Scaling up Voluntary Sustainability Standards through Sustainability Public Procurement and Trade Policy

Who’s behind it? – United Nations Forum on Sustainability Standards (UNFSS)

How can it help? – The report looks at the role of government as a vehicle to drive the adoption of voluntary sustainability standards (VSS), which can be a powerful tool to help achieve the SDGs and other public sustainability commitments. 

Public procurement represents, on average, 12% of gross domestic product (GDP) in countries of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), and up to 30% in developing countries.

This report explores the following key questions:

• What are the determinants of VSS adoption at country level?
• How can public procurement and trade policy serve to increase VSS uptake, and how do they contribute to the effectiveness of such standards?
• What are the key considerations and implications of VSS integration into sustainable public procurement and trade policy?