The mission to establish impactful, harmonized ecolabelling across Europe is gaining momentum as the French Government joins Foundation Earth, guided by leading experts in sustainability, ecolabelling, and consumer behavior. The appointment of Vincent Colomb from ADEME, the French Agency for Ecological Transition, a seasoned environmentalist, and an ecolabelling leader, to Foundation Earth’s Scientific Committee, is a significant collaboration in advancing the vision for a more sustainable food system.
In its bid to achieve a unified, optimum, and harmonized environmental labelling system across Europe, Foundation Earth is initiating a research and development programme aimed at bridging the current gaps between its method and the French Government’s approach. The committee is inviting potential partners and supporters to express their interest in the R&D programme.
Proponents believe that environmental labeling of food and drink products is crucial in empowering consumers to make more informed purchasing decisions and drive a more sustainable approach from producers. To achieve so, Foundation Earth takes a lead role in coordinating different ecolabelling campaigns and initiatives across Europe, facilitating knowledge sharing and coordination at scale. This partnership approach is evidenced by the participation of global food and drink giants Nestlé, Tyson Foods, PepsiCo, Danone, Starbucks, Co-op, Sainsbury’s, and M&S, who support Foundation Earth.
The clutter of existing labels and methods has been a hindrance to Foundation Earth’s harmonization efforts. It is estimated that there are over 120 different types of front-of-pack labels in use on food and drink products globally. Moreover, individual countries, such as Denmark, are pursuing their labeling initiatives, with Eco-Score being courted by big names in European retail such as Colruyt and Lidl, and Planet-Score in France offering labels with a broader basis beyond lifecycle analysis (LCA), such as pesticide use, climate impact, biodiversity, and animal welfare.
Foundation Earth has previously expressed worry that this proliferation of groups using different methods when calculating the climate impact of a product could lead to confusion among consumers and industry players. Through the active participation of leading environmental experts such as Professor Chris Elliott from Queen’s University Belfast, Foundation Earth is confident in its ability to drive a single, harmonized ecolabeling system for food and drink products across the European continent.
