Ras Al Khaimah (RAK) Municipality officially launched its RAK green public procurement (GPP) programme yesterday.
The event revealed newly developed GPP Guidelines, which will support adoption of sustainable procurement practices in RAK in the coming years, starting with government entities.
According to a statement from the RAK Municipality, the launch of the green procurement programme comes after initial steps made by the Government of RAK in past years, to procure products and services with low environmental impact.
Following the success of multiple green procurement initiatives, a specialised team was set up to develop a framework to ensure adoption of green criteria in purchase decisions more systematically, it added.
The issuance of the GPP Guidelines by RAK Municipality comes as a result of the study conducted by the team, and follows an extensive consultation process with stakeholders and green procurement experts. Going forward, the department of finance of RAK will operate as programme administrator for GPP and will coordinate implementation across the government.
HE Munther Mohammed bin Shekar, director general of RAK Municipality, said: “From the perspective of economic development, buying green also means generating demand for green products and services. This will stimulate the growth of a local eco-system of skilled companies, which will support the economic development of RAK in the long run. Today, we are proud to launch the green public procurement guidelines of RAK from which we expect not only environmental benefits but also tangible, economic benefits.”
He further added: “The GPP Guidelines will be applied on a voluntary basis, leveraging the examples of environmental leadership that are already present within the government of RAK. We expect a positive response from government entities, given their involvement in the design phase of the guidelines.”
RAK Municipality added that the GPP Guidelines include criteria for procurement of frequently purchased product categories, such as paper, furniture, light vehicles, AC, household appliances, carpets, etc. The criteria are designed to be easily adopted in government tenders. It further stated that the program contributes to the UAE Green Agenda 2030 and National Climate Change Plan 2017-2050 at a federal level, while at an international level, it supports the UN Sustainable Development Goals and subsequently the commitments of the UAE towards the Paris Agreement.