Green Public Procurement Policies in Peru: Sustainable public purchases (Compras públicas sostenibles)

Green Public Procurement (GPP) refers to a policy that enables governments to reduce their environmental impact regarding the purchase process. These policies are based on giving recognition on the value that buying “green” offers gives, in reference to products or services that are backed up with the presence of certification of international labels (World Bank, 2021, p. 3). In essence, the final objective of GPP is to make the process of obtaining public goods more sustainable. In this context, it is important to analyze how developing countries are approaching GPP, as most of them will be the most prone to climate change effects. In the case of the Latin American region, it is generally tackled through implementation of laws. However, they are not established as proper programs, as is the case of some countries of the northern hemisphere. In the case of Peru, the most prominent effort towards sustainable consumption in the public sector is the Law of Public Contracts (Ley de Contrataciones del Estado) which, in 2019, established a special focus in the prioritizations of sustainable approaches in purchases of the State. This law incentivizes the purchase of goods with international certification and sustainable labels to moderate the consumption and to make the involved stakeholders more aware of their decisions and aims to advocate in favor of sustainable infrastructure projects.