Colleen Theron - Strategic Sustainable Procurement: Law and Best Practice for the Public and Private Sectors

An Overview of Law and Best Practice for the Public and Private Sectors

Colleen Theron
Solicitor and Founder and Director of CLT envirolaw
Malcolm Dowden
Solicitor and Director of Law Programmes, Law2020

First published in 2014 by Do Sustainability

Published 2017 by Routledge
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Copyright 2014 Colleen Theron & Malcolm Dowden

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ISBN 978-1-910174-24-1 (pbk)

A catalogue record for this title is available from the British Library.

Page design and typesetting by Alison Rayner
Cover by Becky Chilcott

THE STRATEGIC ROLE OF PURCHASING AND SUPPLYING as a lever for sustainable development and corporate social and environmental responsibility is increasingly important. It is manifested in greater regulation on sustainable procurement in the public sector, including significant changes to the EU Directives in April 2014. There is also increased emphasis on clean supply chains in the private sector, as best practice seeks to mesh with public sector requirements and reduce the risk that bids for public contracts might be undermined by adverse environmental impacts or social misconduct along the supply chain. Private sector companies are also increasingly seeking to establish best practice sustainable procurement principles to minimise the risk of litigation. Several international standards are embedding the principles of sustainable procurement into their requirements as well. In both the public and the private sector there are moves to improve the environmental and social performance of companies through supply chain management. In addition, there are instances where private sector organisations need to understand and adopt public sector procurement principles and procedures. Why? Quite simply because many large private sector organisations are seeking access to the estimated 1000 billion a year worldwide trade flows from public procurement, and those private sector bidders must ensure that they, and their supply chains, meet the requirements set by contracting authorities which are, in turn, driven by the need to comply with procurement law, regulation and policy objectives.

COLLEEN THERON is tri-qualified as a solicitor in England, Wales, Scotland and South Africa, and holds an LLM in environmental law from the University of Aberdeen (with distinction). Since 1996 she has advised on environmental issues in complex property and corporate transactions, including public sector and MoD matters, in her career as an environmental lawyer in the City of London. The Legal 500 and Chambers recognise Colleen as a leading environmental law practitioner. Colleen retains a role as consultant to law firms and lectures on environmental and sustainability law at Birkbeck University, London.

Colleen is also the founder and director of CLT envirolaw, a niche sustainability company providing specialist advice to companies and directors on sustainability issues. She has specialist knowledge of the event sector, having been a member of the BSI London mirror committee, developing ISO 20121, an international standard for sustainable events. She advises clients on how to develop sustainable procurement policies and implement technical sustainable procurement provisions into tenders and contracts, including implementing policies and procedures on business and human rights.

Colleen is a frequent contributor to the legal and professional press. Some of her publications are available at www.clt-envirolaw.com/publications. She also contributes to LexisPSL Environment , providing specialist environmental knowhow on sustainability and responsible business issues. She is the co-author (with Malcolm Dowden) of the UK chapter in the UNEP-funded book Green Buildings and the Law (CIB, 2011)

Colleen is passionate about stopping human trafficking and has recently been appointed a director of the NGO Finance against Human Trafficking.