French Environmental Labelling Scheme: What to expect from Grenelle 2?

The announcement of France to introduce a mandatory environmental labelling scheme (Grenelle 2 / Le Grenelle Environnement) for products in 2011 has raised significant international attention from businesses, governments and civil society alike. Following up on developments in France is not trivial, given the extent of the scheme and the number of organisations involved. The recent decision by the French National Assembly to postpone the start of the scheme by half a year and to introduce an experimental phase introduced more clarity on the next steps but also raised new questions. It is now time to take a closer look at the French plan and its implications for international businesses and stakeholders.

The PCF World Forum will therefore host a special update workshop on the French environmental labelling scheme on June 23 in Berlin. The workshop will provide an outstanding opportunity to deep-dive into and shape your opinion on the French plans with participants from business, politics and civil society.

Find more details here.

The challenges for reducing GHG emissions in the value chains are manifold. For the past years substantial methodological work has been undertaken to develop a basis for the uniform assessment of product carbon footprints. The major standards are now moving closer to completion - the GHG Protocol Product and Scope 3 standards are expected for later this year after intensive road-testing by more than 70 companies. The ISO standard will likely soon enter the status of a draft international standard.

With these standards moving to completion the debate on adequate communication and engagement with consumers for GHG reductions is in full swing - the discussions at the last PCF World Summit already expressed a clear need for more refined approaches and discussions. Clarity on standards and communication approaches and requirements is important to tackle the issue of low carbon consumption and production in an efficient, credible and effective way, for business, governments, civil society and solution providers alike.

The 4th PCF World Summit “From Standardisation to Communication”, will dedicate two full days to help you raise and discuss important questions on the current status and perspectives of standardisation and communication in product carbon footprinting:

• WRI/WBCSD GHG Protocol road-testing results
• Latest developments in the ISO 14067 standardisation process
• Perspective of PAS 2050. What will a revision bring?
• Product Category Rules: Status of international harmonisation
• Mandatory carbon labelling in France: What are the impacts?
• What drives climate conscious consumer behaviour? What role can product design play?
• Debate: Carbon labelling in the perception of the consumer

The two-day Fourth PCF World Summit “From Standardisation to Communication” will take place on October 20-21, 2010 in Berlin, Germany.

Register online or through the offline fax registration form until July 30th to enjoy the early bird discount.

Singapore announced the introduction of a carbon label for the end of 2010. The methodology will be based on PAS 2050 and the draft standard ISO 14067. It will also incorporate conclusions drawn from international best practice on PCF. The life cycle phases to be assessed include: raw material extraction, production, transport and use phase. The label is developed by the Singapore Environment Council (SEC) and the Singapore Institute of Manufacturing Technology (SimTech) in collaboration with various industry organisations like the International Enterprise (IE) Singapore, the Singapore Business Federation (SBF) and the Singapore Manufacturers´ Federation (Sma). The purpose of the Singapore Carbon Label is to improve the competitiveness of the national export sector and to raise the consumers´climate consciousness alike.

On 11 May 2010 the French Assembly finally adopted the second part of the Grenelle Environnement (Grenelle 2). Article 85 of this environmental bill describes the outlines of a programme on environmental/carbon declaration for consumer products. Due to recent amendments the programme will now start with a trial phase of at least one year, scheduled for 1 July 2011. The outcomes will allow for a final decision on how to implement the environmental declaration framework.
Amendments to Article 85 were the result of concerns about the lack of data throughout the value chain, the need for further elaboration of product category rules (PCR) and insecurities in the application of the developed methodology BPX30-323. The introductory phase will also provide opportunities to familiarize the consumer and to develop appropriate decrees.