Carbon Labelling

It’s clear UK consumers want help to make better food choices, not only for their personal wellbeing, but for the health of the planet.

The vast majority feel it is important for the food and drink products they buy to have a low carbon footprint, but many struggle with making informed purchasing decisions in this regard due to a lack of understanding and guidance. This is compounded by the limited availability of such products in the market.

On-pack carbon labelling can act as a powerful tool to overcome these barriers, but it needs to be communicated effectively and meaningfully in order to inspire consumer confidence and trust in whatever claims are being made. This will require a joined-up approach from both government and industry – first to drive better public education and engagement on the benefits of low impact eating, and second to ensure that the underlying data and metrics informing carbon labels can withstand scrutiny.