Requirements on Consumer Information about Product ... - ANEC

Consumer Information about PCF
(3) Carbon Trust Reduction label (www.carbon-label.com)
Description:
The Carbon Reduction Label belongs to the category of labels
that display the calculated PCF and planned or achieved
reduction in PCF (as sheer commitment or in the form of
figures). The responsible body for the label is Carbon Trust /
Carbon Trust Footprinting Company. The label shows the total
greenhouse gas emissions in grams per indicated functional
unit from every stage of the product's lifecycle, including
production, transportation, preparation, use and disposal. For
B2B products the PCF is done only cradle-to-gate. The
calculation of the PCF builds upon PAS 2050. The Label
includes a reduction element whereby the company is
committed to further reduce the carbon footprint over the
following two years. If the commitment is not met, the company will no longer be able to use
the label. Additionally, information can be given on the label concerning the comparison to
other products and the possibilities for consumers to reduce the carbon footprint by their
behaviour. The label can be placed on the package of the product or alternatively used at the
point of sale or in the internet. The Carbon Trust label is the most prominent label at the
moment in the carbon reduction category.
Critical acclaim:
The display of CO2e figures can in general not be seen as useful for consumers at the
moment: it pretends a precision that is not available at the moment, figures for different
products are not comparable and in general such figures are of little or no help to consumers.
Additionally, the focus on reduction must be seen as problematic: a fundamental problem is
that good performers cannot easily reduce whereas bad performers are able to. As a
consequence the “wrong” may get rewarded. Then it is unclear who verifies the reduction. As
the reduction is only a commitment, a company may label their products with the reduction
label even if they do not reduce their emissions at all. Only after two years they will loose the
label. In general it can be added that the choice of products labelled with the Carbon Trust
Reduction label is at random, therefore not addressing the most relevant products but
products such as crisps. Furthermore the label lacks a benchmark or scaling system that
enables consumers to judge the relative performance of a specific product. One single figure
alone does not give evidence.
Summing up the Carbon Trust Reduction Label cannot be recommended.
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