The Parties to the North American Agreement on Environmental Cooperation (NAAEC) attach strong importance to the enhancement of North American markets for green products and services. They are committed to increasing their own eco-procurement and use of such products and services, and to encouraging others, such as municipal governments, to do the same. The Commission for Environmental Cooperation (CEC) Secretariat, in collaboration with the North American Green Purchasing Initiative (NAGPI), developed action plans for fostering institutional purchasing of green cleaning agents, electricity and office supplies/equipment. This report provides background information for the implementation of the action plan for fostering purchasing of green products by municipalities.
This report is based on a study the author conducted in the summer and fall of 2005 using the case regions of Halifax, Montreal, Toronto, Hamilton, Kitchener, Calgary, Edmonton, Vancouver and Whistler. The eight municipalities and one town were chosen based on their available online documentation and their variations in approach. Data was collected from available online documents, including each region’s relevant sustainable development strategy and/or plan(s). The study focuses on the content of the plans, the process of the plan formulation, and the links between process and content. While the original purpose of the study was to compare sustainable development strategies, this report emphasizes the ecoprocurement content. |