IGPN - International Green Purchasing Network

Global Activities

GPN - Green Purchasing Network<

URL : http://www.gpn.jp/English/index.html

Contents:

Organization Information

Contact information: Mr. Hiroyuki Sato, Secretariat General
TEL: 81-33-406-5155  FAX: 81-33-406-5190
Mail to: igpn.secretariat@igpn.org
Location: Cosmos Aoyama, 5-53-67, Jingumae, Shibuya-ku, Tokyo 150-0001 Japan
Number of members: 2,876
Number of Non-members: n/a
Organizational Structure:

Executive Board: 39 persons; Advisory Board: 8 persons from Executive Board;
Number of employees: 6 full-time, 4 part-time
Region: Asia
Sources of funding:

Japanese Ministry of Environment, Annual Membership Fees
Type of Organization: Environmental NPO
WWW pages: http://www.gpn.jp/
http://www.gpn.jp/English/index.html
http://www.gpn.jp/igpn/index.html
Year established: 1996

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Activities

Checklist/Guidelines and
Specifications/Criteria: 		15 product categories, a suppliers checklist, and a hotel checklist. 
Criteria for product categories: 13; Criteria for service categories: 2
Education Materials/
Tools (non-professional):

booklets, children's guide, consumers guide, posters, expo panels, Green Purchasing Points quiz
Environmental Label (ISO),
Other (Energy Star, etc.):		 does not conduct label operations
Events: Forums once a year, Japan; International Conference, 2004, Sendai,
http://www.ics-inc.co.jp/icgps/index_e.html;
Workshops 6 times a year, for GPN members (attendees are 90% business, 10% local government representatives); Product Exhibitions, Eco-Products Expo (annually)
http://www.gpn.jp/event/ecopro/2004/2004-report.html
(In Japanese, but many pictures).
General Guidelines or Principles
for Green Purchasing
(which apply to overall activities): 		“Green Purchasing Basic Principles” were established in November of 1996 and revised in June 2001.
Good Practices/
Case Studies for Purchasing:		 Overseas research of government case studies conducted annually since 1997. 
Also, annual Green Purchasing Awards for best practice
Market Research and
Awareness Surveys:		 Annual survey on Green Purchasing activities and the effect on suppliers.
Newsletter: Bimonthly “GPN News” circulated to members, mass-media, advisors, etc., with over 4,000 readers.
Product List/Database: The “GPN Database” contains approximately 12,000 products and services in 16 categories. 
Also our “Eco-Challenge Database” for Hotels
Program Name/Main Activity: public and private sector green purchasing
Related Laws/Regulations,
(i.e. “Green Purchasing Law”): 		Law on Promoting Green Purchasing (June 2000)
http://www.env.go.jp/en/lar/green/index.html
Suppliers List/Database: Approximately 600 suppliers listed within the “GPN Database”
Training Course/
Tools (market related):		 Various presentation materials available in both English and Japanese,
Training material for purchasers (public and private) in Japanese only.
Suppliers’ Checklist; Eco-Challenge Hotel Checklist;
Guidance for Green Purchasing Activities Tool (in Japanese)

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Other

Concerning social aspects:

GPN hasn’t included social aspects into its official activities, however we have recently decided to put together a task group to discuss issues such as “sustainable procurement”.
Measurement/
Evaluation Method:		 Measures the market impact of Green Purchasing activities in Japan based on annual suppliers survey data.
Publications: unavailable

Focus on

Information

IGPN Events