Carbon Triage: A Strategy for Developing a Viable Carbon Labeling System

Carbon labeling has been proposed as a way to fill gaps in governmental efforts to reduce the impact of human activity on global climate. Carbon labels can provide information that allows producers and consumers to develop and choose lower-impact products, but they have not become widespread in part because of difficulties developing valid and reliable labels for the universe of products. This chapter suggests a triage approach in which labeling begins with products that meet four criteria: magnitude of footprint, feasibility of assessment, and producer and consumer responsiveness. It presents an example of carbon labeling triage in the food industry and discusses three implementation issues: governance of the labeling system, geographic considerations, and the content of carbon labels.

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