Contract and supplier Management / monitoring
Contractual requirement must be quantifiable and measureable; 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.
At the point of potential award there is always scope to reach a voluntary agreement with the supplier that they will work with you to deliver identified (and agreed) sustainable outcomes that can be captured as a contract commitment. Ongoing improvement and innovation can also be built into the management of the contract to further develop the products and services required.
Embedding sustainability into procurement to support the objectives of the organisation as set out in relevant policies and / or strategies is possible.
This can be achieved through early supplier engagement to allow the market to understand and prepare their response to tender requirements, the selection of sustainable suppliers, the inclusion of relevant and proportionate requirements in the specification, and the evaluation of relevant and proportionate award criteria.