PWGSC has and will continue to work with other departments, including the Privy Council Office, to ensure that the departmental and committee roles are clear, as this is a prerequisite to a co-ordinated government-wide approach in this area.
• the development of a Performance Management Framework to allow the government to collect the performance data necessary for continued improvement. This will reflect common performance indicators and a common set of government-wide priorities.

Green procurement further supports the government's efforts to green operations and reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. For example, the procurement of environmental technologies and materials has already resulted in PWGSC's new office buildings, such as the 20-storey office building at 401 Burrard Street in Vancouver, using water more efficiently, generating less waste and consuming less energy. Since 1990, PWGSC has achieved 34 per cent energy efficiency gains and a corresponding 24 per cent reduction of GHG emissions from its building inventory through green procurement initiatives. PWGSC will vigorously pursue future opportunities to use green procurement to support these and other key environmental objectives.

The green procurement policy. PWGSC in co-operation with the Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat (TBS) and other responsible departments are setting milestones, allocating resources, and assigning staff with appropriate expertise in order to develop a green procurement policy and implementation plan consistent with the 2004 Speech from the Throne. The policy will be completed, approved, and implemented by 2006. It will

• Harness the power of the government's The Way Forward initiative that mandates the use of Standing Offers for the most common commodities and services purchased by government.
  • Commodity councils and management teams will ensure that environmental criteria are incorporated into relevant standing offers as they are put in place over the next 24 months.

• The mandatory use of these standing offers will ensure a more consolidated and strategic approach to green procurement than the more transactional processes currently in place.
• Ensure a consistent and co-ordinated approach to green procurement training through TBS' existing Professional Development and Certification Program for the Procurement, Material Management and Real Property Communities.
• Include consideration of performance expectations for relevant managers. PWGSC will include accountability for green procurement in the performance agreements of relevant managers and will encourage other departments to follow suit.
• Set out clear accountabilities for reporting annually on progress. Tracking and monitoring of green procurement will be facilitated through:
  • the Government of Canada Marketplace, an on-line purchasing tool currently under development; and
  • departments' annual reports on their progress in meeting the objectives described in their sustainable development strategies.

Sustainable development strategies. In order to assist departments in preparing their 2007–10 sustainable development strategies, PWGSC, in consultation with the TBS and other responsible departments, is working to develop the following by December 2005:

• a core set of practical and progressive green procurement objectives,
• a common set of priorities and performance indicators, and
• a plan to improve green procurement reporting.

PWGSC will also work with departments to establish green procurement targets for their sustainable development strategies.