Requirements on Consumer Information about Product ... - ANEC

Consumer Information about PCF
General analyses on PCF of food
The overall relevance of the PCF of food is high. Food production (including agriculture)
contributes with a relevant share of CO2e emissions to the overall emissions of private
households (e.g. approx. 20% in Germany: Quack and Rüdenauer 2007). But there are no
simple answers as too many different parameters influence the PCF of products (small or
large farm / with or without cooling / dynamic due to time of purchase / usage behaviour (e.g.
time of storage)). Generic data e.g. on carrots may be very different from the specific carbon
footprint of a product in the shop.
It is important to state that the focus on CO2e emissions alone neglects other important
aspects (e.g. pesticides, biodiversity).
The CO2e emissions connected to food are shared among many single shopping acts and
many different products. Therefore, consumers make very many single decisions during e.g.
one year, each of it influencing the PCF only marginally.
The following approaches (e.g. rankings, rating system) already exist:
• The most widespread and well-known approach is the bio-label for food from organic
agriculture based on Council Regulation (EC) No 834/2007 of 28 June 2007 on organic
production and labelling of organic products.
This label takes into account environmental relevant aspects of cultivation (e.g. use of
pesticides and fertilisers, use of genetically engineered plants and animals) but makes
no relation to greenhouse gas emissions. Besides the official label, a variety of biolabels
from different associations exist (e.g. Demeter, Naturland, Bioland), having
similar targets, but often being partly stricter. In Sweden, it is currently planned to
include criteria on greenhouse gas emissions in the criteria for organic agriculture in
the future (KRAV).
• Type I labels like Blue Angel, Nordic Swan etc. do not address food.
• There are a few EPDs published on food (e.g. milk, mineral water, sparkling wine 16 ).
In general, PCF on food is an interesting approach as it shows a new perspective concerning
food resp. agriculture besides the typically addressed ones (such as pesticides, fertilisers,
animal welfare). Its importance is also connected to the fact that in agriculture, non-CO2e
greenhouse gas emissions occur that are not related to energy demand (see e.g. CH4
emissions in bovine or rice production).
On the bases of the currently available data, one can give simple recommendations
concerning general choices of food, e.g. vegetables have a much lower PCF then bovine
(see Table 3 above). As a sufficient database is still lacking, it is currently not possible to
differentiate the products much further (e.g. different bovine products, different ways of food
16 For more information see www.environdec.com.
52