SAVING MONEY AND THE ENVIRONMENT THROUGH THE DEVELOPMENT OF E-‐PROCUREMENT TOOLS AND GREEN PUBLIC PROCUREMENT Release date: Sunday 14th September 2014 FLORIANA, 9-‐10 September 2014 – The Institute for Research and Improvement in Social Sciences (IRISS), in collaboration with the Ministry of Finance, organized a two-‐day seminar on green procurement, energy efficient technologies and the GRASP Project, a project which aims to increase the potential of Mediterranean Smart cities in organizing and developing Smart and Green e-‐ Procurement processes. The seminars were organised to assist public administration entities with the planning and execution of tenders including ecological criteria, as well as to help SMEs understand the environmental requirements that are currently present and those that will be present as per EU legislation in open procedures. The seminars provided information about the current state of technology within several areas with greening potential, including energy efficient technologies and renewable energies, as well as with respect to the tools and processes of e-‐public procurement,. Finance Minister Prof. Edward Scicluna opened the seminar highlighting that the Government must lead by example on green procurement. “This Green Procurement system will hopefully usher in a new market system -‐ it is likely that we will see the EU adopting a common E-‐procurement system. Malta already has an E-‐Procurement system in place,” stated the Minister. Public authorities in Europe spend approximately 2 trillion euros annually (19% of the GDP). Therefore, environmental and energy savings criteria in public procurement and the use of electronic platforms for public procurement can significantly contribute to sustainable consumption and production. In his keynote speech, Minister for Sustainable Development the Environment and Climate Change Leo Brincat emphasized the positive economic impacts green procurement can have, stating that: “In supporting the development of competitive green goods and services, we will be enlarging the market for them while encouraging innovation further.” Parliamentary Secretary for Local Government Dr. Stefan Buontempo welcomed the GRASP project and increased focus on the lifecycle costs in contradistinction to upfront capital costs. The Parliamentary Secretary also announced a new training project which will be headed by the Department for Local Government and “which shall continue to help our localities to maximize their EU funds potential.” Mr. Bernard Mallia, President of the IRISS, provided the technical presentations on green procurement and energy efficiency technologies covering topics such as the specifications to take into account when procuring and installing lighting, air-‐conditioning and insulation for buildings, and alternative renewable energy sources. In addition to the technical specifications, Bernard Mallia and Branica Xuereb of the Ministry for Sustainable Development the Environment and Climate change, also covered the relevant local and EU regulations relating to the green procurement process.
GReen procurement And Smart city suPport in the energy sector (GRASP) is an initiative of the Institute for the Research and Improvement of Social Sciences (IRISS), a Malta-‐based independent, non-‐profit civil society research institute with an exclusive focus on the social sciences and is being supported by the Ministry of Finance. More information about the GRASP seminar is available on the IRISS and the GRASP websites: http://researchsocialsciences.org/ and http://www.grasp-‐med.eu/ . Panel – Bernard Mallia, Leo Brincat, Daniel Grima, Branica Xuereb Bernard Mallia – IRISS President
Hon. dr. Buontempo
Hon. Leo Brincat
Ms. Branica Xuereb - GPP Officer MSDEC
Hon. Prof. E. Scicluna