A New Era of Federal Procurement: Managing Climate Risks and Promoting Sustainable Supply Chains

As the world’s largest buyer of products and services, with roughly $750 billion in products and services purchased each year, the U.S. government has significant climate risks and opportunities in its supply chains. If supply chain disruptions caused by extreme weather and other climate-related are not managed effectively, taxpayers and program delivery-including programs designed to protect our national security-will suffer.
On the other hand, if the government collaborates with suppliers around emissions reductions and resilience-building, it can strengthen national security while boosting the economy and protecting the planet.
Two proposed Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) amendments, expected to be finalized this year, will take giant steps toward making federal supply chains less vulnerable to climate risks and more effective in delivering on national security and federal program priorities.
One amendment requires the largest contractors (roughly 6,000 of the 500,000 total suppliers) to report emissions and set science-based emissions reduction targets. The other amendment requires federal agencies to choose sustainable products when making procurements.
Join Ceres and the Security and Sustainability Forum for a comprehensive overview of these two proposals. "A New Era of Federal Procurement: Managing Climate Risks and Promoting Sustainable Supply Chains," discussed these proposals and how they can help the U.S. meet its climate goals, thus saving taxpayers money and promoting national security.
Speakers included:
- (Moderator) Steven Rothstein, Managing Director of the Ceres Accelerator for Sustainable Capital Markets
- Miranda Ballentine, Former CEO of the Clean Energy Buyers Alliance, former Assistant Secretary of the Air Force (Installations, Environment, & Energy)
- Richard Kidd, Former Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Environment & Energy Resilience.
- Karla Perri, Senior Counsel and Executive Vice-President at the Spectrum Group, Former Assistant Deputy Under Secretary for Environment, Department of Defense