The “European Union for Environment” (EU4Environment) programme is helping Eastern partner countries (Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Moldova and Ukraine) to preserve their natural capital and increase people's environmental well-being, by supporting environment-related action, demonstrating and unlocking opportunities for greener growth, and setting mechanisms to better manage environmental risks and impacts. The programme is funded by the European Union and implemented by five partner organisations: OECD, UNECE, UNEP, UNIDO and the World Bank, with a budget of approximately EUR 20 million.
Since 2019, as part of the EU-funded EU4Environment programme, the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) has helped to assess and improve the policy and legal frameworks on SPP and eco-labelling in Georgia, Moldova and Ukraine.
Representatives from Eastern countries government institutions, academia, business associations, non-profit organisations and civil society were invited to attend the Eastern Partnership Regional Workshop on sustainable public procurement and eco-labelling organised on the 14th November online. Participants have been given the possibility to discuss the challenges and lessons learned in promoting sustainable public procurement and eco-labelling.
For Ms. Tetyana TEVKUN, Manager of the Waste Reform, Reform Support Team, Ministry of Environment Protection and Natural Resources of Ukraine, and Mr. Ruslan MALAI, Director of Public Procurement Agency of the Republic of Moldova, sustainable public procurements and eco-labelling should be promoted and pushed. Environmental criterias are part of the priorities of Ukraine and these criterias are helping to reduce the environmental impact.
For all represented countries, there is still a lot of work to be done, but the legal framework is evolving and the proces to build something positive is long but ongoing.