Green Governance Day 2025: Baltic Sea Region’s Cities Turning Procurement into Climate Action 

Green Governance Day in Vilnius, European Green Capital for 2025, brought together leaders from across the Baltic Sea region to showcase how public authorities are transforming procurement into a powerful tool for climate neutrality, chemical safety, and advancing the circular economy.   

The event was opened by the Deputy Mayor of Vilnius, Andrius Grigonis, Principal Advisor for the Lithuanian Public Procurement Office, Kęstutis Kaziulis, and President of the German Environment Agency, Dr. Dirk Messner.   

A clear message emerged during the opening speeches – when cities choose greener products, services, and construction solutions, they actively steer markets toward healthier, low-impact futures. Public procurement is not simply an administrative process but a strategic instrument of green governance, capable of accelerating innovation and delivering tangible benefits for citizens.  

Throughout the day, more than ten presentations highlighted cities’ experiences in green public procurement, national and regional policy approaches, and the EU-level GPP landscape, complemented by a panel discussion on procurement as a driver of sustainability. 

Athens: Embedding Green Criteria into Every Municipal Tender  

Nikos Chrysogelos – Deputy Mayor of Athens for Climate Governance and Social Economy – outlined Athens’ shift from obligation to implementation. Although Greece has a comprehensive national legal framework for green public procurement (GPP), municipalities still struggle with training, market readiness, and administrative rigidity.   

Athens is in the process of integrating green criteria into every tender for products and services and preparing Phase II of its Operational Plan, where mandatory sustainability criteria will be codified. The city’s challenge is cultural: moving staff and suppliers from “lowest price” to environmental performance mindset.  

Lithuania: A National GPP Transformation Journey  

Chief Specialist of GPP at the Ministry of Environment of the Republic of Lithuania, Rūta Kukulskytė presented Lithuania’s impressive evolution from isolated cases to a system underpinned by mandatory national targets, resulting in one of Europe’s highest GPP uptake rates. With clear minimum environmental criteria, Lithuania has shifted entire markets – doubling type-I ecolabel use, greening roadworks, and exceeding clean-transport targets. Overall, the experience demonstrates that national leadership, market dialogue, and consistent implementation can create real environmental results.  

Europe’s GPP State of Play: From Voluntary to Strategic  

A broad EU-level overview presented by Evelin Piirsalu, Senior Expert in the Green and Circular Economic Transformations Unit (SEI Tallinn), explored how GPP has evolved from a niche practice to a strategic policy instrument. Uptake varies widely across Member States, but the trend is clear – more mandatory criteria, stronger innovation procurement, and alignment with circular economy and climate neutrality goals. The dual role of GPP – as both regulator and innovation driver – means that procurement now shapes markets for clean technologies, greener alternatives and circular solutions.  

Hazardous Chemicals: Why Procurement Must Step In  

The NonHazCity-3 project, presented by Hannamaria Yliruusi, Senior Lecturer and Expert on GPP at Turku University of Applied Sciences, shows how construction materials and everyday municipal purchases expose citizens to harmful chemicals. From Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs) in flooring to Per- and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances (PFAS) in furniture and heavy metals in electronics, procurement choices directly affect indoor environments. Chemical-smart procurement – using ecolabels, green building certificates, and Substances of Very High Concern (SVHC) restrictions – allows public authorities to demand safer materials and drive toxic substances out of supply chains.  

Large-Scale Reuse Systems: Tallinn’s Breakthrough  

Tallinn’s case showed how even events with approximately 100,000 participants can run fully on reusable tableware. Liina Kanarbik, Lead Specialist at the Circular Economy Department in the City of Tallinn, outlined how strong political leadership during Tallinn’s European Green Capital year enabled the city to implement phased changes toward a more circular event model.

With robust stakeholder engagement, Tallinn has transitioned from single-use plastics to fully functional reuse systems with high return rates. The Youth Song and Dance Festival demonstrated global-scale feasibility, avoiding 400,000 disposable items in a single event. This success led Estonia to adopt nationwide mandatory reuse rules at all public events.  

Reusable Packaging as a Service: Copenhagen & New Loop  

A service-provider perspective illustrated how Copenhagen’s procurement of a deposit-return infrastructure enabled a flexible, city-wide reuse network. Anders Barsoe, CEO and Chairperson of the Board at New Loop, presented the organization’s system for depositing and returning reusable tableware.   

It uses QR-coded packaging, solar-powered return boxes, and transparent life-cycle assessment data. Together, these elements create a modern, user-friendly solution that reduces CO₂ emissions, waste, and resource use. Copenhagen’s approach highlights how cities can stimulate market innovation by procuring a system rather than a product.  

Holbæk Municipality: Practical Data Challenges in Sustainable Construction  

Representatives from Holbæk, Denmark shared the realities behind chemical-smart building projects. Using DGNB Gold certification and the Byggvarubedömningen (construction material assessment) database, they assessed materials for a new kindergarten. While no severe deviations were found, the experience revealed significant data-management gaps.   

This led Holbæk to overhaul its guidelines, strengthen traceability and digital logbooks – a reminder that data quality is just as important as ambition. The municipality is now in the process of implementing new guidelines for data management in construction projects, following the results from the NonHazCity-3 project.  

Västerås: Integrating Circularity and Chemical Safety in Construction  

Viktoria Skure-Eriksson, Deputy Mayor of Västerås Municipality, showcased how political targets for climate neutrality and biodiversity translate into procurement practices. Through NonHazCity-3 project, the city reused materials in school construction, minimized hazardous substances, and implemented nature-friendly designs such as nocturnal wildlife friendly lighting. A standout case was the switch from tap water to storm-water-based snowmaking system at the Vedbobacken ski hill – reducing energy use, reusing water waste, and improving local ecosystems.  

ChemClimCircle Procurement Method: Breaking the Silos  

Anne Lagerqvist, Project Manager and Environmental investigator at the City of Stockholm, presented the ChemClimCircle (CCC) method, a framework for integrating chemicals, climate, and circularity criteria into every stage of procurement – from the needs analysis to contract follow-up. The approach emphasizes cross-departmental coordination and embedding sustainability thinking throughout the procurement cycle. Instead of treating climate-neutrality, chemical-safety, and circularity separately, CCC shows how they reinforce one another.  

Future Environmental Assessments: Preparing for Data-Rich Procurement  

Dennis Lisbjerg, Senior Consultant of Environment and Climate Economy at the Finance Department of Gentofte Municipality, explored how upcoming EU policies – ESPR, CSRD, Digital Product Passports, EPD expansion – will deliver unprecedented product-level data. Cities must prepare to use this data holistically, assessing not just CO₂ but pollution, biodiversity, circularity, and ecosystem impacts.  

This approach reflects a multi-dimensional, “doughnut-economics-inspired” procurement model, which considers both ecological limits and social foundations in decision-making. In practice, it means that procurement decisions are no longer evaluated solely on cost or carbon emissions but also on their broader environmental and societal impacts. By integrating multiple dimensions – rom resource use and waste reduction to biodiversity protection and social value – cities can make procurement a tool for holistic sustainability.  

Making Procurement a Driver of Change: Impact Assessment Challenges  

The final presentation of Green Governance Day 2025, delivered by Research & Innovation Lead at MC Baltics, Ieva Markucevičiūtė, highlighted the systematic challenges of measuring the real impact of GPP across the EU. Fragmented requirements across countries, major supply-chain data gaps, unclear impact attribution, and weak monitoring systems are obstacles for uniform understanding and adoption of GPP.    

In response, the ChemClimCircle-2 (CCC-2) project introduces a structured impact assessment scheme designed to make procurement impacts visible and comparable across three pillars: Chemicals, Climate, and Circularity. The approach links clear metrics (such as hazardous substance inventories, life-cycle emissions, and reuse rates) with actionable procurement strategies and measurable outcomes, including avoided emissions, reduced hazardous material use, and recovered resources. 

Panel Discussion: Procurement as a Catalyst for Change  

The panel discussion, featuring Inese Pelša, Chairperson of the Latvian Sustainable Procurement Association, Kęstutis Kazulis, Principal Advisor for the Lithuanian Public Procurement Office, and Esa Nikunen, former Director General of Helsinki Environmental Services, emphasized that green public procurement is a powerful strategic lever. When used effectively, it can cut emissions, reduce harmful chemicals, improve public health, and save resources in the long term. A shared view emerged that the most critical shift required is not technical but cultural – treating procurement as a long-term investment rather than a cost. 

Panellists also highlighted the importance of political direction, clear criteria, and strong collaboration across departments. Real impact requires breaking silos, applying life-cycle thinking, and following through beyond contract signing. When cities coordinate and understand their shared role, they can influence entire industries and drive meaningful innovation.  

A New Era of Purposeful Procurement  

Green Governance Day 2025 made one thing clear: Baltic Sea Region’s cities are moving from why to how. From Athens’ administrative transformation to Tallinn’s circular innovation, from chemical-smart construction to national-level policy breakthroughs, procurement is being redesigned as a core sustainability tool.  

If these trends continue, the next decade will see procurement become one of the most powerful mechanisms cities have to achieve climate neutrality, eliminate hazardous chemicals, and build a truly circular economy.  

All presentations can be found here.

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