Contracts handed out by the central government need to utilise recyclable materials and energy efficient items Finance Minister Edward Scicluna said this morning.
He was giving his keynote speech at the Green procurement and Smart City Support in the energy sector (GRASP) conference at the Excelsior Hotel in Valletta.
The objective of GRASP is to increase the potential of MED Smart Cities in organising and developing smart and green e-procurement processes with a focus on renewable energy sources and energy efficient solutions. The development of an advanced green transnational procurement system will help empower the cooperation between MED public administrations and SMEs involved in adopting innovative solutions in the energy sector while enabling them to better meet their carbon reduction commitments by 2020.
GRASP is funded through national funding agencies, participating entities and the European Commission. It is a 27-month project with a €2,234,991 budget, €1.5 million of which is funded by the European Commission. It included several partners around the Mediterranean region.
The main project outputs include an online supply management system for green procurement processes with emphasis on energy, a method for sharing knowledge amongst partners and stakeholders and a database architecture that strengthens the capacity of local and regional authorities to see quality green energy requirements.
Malta already has its own e-procurement system, however it lacks some of the things this new system would introduce. One problem is the ability to specify what needs to be done in a call for tenders. Malta is trying to create a specifications tools to help understand what is available on the market and grant the correct specifications as to what needs to be done.
“Pre-1972, the word ‘environment’ did not exist. All countries were rushing towards economic expansion ignoring the consequences,” the Minister said.
“Nowadays, we are for sustainable development, after having realised that nobody can stop development as a whole. The government has been pushing for the idea of green consumption for many years and the central government should lead by example”.
"The contracts will have very clear lines. I believe we can do a lot there where we clearly say that government purchases only energy efficient and recyclable resources”.
"With regards to e-government, the Minister argued that they would be able to cut bureaucracy and tender contract times by 20 days,” he concluded.
Currently, around €350 million worth of goods and services each year are bought by government, €290 million of which come through contracts.