Looking forward to a response to the following....
'Dear Mr Eustice
The Environment Bill, which you are currently overseeing through Parliament, provides an important opportunity to deal with issues relating to our drive to Net Zero carbon. However, I fail to see how this opportunity is being utilised effectively. The part of the Bill that deals with Resources and Waste Management legislates to improve the labelling of products in relation to their ‘recyclability’. However it fails to deal with an even more important issue – the carbon cost of the manufacture or production of goods in the first place and the inefficiency of our purchasing choices as a result.
Labelling of products or commodities in such a way as to indicatively state the level of carbon emissions generated in the course of their manufacture and delivery to a UK consumer is extremely relevant for two reasons.
The UK imports more than it exports in the form of goods and commodities. According to the Committee on Climate Change, our net imports contribute to carbon emissions in other parts of the world to the tune of approximately 60% of all our domestic emissions taken together – in other words an enormous amount. These emissions, as I’m sure you know, are not considered in the calculations of our journey to so-called net zero in the UK. Hence they are not being measured at all. By labelling goods and commodities in this way, even indicatively, the first steps are taken to measure the carbon cost of imported goods and slowly bring this issue properly into public focus.
The importance of labelling cannot be overstated for the general consumer or commercial procurer. Behaviours will over time change as awareness of the impact of actions to buy carbon-intensive products is better understood. For the same reason that labelling associated with recycling is currently being legislated for, to encourage more recycling, so labelling of carbon-content will drive more carbon-efficient choices in the purchase of goods.
Why not take the additional step of making allowance for such ‘carbon’ labelling. This simple measure will have more impact on public awareness and behaviour in relation to carbon efficiency than any other measure in the Environmental Bill currently.'