Green public procurement: An instrument for achieving environmental goals in the transport sector

Abstract

Transport, especially road transport is one of the main sources of emissions of greenhouse gasses as well as numerous air pollutants that have harmful effects on human health, particularly in urban areas. The European Union, as well as many of its Member States are making huge efforts to reduce these emissions and their harmful effects. One possible solution is the application of green public procurement, which can be used as a powerful tool to stimulate the demand for zero and low emission vehicles and to promote the introduction and increase the share of renewable energy sources in the transport sector. The activities of the European Union related to encouraging greater use of green public procurement as an instrument for solving environmental problems and the experience of the countries with the longest tradition in their application are the subject of the analysis in this paper. At the end of the paper, special attention is paid to the challenges and possibilities of using green public procurement as a means to achieve the environmental goals of the transport sector of the Republic of Serbia.