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Public administration is a key agent for achieving development goals, and this is recognised in the 2030 Agenda and its Sustainable Development Goals. This international consensus requires the involvement of a large number of agents, and the mainstreaming of these global challenges into public policies. However, a practice that could be key in this regard, such as public procurement, does not receive sufficient attention within this framework. Faced with a broad range of goals and targets that cover environmental, economic and social issues, the 2030 Agenda lacks an adequate framework and tools to address the solution to these challenges, and public procurement could have greater prominence as a driver of progress for a number of these goals. The paper studies the role and potential of public procurement as an instrument of policy to contribute to the international development agenda. Therefore, the paper analyses documentation and reports of the main institutions that have worked on these issues to date: United Nations, the Sustainable Development Solutions Network, and the Reflection Group on the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. Despite having been considered in the design of the Agenda, subsequent reports by the United Nations give little importance to the role of public procurement, which contrasts with that expressed by civil society.