Within one year Korean products exported into the UK and around the world could be carrying the Carbon Trust’s Carbon Reduction Label, which demonstrates the manufacturer’s commitment to reducing the product’s carbon footprint. The news follows a groundbreaking partnership agreed today between the UK’s Carbon Trust and the Korean Environmental Industry and Technology Institute (KEITI), Korea’s environmental labelling body.
Korea is the 9th largest emitter of carbon dioxide in the world – one place behind the UK – and exports $ 91 billion of consumer products around the world each year, with $ 2 billion arriving in the UK. “Low Carbon Green Growth” is a policy of the current government and carbon labelling is seen as an essential tool to drive this new growth. Korea has been running an environmental labelling scheme for the past eight years and one year ago it introduced its own carbon labelling scheme, co-ordinated by KEITI, which to date has carbon labelled products from 24 companies in Korea.
Under a MOU signed today, Korea plans to harmonise its existing scheme with the new international carbon labelling standard ISO14067, which is currently under development and due for completion in 2011. To do so, Korea will use the footprinting tools and methodology pioneered by the UK’s Carbon Trust. As a result, Korean imports into the UK could carry the Carbon Trust’s Carbon Reduction Label within a year. Today’s announcement follows a similar partnership announced in June of this year with Planet Ark that will see the Carbon Reduction Label appearing on Australian products.
Tom Delay, Chief Executive of the Carbon Trust, said:
“This is a major breakthrough. Within two years of launching the concept of carbon labelling our knowledge and experience is now being shared with one of the largest economies in the world. The carbon footprinting of products is a powerful tool to drive carbon out of the supply chain of companies and to provide genuine information to consumers to enable them to make low carbon purchasing decisions. Today’s partnership takes us an important step closer to the mass roll-out of carbon labelling.”
Sang-il Kim, Chief Executive of KEITI, said:
"Cutting greenhouse gases is a global priority and labelling is proving to be an important way to achieve Low Carbon Green Growth in Korea. It is part of our drive to instil green innovation into how we live. Because the export market is so important to us, it is vital that we continue to develop our labelling scheme in a way that is consistent with international standards. Working with the Carbon Trust will enable us both to learn from the success of our schemes. Working together we aim to accelerate the adoption of labelling across the world.”
The Carbon Trust’s scheme to remove carbon emission from the supply chain of products was launched in the UK in 2007 and in less than two years has won the support of over 60 product manufacturers. The label now appears on more than 2,500 UK consumer products, from potato crisps to fruit juice, paving stones to sugar with an annual sales value of more than £2.7billion. Brands that have taken on the system include the leading UK supermarket chain Tesco, Allied Bakeries’ Kingsmill bread and PepsiCo’s Walkers crisps and Quaker oats.
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Editors’ Notes
For further information, please contact the Carbon Trust press office on 020 7544 3100 or carbontrust@fishburn-hedges.co.uk
The Carbon Reduction Label
The Carbon Trust designed the Carbon Reduction Label to help companies communicate the impact of their product carbon footprinting work to consumers. Companies that display the Carbon Trust’s Carbon Reduction Label (on pack, online or elsewhere) are making a commitment to reduce the carbon footprint of their product or service.
Two years ago the Carbon Trust laid the foundations for a product footprinting methodology. Published in October 2008, the PAS 2050 is the first international standard for companies to measure the carbon footprint of their products and services. The carbon footprint of a product or service is the total carbon dioxide (CO2) and other greenhouse gases emitted during its life, from production to final disposal.
The development of PAS 2050 was been overseen by an independent Steering Group, made up of NGOs, academics, business and government representatives, supported by a number of Working Groups to discuss technical issues. The Carbon Trust is now working with the World Resources Institute and ISO to support the global harmonisation of product carbon footprinting standards.
The Carbon Trust
The Carbon Trust is an independent company set up in 2001 by Government in response to the threat of climate change, to accelerate the move to a low carbon economy by working with organisations to reduce carbon emissions and develop commercial low carbon technologies.
We cut carbon emissions now by giving business and the public sector expert advice, finance and certification to help them reduce their carbon footprint and to stimulate demand for low carbon products and services. Through our work, we’ve already helped save over 23 million tonnes of carbon, delivering costs savings of around £1.4 billion. We aim to help our customers cut a further 17MtCO2 and save another £1 billion in the next three years.
We cut future carbon emissions by developing new low carbon technologies. We are helping the UK become a global hub for low carbon innovation. We do this through funding and managing projects, investing and collaborating on low carbon technologies and by identifying market barriers and practical ways to overcome them. Our work on commercialising new technologies will deliver savings of up to 23 million tonnes of carbon a year by 2050.
The Carbon Trust is also undertaking world leading projects on offshore wind, algae and advanced solar power.
About the Korea Environmental Industry and Technology Institute (KEITI)
The Korea Environmental Industry and Technology Institute (KEITI) aims to foster environmental industry by effectively promoting the purchasing of eco-products and through environmental technology development.
KEITI has three main operational businesses:
- The first focuses on the certification of carbon footprints and eco-labels – its aim is to promote green procurement and the active marketing of green products. It also provides funding and support for exporting of eco products overseas.
- Its second focus is on the business incubation of environmental technologies and validating promising new environmental technologies.
- Its third business concentrates on supporting environmental technology research and development.
Carbon labelling was launched in Korea in February 2009 following a 9 month pilot program. It is a two-step process comprising a carbon footprint emission label and low carbon product label.