Procurement Services
Sponsor's Message - Fall 2018
“A leader is one who knows the way, goes the way, and shows the way.” — John Maxwell
The University of California has shown itself to be a leader on sustainability, evidenced by the public announcement of a bold expansion of systemwide sustainability goals and outlined in our now official Sustainable Practices Policy. This Policy is wide-ranging and establishes specific goals in nine areas of practice: green building, clean energy, transportation, climate protection, sustainable operations, waste reduction and recycling, sustainable procurement, sustainable food service and water systems.
These sustainability goals go beyond the typical “reduce, reuse, recycle” routine to reflect our evolution into an organization that values a sustainable society and planet for everyone by focusing on the broader picture of economic and social, as well as environmental, sustainability.
Sustainable procurement is defined in the Policy as “purchasing that takes into account the economic, environmental and socially responsible requirements of an entity’s spending.” This means approaching procurement in a way that generates benefits not only to our organization, but also society and the economy, while remaining within the carrying capacity of the environment.
In Procurement, UC will use its substantial market power to drive compliance with these ambitious goals, which include reaching 25% green spend within three years, and 25% economically and socially responsible spend within five years. We will also allocate a minimum of 15% of bid evaluation points to the meeting of specific sustainability criteria. With UC spending over $8 billion per year on goods and services, we have a significant opportunity and clear duty to supply and buy in the most sustainable manner possible.
But what does this mean for you? The implementation of new Sustainability Procurement Policy & Guidelines helps you “know the way” but it will take your involvement and commitment to help us “go the way.” This is a long-term vision and we are only at the starting point. We are dependent on you to go the distance.
Achieving optimum procurement sustainability involves a high degree of collaboration and engagement among all parties in the supply chain. Changing our buying practices to support small, local and diverse business communities, working with our suppliers to lessen their impact on the environment, and requiring that sustainability practices be considered in our RFP business cases requires the commitment of every buyer, strategic sourcing manager, contract manager, and procurement staff member at our campuses.
Manifesting these changes means keeping sustainability top of mind in all your procurement activities. It means educating yourself, reaching out to your Sustainable Procurement Working Group member for more information, attending Sustainable Procurement Trainings (see listings in newsletter), and integrating sustainable decision-making into your everyday practices. Only with serious and concerted effort will we accomplish real change and be able to show the way.