This section discusses the lessons learned from the international practice on carbon footprint labelling initiatives and suggestions for Taiwan’s carbon footprint label development.
1. Comparison of Acer and Taisun’s approach of carbon footprint labelling
Acer and Taisun have both done the carbon footprint labelling. The implementation process is summarized in the below table.
Table.5.3 Comparison of Acer and Taisun’s Carbon Footprint Label implementation:
Acer Taisun
Motivation Leader’s own vision
Government support
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Difficulties No industry
standard-no
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2. Carbon footprint labelling Initiation
Carbon footprint labelling is done differently among countries; some are initiated and promoted by governments, while others are initiated by businesses. As the case in Taiwan, carbon footprint labelling is mostly initiated and actively supported by government. The government offers incentives such as free application fee and increased opportunity for government cooperation, however, the key step is not supported by the government. As seen from Taisun and Acer, no comparison marketing is allowed and public education is absent to inform consumers of carbon footprint label. Government promotion of green products would also be beneficial for the move towards making carbon footprint label an industry standard.
France’s Grenelle 2 law makes carbon footprint a mandatory requirement for both local and imported products sold in France. By making carbon footprint a legal requirement, businesses need to start measuring their carbon footprint and inform consumers of the impact they make on the environment. Only when all businesses are doing carbon footprint labelling, consumers can use the carbon footprint as a tool to
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facilitate purchase decision making. Having one company doing the carbon footprint label does not mean anything to the industry nor to the consumers because consumers do not know whether the company which has done the carbon footprint labelling has higher footprint or lower footprint than others which have not done it. When consumers do not know the meaning of carbon footprint label, misunderstanding occurs and the value of carbon footprint label is not fully appreciated.
Currently, Taiwan's carbon footprint label is managed and issued by the EPA. The label indicates the amount of carbon footprint the product has and the major purpose of the label is to inform consumers of the environmental impact the product causes. By using the label this way, it fulfils its fundamental value, to inform, through informing consumers of the impact their purchase decision makes on the environment, company aims to present to consumers the lowest amount of carbon footprint.
The next level is to further reduce carbon footprint through not only within business's normal practice, but to expand to reduction projects outside of the company's operation. As in the case of United States' Carbon Free label, in order to obtain the label, business must choose a reduction project at the time they register for the Carbon Free label. The reduction projects can also promote the development of environmental friendly technology and projects which will encourage the development of new environmental friendly industry and future. In contrast with Taiwan's government-led implementation of carbon footprint, the U.S.'s approach is non-government organization and business led. Businesses proactively take initiatives to put Carbon Free label on their products, whereas some cases in Taiwan are stimulated by the government. When U.S. businesses put carbon footprint label
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on their products, they will have a page on their company website designated for introduction of carbon footprint label.
Japan's government-led carbon footprint labelling scheme implementation joins resources from academics, business and government to establish carbon footprint database. This way, the database will become a valuable resource for others who want to measure their carbon footprint and will reduce the entry barrier for carbon footprint labelling and encourage businesses to initiate carbon footprint labelling. Expositions are also organized to promote labelled products and to provide incentives for businesses to engage in carbon footprint labelling.
UK’s Tesco included user instruction in the carbon footprint label to further reduce the carbon footprint of the product during the consumption phase. This way, consumers can also do their job in the fight against climate change.
6.2 Research Limitation
1. Confidentiality
Some questions relating to the budget was not disclosed for confidentiality reasons.
2. Interview with distributor could not be done
Because carbon footprint labeling is a new practice, very few companies are aware of it and doing it. Furthermore, an interview with one of the major convenience stores could not be done because the attempt to reach the person in charge was not successful. Interviewing with the convenience store would be an important source for future development of carbon footprint label. Convenience stores are a major distribution channels for products such as FMCG and food. These products are also very likely to have carbon footprint label in the future. Having distributors' support is
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very important to the success of green products. As seen in the case of Taisun, since Twist water was not strongly supported by 7-11, the leading convenience store chain in Taiwan, Twist water could not enjoy the benefit of carbon footprint label for a sustained period of time. If an interview were to be done on 7-11, questions such as what is the distributor's view towards green products and what is the strategy for choosing the products to place in the stores, will 7-11 introduce a green product section in the future to meet the growing demand for green products, would contribute to the development of carbon footprint labeling significantly. Distributors also have direct contact with consumers, they know the consumers's response towards green products directly. When the answers to those questions are found, as businesses promote carbon footprint products, they will know how to approach distributors and what their concerns are.
3. Information not suitable for disclosure but is valuable
During the interview, some private information was shared; however, it was not appropriate to disclose the information in this paper.
4. Acer's product performance could not be evaluated, because carbon footprint label was not marketed apparently and product went off the market soon after its launch.
Because AO532 was a personal PC model, the high turn-over rate of newer technology rapidly replaced the model with a newer version. Therefore, the performance of carbon footprint label could not be evaluated fully. On the other hand, carbon footprint label is not used primarily as a communication tool with consumers;
rather it is an exercise for its suppliers and a preparation for possible future trend. For electronic goods, green products are packaged with claims of cost-saving opportunities rather than low GHG potential status.
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5. Long term performance of carbon footing label could not be evaluated for both cases because it is a very new area and products are no longer available on the market.
Both Twist Water and AO532 are removed from the market, each by different reason;
therefore, the long term effect of carbon footprint label could not be evaluated for both cases. For a new strategy like the carbon footprint label to enter into effect, it will take time for it to be reflected on the corporate image, sales growth, market share growth and long term sustainability of the business. However, both cases were not given sufficient time to examine the long-term benefit of the carbon footprint label and for this reason, businesses may shy away from implementing carbon footprint labelling.
6.3 Conclusion
Carbon Footprint label is a new concept around the world, and is an even newer concept to Taiwan’s market. In order to realize the benefit of carbon footprint label and for carbon footprint label to become a general standard, joint effort from the government, business, consumers and academic institutions is needed. Through government’s support, whether legal or non-legal, businesses can start trying out the new concept and raise consumer’ awareness of the label. As consumers become familiar with the carbon footprint label, market demand will then become the driving force stimulating businesses to put carbon footprint label on their products. When carbon footprint label becomes an industry standard, businesses will seek to lower their product carbon footprint so that the carbon footprint label will make them competitive. As a result, the rapid increase of overall atmospheric GHG will be slowed down and worsening climate change can be alleviated.
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