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Global Product Carbon Footprinting - A Global Middle Path?
Content
Sources ...............................................................................................6
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Global Product Carbon Footprinting - A Global Middle Path?
For example - reality of China’s emissions is that though they are created in China,
they are disproportionately consumed in the developed world. So is the case for
many developing countries for which exports to developed world are a significant
source of income. Driven by their consumption pattern shift, many developing
countries may in fact be becoming bigger and bigger net importers of emissions,
while claiming to have reduced emissions locally. This creates a situation where the
developing countries are asked for reducing their emissions, significant portion of
which may not be consumed or utilized by them (for their own development).
EcoLogic Insights 3
Global Product Carbon Footprinting - A Global Middle Path?
life cycle and the supply chain of the product. Taking a view of the product life cycle
overlap with GHG emissions can enable more targeted emission reduction and cost
saving initiatives.
Benefits
Coming back to the Product Carbon Footprinting, some companies who have used
the PAS 2050 method have already reduced product-level GHG emissions by
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Global Product Carbon Footprinting - A Global Middle Path?
15-20%. Considerable cost savings have also been achieved due to energy and
waste efficiency measures across the supply chain. Product carbon footprinting
also helps companies strengthen relationships with suppliers, particularly if it reveals
cost savings opportunities up the supply chain. Another benefit that will accrue
slowly over time is due to rising consumer awareness and demand of carbon
information of the products they choose. By communicating the carbon impact of
its products, an organization would also be able to differentiate it’s products in
increasingly cluttered markets and build an reputation of excellence.
Who’s doing it
20 leading companies in the UK have worked with Carbon
Trust (an independent company set up in 2001 with the
support of the UK Government) to measure and reduce the
carbon footprints of their products. These companies
represent diverse industry sectors, from food and drink to
building materials and financial services, diverse classes of
products from simple to complex in different channels, both
business-to-business (B2B) and business-to-consumer (B2C). There is also
diversity in the sizes and scale of operations. The benefits have been in revealing
true sources and drivers of emissions, leading to
more effective carbon reduction strategies. The
companies could also identify high-impact cost-
saving opportunities across their supply chain. The
companies include multi-billion dollar multinational
corporations such as Cadbury’s, Coca-Cola, morphy
richards, PepsiCo, TESCO and Kimberley-Clark.
Way ahead
For the adoption of Product Carbon Footprinting to become widespread,
businesses will need to answer for themselves - Whether low carbon products are
necessarily costlier compared to their high-carbon counterparts? How will
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Global Product Carbon Footprinting - A Global Middle Path?
companies compete on the “Green” image when more than a few players enter this
area? World clearly needs clean products and cleaner information to enable
consumer choices to drive us in the right direction. Low carbon is the future, we
need a quick and efficient path to it.
Sources
1. Stockholm Environment Institute (SEI), 2008
2. Product carbon footprinting: the new business opportunity, The Carbon Trust.
3. The Right Green Metrics – And the Wrong Ones, Harvard Business Publishing
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Global Product Carbon Footprinting - A Global Middle Path?
enquiry@ecologicconsultancy.in / ecologicconsultancy@gmail.com
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www.ecologicconsultancy.in
EcoLogic Insights 7