In every country, public procurement is regulated by different laws, rules, and frameworks. One of the key steps when getting started with Open SPP, is identifying these frameworks, and assessing the scope they leave for the implementation of SPP practices. We explain how you can do this in the section Establish an enabling environment.

Communicating the result of this exercise in your Action Plan is an opportunity to establish trust by clearly defining how suggested Open SPP approaches fit into the current rules. In particular, the Action Plan should focus on communicating:

In the section Prioritize, we have explained how this can be also useful to guide the development of sustainability criteria, and promote standard, and consistent, implementation of Open SPP. Once you have conducted this exercise, you can communicate the results in your Action Plan, including the following information:

An essential part of all Open SPP action plans are the goals, outcomes, and indicators that have been set, and the system that will be implemented to measure progress against these.

In the Action Plan, you should include information regarding the goals that are pursued when implementing Open SPP, such as reducing carbon emissions, or promoting gender inclusion; the results and indicators selected to measure progress against these missions; and information regarding how these are going to be measured, including frequency, and assigned responsibilities.

For more guidance see section on monitoring & evaluation.

In the section Build support and capabilities, we have introduced some of the operational mechanisms that can be established to facilitate and enable implementation. These can include, for example, creating specific sustainable supplier catalogs, and activities designed to build capabilities amongst public procurement practitioners, and local suppliers.

The implementation of Open SPP is normally carried out by different institutional bodies, at the national level this often includes the Ministry of the Environment, and any relevant National Public Procurement authorities. The Action Plan should clearly allocate responsibilities and accountability between government agencies (and any other relevant stakeholders).

Many of the activities associated with the implementation of Open SPP practices will need government funding. The Action Plan should openly share the financial estimated costs associated with the implementation of the activities that will be carried out in order to develop the needed supporting and capability-building mechanisms, as well as to monitor and communicate results.

Many countries start by working on the implementation of Open SPP in specific institutions, such as selected central governments, and gradually expand the scope to include all central governments, autonomous agencies and local authorities.

Although countries start by selecting specific procurement categories to focus SPP efforts, which are usually those which result less complicated and can have the highest impact, these can be expanded to include those which result more complex. For more information on the prioritization process, see this section.

Environmental criteria recommended for inclusion in public procurement processes can also evolve in scope and complexity. Many countries start by recommending the use of environmental labels, and then include other calculations, such as GHG emissions, or Life Cycle Costing (LCC). This will mainly depend on the resources available, and market capability. For more information on recommending standardized sustainability criteria see this section.