South Korea to Adopt Global Carbon Labelling Standard by 2011

(BusinessGreen.com)

South Korea is to adopt an international standard for carbon labelling by 2011 in a bid to have the green merits of its export goods recognised by a global criterion. The UK government-backed Carbon Trust yesterday said it is working with the environmental labelling body Korean Environmental Industry and Technology Institute (KEITI) to harmonise the country’s existing carbon footprinting scheme with its Carbon Reduction Label system.

Under the Carbon Trust system, products on store shelves display the amount of carbon dioxide emitted during their entire life cycle, from manufacture through to disposal. Manufacturers then have to commit to reduce that carbon footprint on a year-by-year basis if they want to continue to carry the label.

South Korea in February launched a KEITI-led carbon labelling program after conducting a nine-month trial. It now has 24 domestic companies producing carbon-labelled products. Read more here.