Breaking New Ground: How Cities across the Baltic Sea Region are revolutionizing Green Procurement to Tackle Climate, Chemicals, and Waste Together

Major EU project reveals integrated approach could transform public purchasing power into climate action

A groundbreaking new report from the ChemClimCircle-2 project shows how public procurement, representing 14% of EU GDP, can become a powerful lever for climate action, but only if cities stop treating sustainability in silos.

The comprehensive scoping study, released August 2025, surveyed 20 municipalities across the Baltic Sea Region and uncovered a critical gap: while cities are setting ambitious climate goals, they’re missing up to 85% of their carbon footprint by ignoring emissions embedded in the products and services they buy.

The Hidden Climate Impact of What We Purchase

Most municipalities focus on obvious emissions such as energy use in buildings, fleet vehicles, while overlooking the massive climate impact hidden in supply chains. The report reveals that for products like electronics, textiles, and construction materials, up to 90% of lifecycle emissions occur in production and disposal, not during use.

Three Challenges, One Solution

The ChemClimCircle approach integrates three interconnected priorities that cities have traditionally addressed separately:

• Climate neutrality – reducing greenhouse gases across product lifecycles
• Chemical safety – eliminating toxic substances that harm health and ecosystems
• Circular economy – keeping materials in use through repair, reuse, and recycling

From Concept to Action

Building on lessons from the first ChemClimCircle project, CCC-2 is now developing practical solutions: a step-by-step procurement Navigator, harmonized sustainability criteria, and streamlined impact assessment tools that work across different city sizes and contexts.

Early movers like Stockholm, Helsinki, Copenhagen, and Cēsis are already demonstrating what is possible but the report makes clear that transforming procurement at scale requires integrated policies, dedicated resources, and systematic follow-through from contract to delivery.

Why This Matters Now

With public authorities across Europe spending over €2 trillion annually, procurement represents one of the most underutilized tools for achieving the European Green Deal’s goals. The report argues that smart public buying can do more than reduce emissions, it can drive innovation in green technologies and create lead markets for sustainable products.

The full scoping report outlines the conceptual framework, evaluation criteria, and implementation roadmap that will guide pilot procurements across Baltic municipalities through 2027.

Download the full ChemClimCircle-2 Scoping Report

About ChemClimCircle-2: An EU Baltic Sea Region Interreg project (2024-2027) accelerating green public procurement practices that eliminate hazardous chemicals, reduce climate impacts, and advance circular economy solutions across 12 partner municipalities and 8 associated authorities.

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