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Demand Acceleration a tool for promoting climate solutions

The potential of Demand Acceleration is being tested in one of the defining issues of our time: the climate crisis. In collaboration with WWF Sweden, Ignite Sweden, and others, the goal is to give the public sector new procurement methods and tools to reduce its climate footprint.

The Demand Acceleration methodology has been developed within DigitalWell Arena and is based on the premise that public procurement can drive innovation. In essence, an innovation process is procured, where collaboration between the public sector and companies is key to addressing important needs.

A fundamental principle is that the services and products procured should be scalable nationally within the public sector. The benefits must not be limited to a single region or municipality. It is precisely this diffusion of beneficial effects that has generated great interest in how the Demand Acceleration methodology can be used to promote the development and scaling of solutions with high climate impact.

Requirement for measurable sustainability

When this is now being tested in a project funded by Vinnova, it also introduces new requirements.

– In addition to asking whether a solution is scalable and contributes to business value and organisational development, we must also ask how it supports the climate transition, says Lina Svensberg, Innovation Manager at DigitalWell Arena.

WWF Sweden has been given a key role in mapping tools that can stimulate and increase climate impact in public procurement, and how these can be integrated into the Demand Acceleration methodology. Initially, approximately 100 different types of decision-support tools have been identified for further analysis.

– An interesting question is why these decision-support tools are not used more widely. I am sure they have the potential to contribute much more, but they also need considerable development to work really well. We will be looking at the needs gap that exists, says Örjan Jansson, Global Programme Manager for Climate Innovations at WWF.

WWF Sweden hopes to find new tools for procuring the climate innovations that deliver the greatest impact. From left: Thomas Wernerheim, Karlstad Municipality/DigitalWell Arena, Linus Arnold, Ignite Sweden, Lina Svensberg, DigitalWell Arena, and Örjan Jansson, WWF.

Recently, a report from the UN’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has been highly topical. It once again underlines the importance of acting quickly if the 1.5-degree target is to be met. According to the IPCC, cost-effective solutions already exist that can be scaled up to halve greenhouse gas emissions by 2030.

The right tools are decisive for climate impact

Örjan Jansson believes that the ability to evaluate climate impact and create clear decision-support materials is decisive for adopting and scaling up the best climate innovations. He therefore finds the combination of better decision support and innovative procurement methods interesting, which also enables more function-based procurements.

– This is a hugely important part of achieving greater climate impact, as it can give companies greater creative freedom to come up with better solutions than the procurer themselves has knowledge of – which is necessary to reach the climate goals. Between 2030 and 2040, we need to halve emissions again, and that will require new solutions. The public sector therefore needs to both procure and scale up existing technology, and incubate and pilot-test entirely new technology.

Extensive network for upcoming procurement

Ignite Sweden is also an important partner in the project. They have specialised in a process, Ignite Public, for matching demand owners in the public sector with startups. In total, over 3,000 startups are part of their network, and through Ignite Public, around 50 pilot collaborations between startups and public actors have been launched.

This provides an exciting interface for the procurement that will later be carried out in the project. Lina Svensberg hopes to find a municipality or region with serious intentions to procure climate impact in a new way.

– We hope that a suitable case will come in to test and develop our methodology – but we also want to contribute to real impact! Exciting discussions are already underway and we are open to a dialogue with more public actors who want to be at the forefront, says Lina Svensberg.

Public procurement makes a major footprint

For WWF, the large footprint that public procurement represents is an important incentive for participating in the project – procurement that in the EU corresponds to approximately 15 per cent of GDP. Örjan Jansson also thinks there are inherent elements in the Demand Acceleration methodology that make it interesting from a sustainability perspective.

– In my world, it is about improving the ability to procure things that are as useful and good as possible – that is, solving important needs in the most sustainable way. Circular solutions are a good example, but can be particularly challenging to procure. The Demand Acceleration methodology can hopefully increase the chances of succeeding with that and other more complex solutions.