In many categories, sustainability criteria are already quietly embedded. When we buy paper, we ask for FSC. For buildings, we talk about BREEAM. But what if we extended that logic and ambition across everything we buy?

 

Developing a sustainable specification puts climate and nature performance at the heart of the product or service description. It defines what good looks like before a single bid is received and does so when procurement has the most leverage: upfront.

 

Rather than waiting to evaluate sustainability in the award stage (or in reporting after delivery), this approach sets out clear expectations in the definition phase. That might include:

A sustainable specification starts by embedding climate and nature impact into the core of what we buy. Alongside the function of the product or service, we set a clearly defined environmental performance, from carbon footprint to water intensity, circularity, toxicity, and more.

 

By specifying impact ranges, not just features, we give sustainability the weight of a formal requirement.

 

It also changes the tone of the relationship. you're not asking suppliers to be better, you're defining what you're willing to buy.

 

And because this content flows directly into the contract (because it is in the description of the product or services), it unlocks consistency across governance, liability, KPIs, pricing, audit, benchmarking, and reporting. 

 

Sustainability becomes a contractual requirement that is enforceable and measurable.

 

 

Many approaches to sustainability in procurement often focus on compliance: what happened, did we measure it, are we reporting it? 

But sustainable procurement looks forward. It asks: how are we shaping what’s next? What impact are we enabling? 

Building environmental criteria into the specification of products or services is a critical part of this shift.