How about carbon labelling?

An abundance of information makes it difficult for the ordinary consumer to understand and interpret the climate impacts of products.

Results from a survey conducted in 8 countries in 2008 show that 33 % of consumers wish to or are buying green products. The major problem seems to be consumer’s lack of understanding of the environmental impacts of their actions and products (Vandenbergh et al., 2011).

A private carbon-labelling programme developed by the Carbon Trust is a starting point in guiding the consumer in understanding the carbon emissions of products. Carbon Trust Certification Limited provides independent and objective certification of product carbon footprint measurements. Giving companies and brands the possibility to measure their products’ footprints- and environmental impact (Carbon Trust).

The scientific article, Time to try carbon labelling by Michael P. Vandenbergh et al. published in Nature Climate Change, states that labelling products through the supply chain can influence both corporate supply chains and consumer behaviour, in effect filling the climate-policy gap.

A carbon-labelling programme could reduce carbon emission by:

• ·      Influencing consumer choices
• ·      Encourage firms to identify efficiencies throughout the supply chain

However, challenges arise in labelling the climate effects of the entire product life cycle as there are uncertainties in the calculations. This is an active area of research, but it important to address that it comes down to the consumer having reliable, not perfect, information. More importantly is the label design to be simple to interpret, and therefore not require more mental mathematics than comparing the carbon footprint between two products.

To improve the information the consumer has at present it is ideal to take advantage of new technologies. An example is smart-phone barcode-scanner apps to access data on carbon profiles of a product and its alternatives (Vandenbergh et al.,2011).

 

Private efforts are often criticised for undermining effective public measures, however the opportunity cost of a global labelling system is small (Vandenbergh et al.,2011).

Carbon labelling is not sufficient in meeting targets but they can affect consumer actions, and modest changes in the household sector can significantly reduce emissions.