climate and environmental considerations

Climate and environmental considerations refer to the duty of contracting authorities to account for climate and environmental impact in public procurement processes. While EU Directive 2014/24/EU permits the integration of environmental aspects throughout the procurement cycle, Norway has gone further with a mandatory 30 percent weighting in award criteria.

How do climate and environmental considerations work?

EU Directive 2014/24/EU allows contracting authorities to integrate environmental considerations into technical specifications, award criteria, and contract performance conditions. It also introduced life-cycle costing for evaluating environmental costs over time, though green procurement remains voluntary at the EU level.

In Norway, the obligation is codified in the Public Procurement Act § 5 and specified in the procurement regulation § 7-9. Since 1 January 2024, contracting authorities must weight climate and environmental considerations at a minimum of 30 percent in award criteria for procurements above the EEA threshold. For procurements between the national and EEA thresholds, climate and environmental criteria must be among the three highest-priority criteria.

Exceptions and flexibility

Norwegian regulation provides two key exceptions to the 30 percent rule:

• Requirements specification: If absolute climate and environmental requirements clearly deliver a better effect than weighting, they may replace the 30 percent rule
• Insignificant impact: Procurements that by their nature have an insignificant climate footprint and environmental impact are exempt — KOFA has interpreted this strictly (case 2024/1422)
• Documentation duty: Both exceptions require the contracting authority to justify and document the choice — a "comply or explain" principle

Tools like Cobrief can help suppliers identify tenders where climate and environmental considerations carry significant weight, making it easier to tailor bids to the evaluation criteria.

Climate and environmental considerations are shifting from voluntary good practice to binding obligation across Europe. Norway's 30 percent rule, set to be codified in a new procurement act from July 2026, is among the strictest in the EEA. The EU is reviewing its procurement directives, which may introduce mandatory green procurement requirements across all member states.