#30 Public Procurement, Climate Change & Expanding Expertise with Knowledge from other Disciplines

BESTEK - The Public Procurement Podcast

In this episode, Marta and Willem start by discussing the role of public procurement law in addressing climate change, emphasizing its supportive capacity in mitigation efforts and how it interacts with various legal disciplines, including environmental, competition, and constitutional law. For the main, they dig into the nuances of sustainable procurement, emphasizing the distinction between policy and law, and introduce the concept of "low emission procurement" as a targeted approach to address emissions in public purchasing practices. More precisely, they emphasize the shift from traditional procedural rules to target-oriented approaches and the challenges of implementing and enforcing these targets, highlighting the increasing integration of environmental considerations into procurement law and the need for professionals to be versed in various related legislations (e.g., EU Clean Vehicles Directive, Batteries Regulation, Net-Zero Act, Deforestation Regulation). Finally, for the dessert, they reflect on the challenges of venturing into scientific fields outside their primary expertise, exemplified by their foray into environmental law.