Carbon labeling and consumer attitudes

Figures & data

Figure 1.  Consumer preferences for environmental label claims.

Chi-squared test for H₀: no differences between country distributions, rejected for all cases.

Figure 2.  Knowledge of participants of various environmental and social issues.

Chi-squared test for H₀: no differences between country distributions, rejected for all cases.

Table 1.  Carbon labels and characteristics, 2011.

Name of scheme	Operator/certifier	Public/private	Launchyear	Nation of origin	Accounting method	Number of companies	Products andservices
Approved by Climatop	Climatop^®	Private	2008	Switzerland	ISO 14040	11	65
Bilan CO2	E Leclerc	Private	2008	France	ISO 14040/ISO 14044	1	20,000 price tags
Carbon Connect	Carbon™ Counted Standards	Private	2007	Canada	Unspecified LCA	Unknown	22
Carbonlabels.org	Conscious Brands™	Private	2008	Canada	Unspecified LCA	Unknown	Unknown
Carbon Reduction label	Carbon Trust	Public	2008	UK	PAS 2050	20	3829
carboNZeroCert™ program, CEMARS™	CarboNZero	Private	2008	New Zealand	PAS 2050/ISO 14064	87	∼246
CarbonFree^® Certified	Carbon Fund	Private	2007	USA	PAS 2050/ISO 14044^†	16	77
Climate Conscious Carbon Label	The Climate Conservancy	Private	2007	USA	Unspecified LCA	Unknown	Unknown
Climate Certification for the Food Chain	KRAV^®, Svenskt Sigill, Kvalitetssystem AB	Private	2010	Sweden	ISO 14040	7	61
Cool CO2 label	KEITI	Public	2009	South Korea	PAS 2050	Unknown	>360
Eosta Climate Neutral	TUV Nord	Private	2008	Holland	ISO 14040/ISO 14044^†	Unknown	Unknown
German Product Carbon Footprint Project	Product Carbon Footprint Project	Public	2008	Germany	Unspecified LCA	8	10
Timberland’s Green Index^® Scheme	Timberland	Private	2007	USA	Unspecified LCA	Unknown	8
Indice Carbone Casino	Casino France	Private	2008	France	Methode Bilan Carbone^®	1	629
METI Carbon Footprint System	METI	Public	2009	Japan	ISO 14040/14044^†/ISO 14067^‡	Unknown	460
Pilot Californian carbon label	California State Senate Carbon Labeling Act 2008	Public	2009	USA	Unspecified LCA	Unknown	Unknown
SGS Carbon Neutrality	SGS	Private	2007	Switzerland	GHG protocol/ISO 14064	Unknown	Unknown
Stop Climate Change	AGRA-TEG	Private	2007	Germany	PAS 2050/GHG protocol	11	Unknown
Taiwan BSI Product Carbon Footprint	BSI	Public	2010	Taiwan	PAS 2050/ISO 14001^§	Unknown	Unknown
Thailand Carbon Reduction Label	Thailand Greenhouse Gas Management Organization	Public	2009	Thailand	PAS 2050	100	458
TUV Nord Cert	TUV Nord	Private	2008	Germany	ISO 14001^§/EMAS	Unknown	Unknown
Zurueck zum Ursprung	Hofer	Private	2009	Austria	Unspecified LCA	Unknown	79

^†The ISO 14044 standard provides the requirements and guidelines for an LCA [37].

^‡The ISO 14067 provides the requirements and guidelines for quantification and communication of carbon footprint products [38].

^§The ISO 14001 standard provides the general requirements for an environmental system [39].

AGRA-TEG: Agrar- und Umwelttechnik GmbH Goettingen; BSI: British Standard Institute; EMAS: European Ecomanagement and Audit scheme [40]; ISO: International Organization for Standardization; KEITI: Korea Environmental Industry and Technology Institute; KRAV: KRAV Ekonomisk förening; LCA: Life cycle analysis; METI: Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry Japan; PAS: Publicly Available Specification; SGS: Société Generale de Surveillance; TUV: TechnischerUeberwachungsverein.

Table 2.  Summary demographics of survey participants†.

Category	UK (%)	Japan (%)
Gender
Male	45	50
Female	55	50
Age
15–19	0	4
20–29	5	15
30–39	8	18
40–49	13	12
50–59	17	18
60+	56	33
Living environment of participants
Urban	23	48
Suburban	46	44
Rural	31	7
Relationship status
Single	15	31
Married	57	61
Other	27	7
Education
Junior high school	14	2
High school	30	30
Junior college	1	19
University degree/tertiary level qualification	44	43
Postgraduate degree	7	4
Other	4	1

^†Based on 440 responses in each country.

Table 3.  Income distribution of survey participants.

Income (GB£)^†	Distribution (%)
UK
<15,000	19
15,001–40,000	42
40,001–60,000	17
60,001–100,000	8
>100,001	3
Prefer not to answer	11
Japan
<15,196	12
15,197–26,594	16
26,595–41,791	27
41,792–64,585	22
>64,586	18
Prefer not to answer	5

^†The income ranges differ between the UK and Japan as incomes were elicited in respondents’ domestic currency.

International Organization for Standardization. ISO 14044: Environmental Management – Life cycle assessment: Requirements and Guidelines. International Organization for Standardization, Geneva, Switzerland (2006).

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International Organization for Standardization. ISO 14067. Carbon Footprint of Products – Requirements and Guidelines for Quantification and Communication. International Organization for Standardization, Geneva, Switzerland (2009).

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International Organization for Standardization. ISO 14001: 2004 Environmental Management Systems – Requirements with Guidance for Use. International Organization for Standardization, Geneva, Switzerland (2004).

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European Commission. Regulation (EC) No. 1221/2009 of the European Parliament and the Council of 25 Nov 2009 on the Voluntary Participation by Organisation in a Community Eco Management and Audit Schemes (EC) Repealing Regulation (EC) No 761/2001 and Commissions Decisions 2001/681/ EC and 2006/193/EC. European Commission, Brussels, Belgium (2009).

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