S Korea joins carbon label scheme

By Mark Kinver
Science and environment reporter, BBC News

The international standard on carbon labelling was piloted in the UK

South Korea has become the latest nation to adopt an international standard on carbon labelling.

The country is the world's ninth largest emitter of carbon dioxide, and exports $91bn (£55bn) of consumer products around the globe each year.

South Korea introduced a carbon labelling in 2009, and plans to adopt the international standard by 2011.

The scheme builds on a system that was launched in 2007, and developed and pioneered by the UK's Carbon Trust.

"Cutting greenhouses gases is a global priority and labelling is proving to be an important way to achieve low carbon green growth in Korea," said Sang-il Kim, chief executive of the Korean Environmental Industry and Technology Institute (KEITI).

"Because the international market is so important to us, it is vital that we continue to develop our labelling scheme in a way that is consistent with international standards."

Under the scheme, companies must carry out a carbon audit and record the amount of CO2 being emitted at every stage of production - from the sourcing of raw materials to transporting goods to supermarket shelves.

Once the amount of CO2 has been recorded, the firm must then commit to reducing its emissions on a year-by-year basis before it is allowed to print the carbon label on its products.

Tom Delay, chief executive of the Carbon Trust - a UK government-funded organisation, described the latest development as a "major breakthrough".

"Within two years of launching the concept of carbon labelling, our knowledge and experience is now being shared with one of the largest economies in the world," he said.

"The carbon footprinting of products is a powerful tool to drive carbon out of the supply chain... and to provide genuine information to consumers to enable them to make low carbon purchasing decisions."

The agreement with South Korea follows on from an announcement in June that saw a number of Australian companies adopt the carbon labelling scheme.