ITC’s Trade for Sustainable Development Programme has partnered up with the Swedish city of Malmö to produce a first-of-its-kind Roadmap

Malmö (Sweden), the 2021 EU City for Fair and Ethical Trade, has committed to be a net-zero carbon municipal organization by 2030. Re-thinking of transportation and related procurement policies plays one of the key roles in the process of climate transition led by municipalities.

Electrification of vehicle fleet, including e-bikes, is one of the specific solutions that cities have started to implement. The supply chains that produce e-vehicle (EV) batteries are, however, often associated with several social, environmental and governance (ESG) risks. Such risks may negate some of the net positive benefits of EV fleets and are often most pronounced in producer countries with weak enforcement of regulatory, industry and international frameworks and practices. These pertain not only human rights issues and environmental degradation, but also high levels of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions.

For Malmö, it was important that any future procurement decisions on EVs are well-informed, tackling the climate transition commitments in a truly holistic way. In collaboration with ITC, the project set to outline a public procurement roadmap to provide guidance and options in managing risks related to the battery lifecycle.

The roadmap is based on comprehensive risk mapping rooted in the analysis of the battery value chains, and contains four overarching strategic focus areas:

• Incorporate ESG considerations into procurement criteria for EVs and EBs;
• Reduce unnecessary procurement;
• Address the root causes of ESG issues in battery supply chains;
• Focus on recycling and reuse.

Each of the strategic areas include specific measures that Malmö and other procuring organizations can consider in order to manage risks and achieve strategic goals. Organizations can use the roadmap as a ‘menu’ of different options, where some risk management measures can be pursued immediately, while others will be relevant in the long term. Several structural recommendations and the recent legislative initiatives in relation to value chain due diligence are also considered as part of the roadmap.

The roadmap is now available for download.

Through a series of events and webinars in May and June 2022, the roadmap was presented and discussed with different stakeholders, from other public buyers in the EU to the organizations close to mining communities in the raw material producing countries.

This knowledge will feed into future possible adjustments in Malmö’s procurement approach on EV batteries and related product groups. Ultimately, the city of Malmö aims to be able to procure e-vehicles with ethically certified batteries and fully disclosed GHG data.

The project was implemented by ITC and financially supported by the European Commission, Directorate-General for Trade, as a follow-up activity for Malmö, the winner of EU Cities for Fair and Ethical Trade Award 2021.