Carbon Labeling

[Jonathan Kushner]

What do folks think about METI's efforts to promote carbon labeling on consumer products her?

[Patrick Niessen]

Jonathan,

if METI would indeed manage to achieve such labelling, I think it would be excellent. As a matter of fact I myself raised the spectre of carbon "receipts" in my letter to the Financial Times last Year (Please see this link http://inakahome.blogspot.com/2008/11/financial-times-prints-patric...).

The devil will be in the detail - which standard will be used to determine carbon quantity? How much of the lifecycle is covered, and what are the organisational boundaries for assessment. I am not sure Japan would embrace an international standard, most likely they would make a J-Version to cater for the "special and very different" situation in Japan.

Can you provide any more Detail about what they propose? Is it just an idea, proposal?

Patrick

[Brendan Barrett]

I think that this is the way of the future! At the moment, we label our food with details of the nutritional value. I hope that in the not too distant future, we may move towards a labelling system that shows the carbon and energy footprint of goods and services.

This is going to be a real challenge but think of the job opportunities it could generate. Related to this, take a look at the Gameplan presentation from Saul Griffith. On slide 71 he gives an example of a label for the future.

Actually the presentation as a whole is really fascinating.

As for METI's proposal we need more information. I also know that some beer companies in Japan are already working on this.

Thanks for introducing the topic.

[Kevin Aschim]

I much prefer Carbon Labelling to Carbon Credits. As an investor, I would never invest in the CC market because most if not all carbon credits are based on measuring and auditing an absence. They are measuring something that wasn't produced. I need assets that are much more tangible. Secondly, the system is highly prone to moving baselines against which CO2 emission changes are made, changes in rules and regulations and so forth.

I like Carbon Labelling because it creates highly apparent and visible options in front of consumers. A consumer or buyer knows right away which option is more environmentally sound from a CO2 perspective and can immediately make a pricing and purchasing decision in their mind at the point of purchase. This establishes a truer and more market receptive price on CO2 and creates a market competitive driver towards carbon efficient manufacturing that is much sharper and more market responsive. A company that is blindly paying out carbon offsets for CO2 it is putting in our air without consumer awareness is a completely ineffective way of ultimately lowering atmospheric CO2 content or precipitating real change in manufacturing processes and materials sourcing.

[Laurence Smith]

Here's an interesting site I found that collect's Eco-Label examples from around the world.

This recently launched site has already compiled data on more than 260 of the world's estimated 410 green labelling schemes, with the overall goal of taking the mystery out of the bewildering herd of green labels by studying the foundations of all types of eco-labels aimed at both consumers and corporations.

Ecolabelling.org, a project of the Vancouver-based web developing company Big Room, looks at the sources of more than 260 different ecolabels from around the globe -- labels covering everything from organic food to building products -- with the intent of cutting out consumer confusion around green labelling schemes.

A community-based endeavor, the site welcomes suggestions and contributions from readers around the globe to try and stay on top of the many flavors of green labels out there.


Web Site:ecolabelling.org/

They have 32 examples from Asia - including 7 from Japan.

[Flavio Souza]

Considering that Japan is in the 5th position http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_carbon_dioxide_em...
I applause this idea and I already see some trying like Ajinomoto Co2 labeling in their products.

Cheers

Flavio
www.GreenITers.com

[Martin Frid]

Sapporo Breweries did announce in 2008 that they will print on the labels of canned beer how much CO2 is emitted per can from the cultivation of barley, including the production of aluminum cans. through to delivery. This could be the first time a corporation decides to go ahead and provide CO2 emmission data directly to consumers. They will rely on the ISO 14040 Life Cycle Analysis Standard, and deal with tricky issues like Life Cycle Analysis.

http://www.treehugger.com/files/2008/07/co2_labeling_on_japanese_fo...

I think it is great, and incidentally, Ajinomoto is one of the better (large) companies here in terms of letting consumers know from where they source their ingredients.

[Jamie Roy]

Great way to educate consumers. I like the idea

[Laurence Smith]

Martin, would be great if we could get Sapporo to come and talk about this and their Sustainability strategy in general - and hopefully bring some free smaples of their excellent beer!

[Kevin Aschim]

Alcohol : the cause of and solution to all life's problems. - Homer Simpson