Understanding the world of voluntary environmental schemes Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development 1
Overview of presentation Characterising the world of environmental labels Crunching data on recent growth trends Thoughts on future evolution of schemes 2
A Working Definition for Environmental Labelling and Information Schemes Policies and initiatives that aim to provide information to external users about one or more aspects of the environmental performance of a product, service or organisation. 3
Product versus Organisation Voluntary Environmental Schemes Labels, claims and declarations for products or services Organisation-level management systems and certification ISO 14001 4
A typology based on ISO standards Type I: Ecolabels Type II: Self-declared environmental claims Private claims First-party verified Specific principles in ISO14021 Type III: Environmental product declarations Multi-issue, multiproducts Life-cycle analysis Third-party verified Often government involvement Generally not for food products Biodegradable Environmentally friendly Quantified environmental data Life-cycle analysis Independently verified Usually business-tobusiness 5
But ISO typology is only part of the picture! 1990 (72 schemes) 3% 17% 13% 0% 14% 43% 10% Energy efficiency and resources 5% Type III 5% Type II 8% 2012 (544 schemes) Others 20% Type I 7% Organic label 15% Other single issue labels 40% Type I Other single issue labels Type III Others Organic label Type II Resource efficency use ISO types never more than 20% of all schemes A shift from organics to single-issue labels 6
Finding a home for schemes not in the ISO classification Organic agriculture labels Voluntary Sustainability Standards on food and agriculture products: more than just environment and many more! Purely singleissue labels Carbon Footprint labels 7
12 criteria to fully classify environmental labelling schemes Modes of Communication Communication channel Means of communication Communication scope Communication content Biz-to-Consumer Biz-to-biz Seals Graded scales Claims Declarations Food Appliances Textiles Energy Water Chemicals Biodiversity Self-setting External Certifiers Public Private Voluntary Mandatory LCA Non LCA Open or closed process 1 st, 2 nd or 3 rd party Product characteristics Upstream processes National, International Characteristics of standards Standard setter Leadership or ownership Mode of governance Methods for assessment Transparency Monitoring & auditing Focus Origin and scope 8
Overview of presentation Characterising the world of environmental labels Crunching data on recent growth trends Thoughts on future evolution of schemes 9
These ecolabels pop up everywhere!!! 10
1970 1972 1974 1976 1978 1980 1982 1984 1986 1988 1990 1992 1994 1996 1998 2000 2002 2004 2006 2008 2010 2012 Number of schemes Number of schemes growing Dataset: 544 ELIS introduced in 1970-2012, covering 197 countries from: EcoLabel Index (BigRoom Inc.) OECD and other publications. 600 500 400 300 200 100 New schemes per year Cumulative Possible slowdown of new schemes? 0 11
Growth dominated by non-profit and private voluntary schemes 1970 1972 1974 1976 1978 1980 1982 1984 1986 1988 1990 1992 1994 1996 1998 2000 2002 2004 2006 2008 2010 2012 600 500 Private voluntary 400 Hybrid Voluntary 300 200 100 Non-Profit Voluntary Public Voluntary Public Mandatory 0 12
1970 1973 1976 1979 1982 1985 1988 1991 1994 1997 2000 2003 2006 2009 2012 Growth across product categories covered 140 120 100 80 60 40 20 0 Food and agricultural products Textile and forest products Buildings, Furniture Energy, Transportation, biofuels Tourism, Financial Appliances, electronics Consumer, cosmetics, cleanings Multiple Other 13
More are now third-party audited, but many lack transparency of process 1970 1973 1976 1979 1982 1985 1988 1991 1994 1997 2000 2003 2006 2009 2012 80 60 40 20 0 1st party 2nd Party 3rd Party Others 1970-90 1991-1995 1996-2000 2001-2005 2006-2012 600 500 Not open process 400 300 Not open process but published awardees 200 Open process 100 0 Open process and published awardees 14
Overview of presentation Characterising the world of environmental labels Crunching data on recent growth trends Thoughts on future evolution of schemes 15
Why do we see so many new entrants? Market differentiation V e r t i c a l Stringency of standards Different environmental impacts H o r i z o n t a l Labels that appear to compete can in fact be differentiated on two dimensions but consumers can be easily confused Entry-level sustainability standard to attract incremental improvements in worst performers 16
Differentiation leading to increasingly complex footprint labels Product Carbon Footprinting GHG emissions Product Environmental Footprinting GHG emissions Water impact Biodiversity impact Other ecological impacts Multiplication of methodological and data-related challenges!!!! Consistency of results Consistency of methods Definition of impacts Quality of data 17
Evolving actors and relationships It is becoming harder to distinguish roles in the labelling marketplace: Some major retailers are taking their sustainability certification in house by creating or adapting standards Other major firms are making decisions on behalf of their customers, choosing to stock only products certified with certain standards Various interactions are developing between stakeholders in the NGO, business and government spheres 18
Some concluding remarks Expanding number and diversity of schemes can be bewildering >500 schemes, with 12 characterisation criteria dividing into >55 categories The number of schemes has grown fast, but government and non-government bodies are responding to encourage convergence and higher standards, seeking greater credibility The roles of consumers, retailers and producers are changing as some firms move away from product certification to more holistic sustainability strategies Trend towards quantitative footprint schemes makes data availability a key issue, in particular when considering market access for SMEs 19
Andrew.Prag@oecd.org (with thanks to Guillaume Gruère) OECD project on Environmental Labelling and Information Schemes: Papers available at www.oecd.org/env/workingpapers.htm 20