Procurement specialists are talking about a new book in their industry, written by author and thought leader on procurement, sustainability and governance, Sanjay Kumar, which many say was a long time in coming. It will most certainly be of interest to South African procurement professionals who are particularly challenged by the increasing focus on sustainable procurement and the obstacles in the way of achieving it.
Entitled “Understanding Public Procurement Sustainability”, perhaps the book’s most compelling endorsement comes from Shaun McCarthy OBE, Director of Action Sustainability in London, who writes, inter alia: If you are a procurement or sustainability professional anywhere in the world, please read this book. It will change the way you think and feel about your profession.
In brief, Kumar examines sustainable public procurement (SPP) as a policy tool on a global level, offers an in-depth case study on India’s SPP implementation trajectory, and explores how to integrate sustainability criteria into purchasing decisions. But, like all books of value, there is much in this one that will grip readers, particularly those in developing nations. The foreword of the book pays homage to Kumar’s ability to pin down the reasons for some failures, and includes the following passage:
“Many industrialized countries in Europe and North America and some in Asia and Latin America have developed guidelines, tools, and resources for implementing SPP at the ground level. In contrast, in most of the Global South, embedding sustainability in procurement remains an alien subject amid a constant struggle to get the attention of political and organizational leadership.
“The support of leadership plays a decisive role in implementing sustainable procurement and depending on their support, public procurers can turn the complex procedural constraints into either an obstacle or an enabler for implementing sustainable procurement (Correia et al. 2013). Many are just starting their journey with sustainable purchasing; some have addressed low-hanging fruit and need to develop plans for meaningful next steps; only a few have developed comprehensive category strategies.
“However, thinking that integrating sustainability in procurement decisions is beneficial for their people, good for their economy, and good for their future generations is slowly sinking among policymakers in these countries too. Considering that many developing countries lack natural resources to propel economic growth and meet their people’s demands for better delivery of public services, the implementation of SPP policy is likely to result in more potential benefits than that in developed countries.
“Realizing these potentials, many countries in the Global South, such as South Africa, Malaysia, Brazil, Thailand, Malaysia, etc., have adopted SPP policy, and now have SPP policy framework. However, despite the big noise about the progress and evolution of SPP as a promising tool to save the people and planet, procurers (both in developed and developing countries) are struggling to implement theoretical constructs amid complexities involved in integrating sustainability in purchasing practices.”
McCarthy’s endorsement describes this realism well: Sanjay Kumar has written an insightful and important book which I am honored to endorse. Climate change is an existential threat to humanity and the unethical practices that support the rich at the expense of the poor must cease. The book makes a compelling case for the role of public procurement as a powerful tool to help to address these issues and many others. It challenges the concept of “Value for Money” to consider not only the whole life cost of goods and services but also considers the externalities that are critical to societies around the world. It recognizes that sustainability is a contextual concept, and that different countries, regions and authorities will have different priorities. The “Golden Thread” from Government policy through the multiple tiers of the supply chain is acknowledged as a critical success factor.
Understanding Sustainable Public Procurement; Reflections from India and the World, by Sanjay Kumar, is published by Springer and can be ordered from Amazon.
