Guidelines for Green Purchasing in Hamburg: A Blueprint for Environmental-Friendly Spending Decisions

Hamburg, the second-largest city in Germany, is taking significant steps towards a greener future with the introduction of a new sustainability guideline. This guideline, binding for tenders from the core administration, state-owned enterprises, and state universities from January 2025, aims to promote circular products and exclude the purchase of disposable tableware, peat products, or non-repairable electrical devices.

The new guideline is a continuation of Hamburg's climate plan, as emphasized by the city's Minister of the Environment, Jens Kerstan. It focuses on problematic chemical substances and social criteria such as good working conditions, inclusion, and equality.

The city plans extensive training and continuous consulting services from the finance and environmental authorities for the comprehensive implementation of the new guideline. A monitoring system will check compliance, making the success of the measures measurable.

In addition, the sustainability guideline will be regularly updated to react flexibly to new market developments, legal requirements, and other regulations. The new guideline is supplemented by social sustainability standards for sensitive product groups such as textiles, electronics, IT, cleaning services, and food.

Large capital companies and equivalent entities, including limited liability partnerships that were not previously obligated, must prepare a sustainability report when tendering for core administration, state-owned enterprises, or state universities as part of the new sustainability reporting rules under the EU's Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD) from January 2025.

Hamburg's commitment to sustainability is evident in its actions. The city has launched a new campaign called "Hamburg - Digital for You" for digitalized administration, and it has been recognised with the German Sustainability Award given to a Hamburg company.

The new sustainability guideline is part of Hamburg's efforts to use its market power to contribute to climate goals. With this guideline, Hamburg is offering new insights into the city's approach to sustainability and setting an example for other cities and organisations to follow.