Where the protection or enhancement of biodiversity is a key issue within the contract, performance indicators need to be developed to ensure the desired outcomes are achieved. These may include the provision of evidence of the origin of materials or independent verification of process methods.
The benefits of the contractual requirement must be quantifiable and measurable otherwise, there is a risk that it may be unenforceable. The buyer must also consider whether this requirement is core to the contract or a secondary issue, as any remedy for breach of performance may be difficult to quantify. In this case a pre-agreed service credit or maintenance rebate would enable recompense for non-performance where termination of the contract would not be an option.
At contract award there is always the opportunity to reach a voluntary agreement with the supplier that they will work with you to deliver agreed biodiversity outcomes that can be captured as a contract commitment.
Embedding sustainability into procurement is easily achieved as long as the requirements of an individual procurement reflect the objectives of the organisation as set out in relevant policies and / or strategies.
Finally, on-going improvement and innovation can be built into the management of the contract to further develop the products and services required by the contracting organisation.
See the Annex for examples.
