Green Public Procurement for Accelerating the Transition towards Sustainable Freight Transport

Abstract

Requests for emission reduction in the freight transport sector will be more intense in the coming years. One possible strategy to reduce emissions from freight transport is through utilising zero emission vehicles, which requires substantial investments both by transporters and by authorities. This paper examines how green public procurement (GPP) can be used to push the market in an environmentally sustainable direction. For this purpose, interviews with both public authorities and freight service providers are conducted. The results show that GPP is considered a useful tool for public authorities to both boost the uptake of zero emission vehicles and to share the investment costs with freight service providers. However, our study shows that there are differences between small and large municipalities. Moreover, to succeed with GPP, public authorities must prioritise such tasks in their daily routines through political decisions and strategies. Additionally, barriers related to financial possibilities are crucial to handle, as public support schemes are important to reduce costs for all involved stakeholders. Altogether, our paper shows that with the right tools and willingness among both public and private stakeholders, GPP can contribute to the use of more environmentally friendly solutions in the freight transport sector.