Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what recent discussions he has had with Departmental colleagues on the potential merits of introducing carbon labelling for products sold in the UK.

Specifically on food, although there are currently no legal requirements to display information stating the carbon emissions of food products, we are keen to work with industry to help reduce environmental impacts across the food system. This includes providing such information clearly to consumers where this is effective, without creating unnecessary burdens, costs or time-lags.

We have worked with The Competition and Markets authority to input into their guidance for businesses when making environmental claims and are liaising with the Environment Agency on their SEEBEYOND project which is looking at the standardisation of metrics in the food and drink sector.

We support the work of WRAP, who convene the Courtauld 2030 voluntary agreement. Courtauld's work includes agreeing a common set of emission factors and reviewing the pathway to robust data for supply chain emissions and governance.

We want to empower consumers with more effective information to help them make healthier, greener, and more sustainable choices in their diet. As part of the Government’s Food Strategy, we are reviewing how food information can be improved so consumers can make more informed decisions whilst maintaining freedom of choice.

Outside of food, within the Industrial Decarbonisation Strategy, the government committed to exploring a range of policy options that can increase overall demand for low emissions industrial products, including product labelling.

The Government has committed to developing detailed policy proposals in this area, beginning with a call for evidence, which will be published soon. The call for evidence will investigate a range of issues, including how low emissions products can be defined and the implementation of policy levers such as emissions labelling for industrial products.