A systematic review of current practices and future directions for environmental social and governance (ESG) integration in public construction procurement

Abstract

Public construction procurement plays a pivotal role in advancing sustainability objectives due to its scale, regulatory influence, and long-term societal impacts. This study systematically reviews how environmental, social, and governance (ESG) principles are integrated into public sector construction procurement. Drawing on 46 peer-reviewed articles published between 2010 and 2025, the review applies bibliometric, thematic, and qualitative content analysis to synthesise global academic and policy discourse. The findings reveal that ESG integration remains uneven and fragmented. Environmental considerations benefit from relatively developed tools, such as life cycle assessment and carbon metrics, yet often receive limited weighting in contractor evaluation. Social criteria are inconsistently defined and frequently assessed qualitatively, while governance dimensions are rarely formalised beyond compliance requirements. Using a PEST framework, the study identifies key barriers, including legislative ambiguity, price-dominant evaluation models, institutional capacity constraints, and the absence of harmonised ESG metrics and post-award monitoring mechanisms. Despite these challenges, evidence indicates that structured ESG integration can enhance environmental performance, workforce inclusion, and procurement transparency. The study concludes by proposing a conceptual framework emphasising regulatory alignment, capacity building, and standardised evaluation tools to strengthen ESG integration in public construction procurement.