The UK Environment Bill is currently being debated in Parliament. Personally I want the Government to legislate to label every product and commodity with their 'carbon intensity' in production - or how much carbon was emitted in their manufacture and transportation. This is important because as well as carbon-wasteful products produced at home, we are also the direct cause of carbon emissions overseas through our imports. We don't even measure the carbon emissions we import and they account for 60% as much again as our domestic emissions (source UK Committee on Climate Change). EVERYONE NEEDS TO BE AWARE OF THIS.
I received a reply from my enquiries on this from Rebecca Pow, Minister in the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs - extract below:
'We are also seeking powers to enable the Government to ensure consumers are provided with the information needed to make sustainable purchasing decisions, and this includes but is not limited to information as to recyclability. Where appropriate, these powers will also enable us to set requirements for the provision of consumer information relating to pollutants, including greenhouse gas emissions, of products at any stage of their production, use, or disposal.'
Please write to your MP and put pressure on them: here's a template you can use:
'Dear [name of MP],
The Environment Bill, currently being debated in 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 a very significant impact on public awareness and drive key behavioural change in this this regard.'