Capital city Oslo is the economic hub of Norway, and its ambition to be a green, inclusive and smart city has also made it a champion of sustainable procurement. The city has been pursuing sustainable procurement actions for many years, and has placed a particular focus on reducing greenhouse gas emissions, increasing responsible and circular purchasing, and increasing the share of sustainable food.
 | 700k Population |
 | 52k Employees |
 | 2012 Date joined |
Geir Rossebø
Coordinator Sustainable Procurement
More information? Email procurement@iclei.org
Oslo aims at being a leader in using public procurement as a strategic tool to achieve our sustainability and climate goals. The city’s Procurement Strategy from 2017 shows a reinforced commitment to sustainable procurement. The main goal of the strategy is the delivery of good and socially responsible solutions in both the short and long term, which are appropriate and cost-efficient.
The Procurement Strategy has four sub-targets, which seek to ensure that Oslo's procurement effectively contributes to providing citizens and businesses with solutions and services in line with current and future needs, as well as make Oslo greener, more socially inclusive and fair, and a smarter and more innovative city.
The Strategy is also aligned with Oslo's Climate Budget, which was adopted after the Paris Agreement. The Climate Budget includes measures quantifying the emission cuts needed by 2030, and integrates these into the Financial Budget.
As a participant in the Global Lead City Network on Sustainable Procurement, Oslo has committed to leading by example globally on SPP.
SPP TARGETS
SOCIALLY RESPONSIBLE PROCUREMENTThe City of Oslo takes active measures to promote international human rights and ensure that working conditions in the whole supply chain are at minimum in accordance with the Fundamental Human Rights, the ILO Core Conventions and relevant national labour regulations in producing countries. The city uses social criteria in all contracts where production processes imply risks of adverse impacts on international human rights and labour rights. The social criteria is included in the latest regulation adopted in 2017, known as the Oslo Model (Case study available, p. 72).
Oslo is continuously improving its circular systems in order to make the most out of our resources. The City administration wishes to promote innovation and new jobs in the circular economy. The City Council adopted «Strategy for a sustainable and circular consumption in Oslo (2019-2030)” in December 2019. The strategy states that the municipality will facilitate a more sustainable consumption, where the focus will shift from buying new to taking care of the things that are already in use; share, replace, upgrade, renew and repair. The strategy also emphasizes the importance of reducing material consumption through procurement, by e.g. to promote needs assessments, and to prioritize products that have components of recycled material, long lifetimes, warranty schemes, repair options, return schemes and recyclability.
The City of Oslo has good experience with the re-use of ICT equipment through a collaboration agreement with a work training company. Equipment is made available by the municipality free of charge, and goes through a process where products suitable for reuse are upgraded if necessary, and spare parts can be selected before the remaining products is prepared for recycling. The collaboration agreement represents a triple bottom line. It contributes to the environment by keeping resources in the loop and reducing demand for new products, to the society by giving jobs to people falling outside of ordinary work life - and aims at providing functional and more affordable products to those who need them, for instance schools and youth centres.
230 government entities have joined Oslo’s initiative to facilitate contract monitoring of ethical standards in their supply chains. This accomplishment sends a clear signal to the supplier market that public entities are conscious of and committed to their ethical and social responsibilities. Oslo established this project in partnership with the Norwegian Agency for Public and Financial Management (DFØ).
An important aspect of this project is to share the reports from the various audits on the Procurement Portal (Anskaffelsesportalen) on the Municipality’s website. A common framework where participants share their own reports with the other participants will make the cost of supplier monitoring significantly lower, compared to each institution buying the same service. Suppliers will also save time and money by reaching out to more buyers with the same information.
The City of Oslo continues to be at the forefront in fighting social dumping, work related crime, and ensuring decent labour conditions for workers in our domestic and global supply chains. More than 3 years has passed since the city adopted and introduced the first version of the “Oslo-model”. The model is a comprehensive framework of measures and requirements to help combat social dumping, and to promote decent working conditions, using public procurement as a strategic tool. It is a continuous work to further develop and implement the model.
Regarding domestic supply chains, the model compiles more than 20 requirements, and applies in particular to high-risk industries such as construction and cleaning services.
The City of Oslo has, by public procurement, established the first pilot of a zero emission construction site operated by zero emission machinery only. To initiate market development, there has been organised a broad dialogue with stakeholders aiming at developing a market for zero emission construction vehicles and machinery.
The pilot has been a success, showing zero emission construction to be possible, with relatively low additional costs. From 2025, all construction sites commissioned by the city of Oslo are to be zero emission. The city has gained experience form demanding fossil free construction over the past years, and has adopted fossil free as a minimum requirement in all construction procurements. In 2019, the city also adopted standardized award criteria to promote zero emission machinery.
Reducing indirect emissions related to building materials is also an important focus area for the City of Oslo. Several pilots test requirements for recycled as well as low carbon materials. The City Council will soon establish a quantitative target for reducing climate gas emissions related to the use of materials.
The City Council has a strong focus on sustainable food, i.e. by increasing the amount of organic food, setting requirements for good animal welfare, reducing food waste, reducing meat consumption and promoting plant-based diets. The city is continuously working on how to develop its portfolio of framework agreements, as well as assortment management, to make sustainable alternatives a simple and affordable choice. In addition, the city is focusing on training and other initiatives that leads to more sustainable food consumption.
Oslo Green Capital Overview Document
Climate Strategy for Oslo towards 2030
Climate Budget for 2020
Standard requirements for zero emission construction sites
Strategy for a sustainable and circular consumption in Oslo (only in Norwegian)
Action Plan to Reduce Plastic Pollution in the Oslo Fjord 2019-2020
Framework Agreement for zero emission vehicles
Case study: reducing emissions in construction projects
Case study: renewable heating systems for schools
Case study: cooperation on including social responsibility in contracts
BuyZET: Oslo Procurement Plan for zero emission transport
BuyZET: Oslo Gren Public Procurement Guidance
BuyZET: Market Engagement Report: Maintenance and Service and Facility Waste
Procurement of innovative solutions for zero emission urban delivery of goods and services
Accelerating implementation of procurement innovation.
For further information on the activities of Oslo visit their website:
or email procurement@iclei.org
