Copenhagen is the capital and most populated city of Denmark, with a population of almost 2 million in the wider metropolitan region. Copenhagen’s total procurement volume is €1.5bn per year. With this buying power Copenhagen has a large influence on the supply of goods and services within the Danish market.
![]() | 569k Population |
![]() | 40k Employees |
![]() | 2015 Date joined |
Copenhagen has several different city plans regarding a green and sustainable transition and a procurement strategy supports the goals in the city plans. The Procurement Policy 2014-2018 states that Copenhagen must incorporate environmental and occupational health and safety requirements in tenders. This is an important focal point for the work on Green Public Procurement (GPP).
The Nordic Green Growth City Network has developed a project for Creating a green market through public procurement. In addition to Copenhagen, the Cities of Oslo, Stockholm, Helsinki, Espoo and Vantaa are involved. The objective is to get a common view on the state of the art on market dialogue as a way to create a greener market, and to define core elements of a systematic and efficient approach to market dialogue. Planned outputs include publishing best practices and recommendations, and building capacity of experts from relevant city administrations through themed workshops.
The City of Copenhagen believes that it is important to further the potential of SMEs (small and medium-sized enterprises) to bid at public tenders and thus promote innovation through PPI (Public Procurement of Innovation). Enhancing the ability of SMEs to compete for business opportunities in the public sector, whilst meeting sustainable indicators, will help ensure that green growth continues to emerge in the market place.
Copenhagen is a member of the Danish Partnership for Green Public Procurement which connects municipalities seeking to protect the environment by additional joint measures in the area of procurement. Obligations include following jointly specified procurement objectives; having a procurement policy in which environmental concerns play a significant part; and publishing the procurement policy on the respective authority's website. The Partnership strives to renew previous objectives and to formulate new objectives each year – objectives with a positive effect on global and local environment.
In 2015, the City of Copenhagen conducted a Public-Private-Innovation cooperation to develop a Street Lab to test new solutions over a three-year period in smart parking, waste management, air quality and noise monitoring, water management, mobility monitoring, city wifi for tourists, data offloading, asset tracking, and services for citizens and tourists.
By the end of 2015, 59% of the municipals vehicles are electric or hydrogen powered. The city has a goal to be carbon neutral in its transport by 2025.
Copenhagen used one contract to procure five intelligent transport solutions (mobility and green transport, traffic safety, data and traffic management, traffic information and services, and dynamic urban space), which together will allow better management and optimise mobility, sustainability and flexibility.
As of August 2016, 88% of public sector meals (for public offices, kindergartens, schools, etc.) were organic. The goal is for 90%. Copenhagen wants to drive and take part in this organic transition, not only for the environment but also for the health of its citizens.
Using a competitive dialogue procedure, Copenhagen replaced approximately 45,000 outdoor light fixtures with LED bulbs with smart controls, resulting in energy savings of up to 60%, as well as substantially reduced maintenance costs.
BuyZET: Establishment of Buyers Group for zero emission vehicle procurement
BuyZET: Procurement Plan - Craft and Facility Services
BuyZET: Procurement Plan - Consolidation
Case study: SPP in school catering services
Case study: Supplying seasonal organic fruit and vegetables in catering
Case study: Sustainable procurement strategy and approach
Case study: Procurement of intelligent street lighting
Case study: R&D procurement of digital technologies, network and sensors
Case study: Innovative public procurement of intelligent transport solutions
Keynote presentation: Procura+ Seminar 2016
Procurement transportation and emission footprint report 2017
For further information on the activities of Copenhagen visit their website:
or email procurement@iclei.org
Procurement of innovative solutions for zero emission urban delivery of goods and services.