Environmental impact scores will appear on some food and drink labels from September under a new pilot scheme backed by major brands and supermarkets. The traffic light-style grading system – ranging from red G to green A+ – was developed by scientists at Oxford University to help consumers choose more sustainable goods and encourage more innovation.
It takes account of each product’s impact on the environment – including carbon emissions and water pollution – over its whole life cycle from farm to shop. The pilot is being launched by the non-profit organisation Foundation Earth, which was created by Denis Lynn, the food entrepreneur who died in a quadbike accident in May.
It is backed by Nestle, the world’s largest food company, as well as M&S, Co-op, Sainsbury’s, Costa and Tyson Food, and will initially run on selected ranges from Finnebrogue Artisan, White’s Oats, Mighty Pea and Mash Direct.
The scheme also has the support of both the UK government and the Labour opposition and is expected to run until early in the New Year. Environment secretary George Eustice said: “Foundation Earth’s ambitions to develop eco-labelling on food has the potential to help address the urgent challenges of sustainability and climate change.”
Shadow environment minister Luke Pollard said: “People want to do what they can to tackle the climate crisis and help the environment. But at the moment they don’t have the information they need to make more sustainable buying choices. I want to see clearer labelling on carbon and environmental credentials so people can back the brands and products doing the right thing by our planet.”
Andy Zynga, the chief executive of the EU-funded initiative EIT Food, which was involved in developing the eco scores method, said the launch was “a very significant moment for the European food industry”. He added: “It will bring about a credible and clear front-of-pack environmental labelling system on food products right across the continent.
“In supermarkets throughout the European Union, consumers are trying to make more environmentally-friendly choices – and food is at the heart of this.” The global food industry already contributes up to 37 per cent of greenhouse gas emissions, according to the UN’s intergovernmental panel on climate change, and that figure is set to rise further by 2050 as a result of population growth.
British Grand Prix is Helping Out
A new carbon labelling scheme has been implemented for this summer’s British Grand Prix at Silverstone motor racing track, which will see this information included in all of the food menus within the ‘zero zone’ and at a number of food units across the circuit.
Freemans Event Partners, Silverstone’s long-serving food and beverage partner of choice, has incorporated carbon labelling information on site to help ensure attendees have accurate insights into the carbon footprint of each dish, enabling them to make more informed choices over the course of the four-day event. This has been realised through Freemans Event Partners’ existing partnership with food sustainability experts Klimato.
The tool calculates the carbon emissions from each and every dish available to purchase at the British Grand Prix, measuring CO2e in kilograms, a standard unit for measuring greenhouse gas emissions, and providing each dish with a traffic light-style score. For example, a typical beef burger might score 4.0kg CO2e (red), while a portion of fish and chips might score 1.8kg CO2e (amber) and a vegan falafel salad might score 0.4kg CO2e (green).
As well as utilising carbon labelling across a wide range of menus at the event, Freemans Event Partners will also be operating a ‘zero zone’ at Silverstone this year, featuring five outlets that are dedicated to operating sustainably.
The ‘zero zone’ will feature food options from sustainable, local or meat-free food units, as well as speciality coffee and baked goods from Grounded MCR, and a bar that will stock a selection of sustainable drink options and provide a full regular bar service.
The special zone will run on power supplied by hybrid battery generators and will feature two Eco Vend “reverse vending machines”, which allow fans to return bottles, rewarding them with a 10% discount for use in the zone for every one they return.
All packaging – including pint cups, cutlery and food containers – will be commercially compostable at any of the bins located around the site. Simon Hanna, chief operating officer at Freemans Event Partners, said: “Silverstone and the British Grand Prix are incredibly close to our hearts at Freemans Event Partners. The business started life here 50 years ago, operating as a solo fish and chips outlet, and has grown to supply and manage more than 300 food and drink outlets on the site.”
“We are always looking to provide more sustainable choices at our events, which is why we’ve worked with Silverstone to really help elevate their options this year. We’ve worked hard to develop the ‘zero zone’, sourcing the most appropriate vendors to feature, as well as ensuring they meet our high-standards and serve delicious food and drinks. We’re looking forward to showcasing this, as well as the other initiatives that we’ve implemented, to F1 fans when the British Grand Prix begins on 4 July.”
Stéphane Bazire, head of business sustainability at Silverstone, added: “We are entirely committed to our Shifting to Zero pledge, supporting F1 on their efforts to be net zero by 2030 and have signed the UNFCCC Sport for Climate Action pledge committing to reduce by 50% our emissions by 2030 and be net zero before 2040. We are working closely with all of our partners, including Freemans Event Partners, to ensure that we remain on track, so we’re really excited to be providing these food and drink options and initiatives at this year’s Grand Prix.”
Councils Pressured
North Tyneside Council has been urged to cut food-related carbon emissions and honour its climate emergency declaration. Local authority bosses were called to endorse the ‘Plant Based Treaty’ at the full council meeting. The treaty pledges to improve access to plant-based foods, subsidise land restoration and run education programmes in schools around meat and dairy production.
Edinburgh, Norwich and Lambeth councils are already signees and have begun carbon-labelling food in schools, as well as setting up plant-based cooking classes and promoting Veganuary. According to the UN’s Food and Agriculture Organisation around 14% of all emissions come from meat and dairy production.
The call, in the form of a public question to the council, reads: “North Tyneside Council boldly declared a climate emergency in 2019. And your Carbon Net Zero Action Plan is ambitious but it lacks sufficient emphasis on food emissions. Page 13 of the Plan states ‘The authority provides a range of healthy balanced meal options in schools and operational buildings which includes nonmeat options.’ But can you go much further?” It concludes: “Will this council boldly confront the climate and health crises by endorsing the Plant Based Treaty?”
Green Party activist and former Parliamentary candidate for the constituency of Tynemouth, Chloe-Louise Reilly said: “I encourage our local council to endorse The Plant-Based Treaty as it aligns with a common goal commitment to environmental protection, public health, and a more sustainable planet.”
Chloe-Louise concluded: “For North Tyneside council, a key part of these commitments also involves educating the public on the benefits and practicalities of incorporating plant-based options into our daily lives. But it is also worth noting that this initiative isn’t about ‘making everyone go vegan.’ Rather, it’s about diversifying our diets to include more plant-based meals.”
Amazon Creates Confusion
Amazon (AMZN.O), opens new tab has become the first company to sidestep a global standard for verifying carbon offsets that was developed by a non-profit funded largely by the U.S. technology conglomerate’s founder and executive chair, Jeff Bezos.
Amazon is backing the development of a new standard that could allow the online retailer and cloud-computing provider to overcome a dearth of supply for quality-labelled offsets, enabling it to meet its target of cutting its greenhouse gas emissions to zero on a net basis by 2040. Critics worry that the move could lead to market confusion and a compromise in the standards of carbon offsets.
Companies under pressure to curb their emissions can buy credits from developers of projects that absorb carbon, such as through reforestation. The market for offsets has remained small due to a limited number of projects that can verify their climate benefits.
Amazon told Reuters it has completed work on Abacus, a framework for verifying the quality of carbon offsets in reforestation and agroforestry. Amazon developed the standard with carbon registry Verra as an alternative to one developed by the Integrity Council for the Voluntary Carbon Market (ICVCM), the world’s biggest grouping of private sector and environmental groups dedicated to validating carbon offsets. Verra first announced it was developing the label with Amazon and its Abacus working group in 2022.
Bezos, through his $10 billion Earth Fund that he set up to tackle climate change, is one of ICVCM’s biggest donors, having ploughed at least $11 million into ICVCM and sister organisation Voluntary Carbon Markets Integrity Initiative since their 2021 launch.
Jamey Mulligan, Amazon’s head of carbon neutralization, said in an interview that the company evaluated and supported ICVCM’s work, but that it wanted a more ambitious standard. “We want to ensure that every credit investment has a real, conservatively quantified and verified impact on emissions,” Mulligan said. He declined to comment on whether Bezos was involved in Amazon’s decision. Alphabet, Meta, Microsoft tab and Salesforce have said they plan to buy up to 20 million metric tons of Abacus-certified or other types of nature-based removal credits.
Pedro Martins Barata, co-chair of ICVCM’s panel of experts, said he was worried about development of an alternative standard and that he hoped that Abacus would eventually be folded into ICVCM. “Otherwise, you get again into a confusing state in the market where each set of companies will find their own standards they want to support and they will say that they’re a particular type of quality,” he said.
Martins Barata added that ICVCM was reviewing Verra’s methodology for developing carbon offsets from agroforestry and reforestation projects, and that if it approves it this could make the Abacus label compatible with ICVCM’s label.
Kelley Kizzier, director of corporate action and markets at Bezos Earth Fund and a member of ICVCM’s board, said Abacus is complementary rather than competitive to ICVCM. She also declined to comment on Bezos’ role. “What we need to focus on is generating high-integrity (offsets). There is room for lots of actors to do that,” Kizzier said.
Increasingly, consumers want to understand the environmental impact of the products they choose. Over two-thirds of consumers, across eleven global markets, say environmental labelling is good for consumer choice.* Almost 60% of consumers would be more likely to trust that a product carrying a carbon footprint label is taking action to reduce its carbon footprint compared to a similar product that didn’t carry a label.
