• Climate impact labels are applied to 2.500 food products in five Carrefour stores in Dubai, including Expo City, where the 2023 UN Climate Change Conference is being held.
The 28th edition of the United Nations Climate Change Conference is about to open its doors. About 70.000 delegates will soon gather at Expo City, Dubai, to discuss the climate crisis.
According to a recent report by World Resources Institute, global efforts to limit warming to 1,5˚C have not achieved the expected result. Except for the increase in sales of electric cars, progress is insignificant to comply with the Paris Agreement.
Addressing emissions from the agri-food system must be part of the solution, with almost a third (31%) of all greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from human activity – the equivalent of 16,5 billion tonnes – attributable to food and agriculture .
At the consumer level, eco-labelling can play an important role in the transparency of a product's sustainability credentials. At the same time, such labels can serve as an incentive for manufacturers and retailers, who can thus be motivated to reduce CO2 emissions and better meet the needs of carbon-conscious shoppers.
The Climate Impact Labeling Company HowGood, which awards sustainability ratings to retail food and drink, wants to help consumers inform themselves when making purchasing decisions. Currently, the start-up has partnered with Dubai-based retailer Carrefour to launch climate impact labels for 2 food products across five stores, including COP28.
Measuring the sustainability of food products
HowGood claims to have developed the world's largest database of ingredient and product sustainability. Using its knowledge of the sustainability of over 33.000 food ingredients, the platform provides a range of data to help consumers make more informed decisions.
Specifically, HowGood offers three labels. First, it displays the product's carbon footprint, which is the result of measuring a product's greenhouse gas emissions from factory to shelf.
Second, HowGood provides a durability rating. Products that receive the rating "Best" of HowGood have a better social and environmental impact than 95% of all products evaluated. Those who received the qualification "Great" are better than 85% of them, and those that received the qualification "Good" they are better than 70% of products.
The start-up also provides transparency by highlighting the sustainability attributes of the products. For example, if a product uses less water than average in its manufacture, it can be labeled as such "water smart", as well as in the case of lower than average GHG emissions – "climate friendly", a simple recipe with seven ingredients or less – "clean label", made with ingredients that do not depend on commercial or industrial processing – "minimal processing" and/or respects the rights and dignity of workers – "fair work".
Can climate impact labeling change purchasing behavior?
HowGood claims the labels have already been proven to help steer shoppers towards more sustainable deals.
In Dubai, HowGood partners with SES-imagotag to provide digital shelf labels. HowGood's climate impact labels will be displayed in Carrefour stores in Mall of the Emirates, City Center Deira, City Center Mirdif, Dubai International Airport Terminal 3 and the store at COP28.
There will be three types of labels:
• HowGood's comprehensive product sustainability ratings, which take into account eight social and environmental impact parameters;
• HowGood attributes, which assess greenhouse gas emissions, water use, occupational risk and others;
• carbon footprint.
In addition, the carbon footprint of purchased items will be printed at the bottom of each COP28 store receipt.
The move reflects the increased focus on food at this year's Climate Change Conference compared to previous years. While last year at COP27, for the first time, a pavilion was dedicated to food, in Dubai food and food systems are expected to be at the center of the discussions.
Article written by Gabriela Dan, Editor of Arta Albă
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