Consumer goods giants to analyse supply footprint. Fuel for carbon rating products?

Wal-Mart announced that it will parter with the Carbon Disclosure Project to measure the energy use and emissions of the entire supply chain of seven product categories, and find ways to increase their energy efficiency.   And in the UK several global companies are calling on their supply chain partners in the UK to measure and manage carbon emissions –  Tesco, Unilever, Procter & Gamble, Nestle and Cadbury Schweppes and Imperial Tobacco Group formed the Supply Chain Leadership Collaboration, which will work with the Carbon Disclosure Project to create a standardised mechanism of measuring their footprint throughout their supply chain.

This coincides with the release of a report that tracked how businesses on the FTSE 350 manage and CDP report climate change related risks. The report found that 87% of companies that responded viewed climate change as a commercial risk while 80% considered it a commercial opportunity. Nearly 40% of respondents have implemented emissions reduction programs.

If these steps lead to consumer goods having a carbon rating it would help consumers differentiate the impact of imported vs locally sourced product. That would quickly change the dynamics of supermarket supply, which many blame for over transporting goods and squashing local producers.

Comments

Leave a Reply

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.