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European consumers favour carbon labelling
30/07/09
Some 83% of consumers in the European Union (EU) consider the environmental impact of a product in their purchasing decisions and almost three-quarters would support the introduction of a carbon labelling system, a new survey has found. The Eurobarometer poll for the EU's executive body, the European Commission, found that 92% of Greeks would consider the green credentials of a product before buying. At the other end of the scale, only 62% of Czechs would do the same.
EU environment commissioner Stavros Dimas said: "By purchasing environmentally and climate-friendly products, individual customers send the right signal to producers who respond in turn by producing more eco-friendly products."
Just under half (46%) of EU citizens thought the best way to promote green house appliances would be to raise the taxes on environmentally damaging goods, while cutting duties on items with good energy efficiency.
Britons were the most likely to favour this approach, Eurobarometer found.
Looking forward, 72% of consumers thought products should display a mandatory label indicating its carbon footprint. Such a label should show the total amount of greenhouse gases produced by an appliance during its lifetime from production to disposal.
In 2007, the EU committed to cutting its carbon emissions by 20% by 2020.
