Seoul Metropolitan Government and ICLEI have joined forces to establish a Global Lead City Network on Sustainable Procurement. The aim is to create a worldwide network of leading cities that share and develop their capabilities to implement sustainable and innovation procurement, driving a transition to sustainable production and consumption. The network was launched at the ICLEI World Congress in Seoul (Republic of Korea) on 11 April 2015.

Seoul (Republic of Korea), Cape Town (South Africa), Helsinki (Finland), Ghent (Belgium) and Rotterdam (The Netherlands) are the founding participants. They commit to take an exemplary role globally by putting SPP into action through setting ambitious, quantified targets for its implementation, developing a clear implementation strategy and undertaking an evaluation of performance. The cities will act as global and regional champions of SPP, committing to promote and accelerate its wide-scale adoption by other cities.

Recent examples of such leadership include pledges by ICLEI member Helsinki (Finland) to achieve 100 percent sustainable public procurement by 2020 and a public call for action launched by the French capital Paris in the run-up to the COP21 summit. Cities are uniquely placed to develop and showcase practical solutions, which can then be replicated and adapted to other urban environments.

The network marks a recent growth in international interest and understanding of the importance of procurement in the fight against climate change. It has been set up to raise awareness of the benefits of sustainable and innovation procurement, and to help develop a supportive political framework.