The UK government has announced today that it intends to conduct research on how to produce measurable standards by which products’ carbon footprints can be assessed and communicated to consumers through product labels at the point of sale. The standards, which will be voluntary, will be developed over the next 18 months by the Carbon Trust, Defra, and BSI British Standards. Businesses such as Tesco, B&Q, and Marks & Spencer will contribute to the development process as well.
The issue of measuring carbon footprints throughout the supply chain was the topic of discussion at a recent conference hosted by Glasshouse client Lloyd’s Register. Many participants focused on the fact that what is measurable can be managed; however, they also stressed the difficulty of accurately determining their impact comprehensively while maintaining the competitiveness of their offering.
It will also be interesting to see whether these standards will be able to actually shift business behaviour and consumer decision-making in addition to creating a measurable system which can be uniformly certified.