The European environment commissioner Stavros Dimas has announced plans to achieve lower energy consumption by legislating what actually makes a green product. The initiative will be entitled the Sustainability Package and the new rules can be used to organize green procurement.

The concept of green procurement is not new. Around the globe, companies and public organizations are busy implementing software modules that allow them to make sure they're purchasing goods and services that score well in terms of green credentials.

Check out the Business and Sustainable Development website for case studies of private companies around the globe that have already got a green procurement strategy in place, including Dupont, Elextrolux, AMP, the BBC, Dow Jones Sustainable Indexes and Humboldt's Legacy.

Green procurement is now set to receive backing from European policymakers who are devising a set of minimum requirements for the most environmentally damaging products, Stavros told the Environmental Committee of the European Parliament. The rules, a first draft of which is expected to be published next year, also will facilitate competition because incentives are awarded to products that outperform.

The EU policymakers are especially bullish on resource-efficient products. The new product requirements will be periodically reviewed, Stavros said.

The European Union website already published a green procurement training toolkit, designed for use by public organizations pondering green public procurement Check it out here.

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