Return of the Green
Open Access DepositedA Guide for Sustainable Procurement Based on Lessons from “Green” Efforts Prior to 2025
Since the early 2000s, federal procurement has trended toward greater consideration of environmental sustainability in procurement planning and decision making. Strategies such as incorporating environmental sustainability considerations into acquisition planning, preferring eco-labeled products, or considering life-cycle costs have been successfully embedded in federal procurement. This trend has been driven by Congress through statutory requirements and by several administrations through executive orders. The trend toward sustainability stalled after the FAR Council, following Presidential direction, proposed a rule that would tie contractor responsibility to the disclosure of greenhouse gas emissions and climate-related risk data. Congress essentially killed this effort in two successive National Defense Authorization Acts, and the proposed rule change was eventually withdrawn in the final days of the Biden administration. This thesis explores criticism of the proposed rule along with related efforts by the Securities and Exchange Commission and the State of California to target greenhouse gas emissions and climate-related risks in the realm of corporate financial disclosure. Based on this review, this thesis concludes with lessons learned and suggested options for reviewing and structuring environmentally sustainable procurement efforts in the future.
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