Distribution by TSO (The Stationery Office) and available from: Online www.tsoshop.co.uk SECOND REPOR Mail, Telephone, Fax & E-mail TSO PO Box 29, Norwich NR3 1GN General enquiries: 0870 600 5522 Order through the Parliamentary Hotline Lo-call 0845 7 023474 Fax orders: 0870 600 5533 T FROM THE ENVIRONMENT E-mail: [email protected] Textphone: 0870 240 3701 House of Commons The Parliamentary Bookshop 12 Bridge Street, Parliament Square London SW1A 2JX Environmental Audit Telephone orders: 020 7219 3890 General enquiries: 020 7219 3890 Committee Fax orders: 020 7219 3866 Email: [email protected] Internet: http://www.bookshop.parliament.uk AL AUDIT COMMITTEE: ENVIRONMENT TSO@Blackwell and other Accredited Agents Customers can also order publications from: Environmentald e il TSO Ireland e b t 16 Arthur Street, Belfast BT1 4GD o n Tel 028 9023 8451 Fax 028 9023 5401 Labellingg to u © Parliamentary Copyright House of Commons 2009 ar t This publication may be reproduced under the terms of the Parliamentary Click-Use Licence, o m available online through www.opsi.gov.uk/click-use/ b r Secondm Report N of Sessionfo 2008–09 ISBN 978 0 215 52922 0 . e y 9 n p ny 0 AL LABELLING: SESSION 2008–09: HC 243 a 0 o a 2 s c / i e in 3 is c d /0 h an e 3 T v sh 2 d li n a b o u 1 p :0 00 HC 243 This is an embargoed advance copy. Not to be published in any form until 00:01 on 23/03/2009 House of Commons Environmental Audit Committee Environmental Labelling Second Report of Session 2008–09 Report, together with formal minutes, oral and written evidence Ordered by The House of Commons to be printed 3 March 2009 This is an embargoed advance copHCy 243. N ot to be (Incorporating HC 83 of Session 2007–08) Published on 23 March 2009 pubyb authoritylish of thee dHouse i ofn Commons an y form until London: The Stationery Office Limited 00:01 on 23/0£22.003/ 2 009 The Environmental Audit Committee The Environmental Audit Committee is appointed by the House of Commons to consider to what extent the policies and programmes of government departments and non-departmental public bodies contribute to environmental protection and sustainable development; to audit their performance against such targets as may be set for them by Her Majesty’s Ministers; and to report thereon to the House. Current membership Mr Tim Yeo, MP (Conservative, South Suffolk) (Chairman) Gregory Barker, MP (Conservative, Bexhill and Battle) Mr Martin Caton, MP (Labour, Gower) Mr Colin Challen, MP (Labour, Morley and Rothwell) Mr David Chaytor, MP (Labour, Bury North) Martin Horwood, MP (Liberal Democrat, Cheltenham) Mr Nick Hurd, MP (Conservative, Ruislip Northwood) Jane Kennedy, MP (Labour, Liverpool Wavertree) [ex-officio] d e il Mark Lazarowicz, MP (Labour/Co-operative, Edinburgh Northe and Leith) b t Mr Ian Liddell-Grainger, MP (Conservative, Bridgewater) n Mr Shahid Malik, MP (Labour, Dewsbury) o o Mrs Linda Riordan, MP (Labour, Halifax) g t u Mr Graham Stuart, MP (Conservative, Beverley & Holdernessr ) t Jo Swinson, MP (Liberal Democrat, East Dunbartonshirea ) m Dr Desmond Turner, MP (Labour, Brighton, Kemptonb ) o r Joan Walley, MP (Labour, Stoke-on-Trent North) N o em . f Powers y y 9 The constitution and powers are nset out in Housep of Commonsn Standing Orders,0 principally Standing Order No.a 152A. These oare available ona the Internet 0via www.parliament.uk. is c n /2 Publication e i 3 is c d /0 The Reports and evidence of then Committeee are published by The Stationery Office by Order hof the House.a All publications of the Committee3 (including press notices) are Ton the Internet at: h 2 www.parliament.uk/parliavmentary_committees/enviris onmental_audit_committee. cfm. d l n a b o A list of Reports of the Committeeu from the1 current Parliament is at the back of this volume. p :0 Committee staff The current staff of the Committee00 are: Gordon Clarke (Clerk); Anne-Marie Griffiths (Second Clerk); Richard Douglas (Committee Specialist); Oliver Bennett (Committee Specialist); Susan Monaghan (Senior Committee Assistant); Jennifer Steele (Committee Assistant); and Charlotte Towerton (Sandwich Student) Contacts All correspondence should be addressed to The Clerk, Environmental Audit Committee, Committee Office, 7 Millbank, London SW1P 3JA. The telephone number for general inquiries is: 020 7219 6150; the Committee’s e-mail address is: [email protected] Environmental Audit Committee 1 Contents Report Page Summary 3 1 Introduction 5 2 The Government’s role 5 3 Focusing on the most relevant labels 8 Environmental impacts covered by labels 8 The EU Ecolabel d e il 10 Linking labels to consumer priorities e b t 11 Raising awareness o n 12 g to u 4 Ensuring quality ar t 13 Standards b o rm 13 Provision of background information N o 13 Reviewing labels m . f 14 e y y 9 5 Engaging business n p n 0 15 Limitations to the aconsumer’s orole a 0 15 The potentiali fors engaging cbusiness n /2 16 Product road-mapping e i 3 17 Voluntaryis action c d /0 18 The roleh of retailersan e 3 19 TProvidingv consumers swithh information 2 19 Enforcementd li n 20 Incentivesa b o 20 u 1 6 Carbon labelling p 21 Carbon labelling for consumers:0 21 Carbon labelling for business 22 Lifecycle assessment 00 23 Conclusions and recommendations 25 Tuesday 24 February 2009 29 Environmental Labelling 29 Environmental Labelling 30 Formal Minutes of the Sub-Committee on Environmental Information 29 Formal Minutes of the Environmental Audit Committee 30 Witnesses 31 List of written evidence 32 2 Environmental Audit Committee List of Reports from the Committee during the current Parliament 33 This is an embargoed advance copy. Not to be published in any form until 00:01 on 23/03/2009 Environmental Audit Committee 3 Summary One of the most powerful ways in which individuals can bring about social and environmental change is through ethical consumer choice. This often achieves changes in corporate policy faster and more efficiently than government regulation or legislation. Consumer choice requires the consumer to be able to discriminate between products and services and labels have been an important influence on consumer behaviour, strongly influencing markets as diverse as white goods, paper and dairy products and helping to create whole niche markets for fairly traded and organic goods. But its very effectiveness also makes consumer information labelling attractive in marketing terms to retailers and producers and there is a risk of proliferating l labels of uncertain quality undermining consumer understandingd and confeidence. Tot bei effective, labels need to be as universal as possible and they eneed to be backedb up nby systems for audit and accreditation that will ensure the claimso manufacturerso makeu about their products can be verified. rg t a t m The Government needs to put more bresources intoo promotirng better environmental labelling and push harder on settingm the standards N and parametersfo for labelling schemes. As in the white goods market,e environmental. labels are particularly effective when consumers do not have to pay a premium fory higher standards. The Government9 should n p ny 0 examine the scope for strengtheninga theo effectivenessa of other labelling0 schemes through fiscal measures. s c 2 i in 3/ Although the bests are clear ande self-explana tory, labels are more likely to influence a purchasing decisioni if the customerc has prior awareness/0 and understanding of the label. h n ed 3 The Government must ahelp to promoteh and explain environmental labels actively to consumers,T using publicitv y and advertisins g to raise2 their awareness and understanding before they make decisionsd onl purchases.i Then Government should require certification schemes to makea public inforbmation explaini o ng the structures, standards and methods behind the label, ensuringu that consumers1 can have confidence in the audit and inspection processes that underpinp the claims:0 a label makes. The Government should also set standards and guidelines for the levels and categories of information to be provided by any business that seeks to promote00 its operations and products through a third-party labelling scheme. More must be done to ensure information in support to labels is made available to consumers both prior to purchase and at the point of sale. There is a growing problem with greenwash—the use of insubstantial or meaningless environmental claims to promote a product. The Government has a role to play in policing the use of environmental labels and intervening directly to remove those found to be inaccurate or misleading. In many ways, environmental labelling’s real potential lies not in changing consumer behaviour, but in changing business behaviour and thereby improving the sustainability of the manufacturing process and the products available to the consumer. In improving the overall environmental performance of the economy, the Government must work more closely with business to increase take up and to ensure labels are used correctly for the 4 Environmental Audit Committee sectors and product groups identified as priority areas. In order to do this effectively, labels should be underpinned by proper systems for analysis, audit and accreditation. Carbon labelling is crucially important. It cannot account for all environmental impacts or be a universal environmental label. But the value of the carbon label will be increasingly important as consumers’ awareness and knowledge of embedded carbon grows. Embedded carbon labelling is a form of environmental label that can be applied to all products and all sectors, and, given the nature of the challenge we face in decarbonising the economy, may be the single most important one.