8
World Bank Study
Migros do not to label all products; rather, they only label those products in product categories that are at least 20 percent more climate friendly than the other products analysed. These are then termed “climate champions.â€? The label of climate champion is expected to encourage companies to innovate and reduce GHG emissions in order to have as many climate champions as possible. The label does not display the exact carbon content, but provides the information that the product is more climate friendly than comparable products. So far, Migros has analyzed over 60 products, but has only labeled eight products as climate champions. For some product categories, no climate champion could be labeled, but important lessons have nonetheless been learned about where in the supply chain emissions reductions can be achieved. In their experience, the label is too young to have significant consumer recognition yet, so any impact it might have on consumer behavior remains to be seen. Detailed information on product comparisons is available on the Migros website.4 An example of a food product labeled as a climate champion is sugar produced from organically grown sugar cane from Paraguay. This product has emissions that are about 40 percent lower than the average sugar sold by Migros. Six dierent sugars were analysed, including sugar cubes, granulated sugar, sugar from sugar beet, sugar from sugar cane, organic sugar, and conventionally grown sugar. The countries of origin were Switzerland, Germany, Paraguay, and Columbia. Migros would like to expand the use of their method to all businesses so that there will be a healthy competition for the climate champion label. Leclerc, France
Leclerc, a French supermarket chain, has labeled all of its food products based on generic data on broad product categories. The total carbon footprint of a shopping basket is communicated to the consumer on their till receipt. The method for calculations was developed by the consultancy Greenext and includes production, distribution, and consumption of goods. The method is simplified in order to allow mass labeling of almost all products in the food department. Calculations are based on generic data representative of the French market, which are then refined with data on the impact of stores and characteristics of packaging materials. Transport emissions from factories to stores will be included in the future. Products are defined as product groups with similar characteristics in terms of composition, manufacture, and representativeness of the market. The generic product definitions are subject to material and energy balances, calculated using national regulations, European studies, interprofessional data, national data, and statistics. The method will be further developed to include other environmental impact categories such as energy and water use or toxicity impacts.