Presentation at the Enoforum congress in Arezzo, 8/5/2013, about environmental claims and the Label EcoProwine for sustainable wine.

1. Chiara Corbo
Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore
Istituto di Chimica Agraria e Ambientale
Chiara CORBO
SESSIONE SOSTENIBILITA’
Sustainability labels and
certifications: a
European overview

2. • Consumers’ awareness regarding the environmental impact of their
diet is growing; but they complain about the lack of clearness in this
kind of information (Ademe, 2010).
• Strong increase of environmental claims (Ecolabel Index: 435
ecolabels in 197 Countries)
Green consumers…
• In 2011, the 32% of consumers declared that they have seen at
least one time “fake” environmental claims (Eurobarometer2012).
• The 48% of consumers don’t believe in environmental claim from
Companies.
…that don’t trust in green claims!
Background

3. The “environmental claim”
“Environmental claim “: the practice of
suggesting or otherwise creating the
impression that a product or a service is
environmentally friendly or is less
damaging to the environment than
competing goods or services.
Greenwashing: when a company or
organization spends more time and money
claiming to be “green” through advertising
and marketing than actually implementing
business practices that minimize
environmental impact.

4.  Voluntary ecological label, third party verified.
 It is a logo (brand) showing the best environmental
performance if compared with competitor’s product
without the logo.
 It is based on Life Cycle Assessment. Minimum
parameters are set.
 Example: European Ecolabel (Reg. CE
1980/2000), still not possible for food.
Type I – ISO 14024

5. • Self-declared assertions. Companies can choose an element and speak about the
product’s better performance for that aspect or a combination.
• Certification schema: it has a verification and certification process similar to that of
ecolabels but focuses on single issues (e.g. energy consumption, sustainable
forestry, etc.)
Choice of the
parameters to
evaluate
Analysis Communication
Carbon Footprint
Water Footprint
Biodiversity
…
Certification
schema
Type II – ISO 14021

6. Type II
Certification schema
Single indicator
Multicriteria label

7.  EPD – Environmental Product Declaration
 It is a declaration containing information about the environmental impact
associated with a product or service, such as energy use, raw material
acquisition, content of chemical products…
 No evaluation of env. information, since no predetermined env.
Performance levels are set.
Product
Category Rules
Life Cycle
Assessment
Environmental
Product
Declaration
Type III – ISO 14025

8.  July 2011: national experiment for
the environmental labelling of
products.
 Objective: to give info to the
consumers regarding carbon
footprint, use of natural resources or
environmental impact of a product in
all its life cycle (law Grenelle 2, art.
228).
 Life Cycle and multicriteria approach.
 Great success of the initiative: 230
companies asked to participate (168
were selected).
Case studies in Europe
France

9. Case studies in Europe
Italy
 Italian Program for the evaluation of
environmental footprint of products
(Italian Ministry for the Environment, Land
and Sea).
 Test – on a wide scale – of a methodology
for the analysis of the environmental
footprint (third party verified), for the
decreasing of greenhouse gases (Carbon
Footprint) and water consumption and
pollution (Water Footprint)
 Spread of good practices in the
production processes.
 VIVA – Sustainability in the Italian
Viticulture. A sustainability label based on
the analysis of 4 indicators:
Air, Water, Vineyard, Territory.

10. The European Commission’s outlook
 2000: Guide lines for the evaluation of environmental claims
 The regulation of the environmental claims is within the two Directives:
– Dir. 2005/29/CE unfair business-to-consumer commercial practices in the internal market (+
Guidance on the implementation/application of directive 2005/29/CE on unfair commercial
practices).>>> specific section about environmental claims.
– Dir. 2006/114/CE misleading and comparative advertising
 03/2012: national consultation with stakeholder, to understand the presence of
environmental claims on the market, what are the possible reasons for misleading
and what are the instruments to avoid the problem.
 DG ENV >>> Product Environmental Footprint.

11. The EcoProwine label
• Objective: to realize a sustainability label for the European wine.
• From the Life Cycle Assessment to the communication to the final consumer.
• Label
– A logo showing the Company’s committment in the project
– Link to the web site (QR code) >>> sustainability information
• Type II label, multicriteria: LCA >>> indicators >>> aggregation in three
categories: air, water, soil.
• Effective and cost-effective instrument
• More competitiveness for the european wine
• Pushing on continuos improvement

12. First rough
evaluation
Life Cycle
Assessment
Aggregation of
indicators
Benchmark
YES
Is the
Company
consisten
t with
values?
LABEL
N
O
Improvement of
environmental
performance
LABEL
Continuous improvement!
The EcoProwine label

13.  The number of “green consumers” is rising, as well as the number of green claims
and labels.
 Environmental labels are a real marketing tool and – above all – they can promote
a Company’s continuos improvement of its environmental performance.
 A label is a tool to enhance consumers’ informed choices; but it is mandatory for
the label to be consistent (otherwise: it is only greenwashing!)
 At a national and european level, Institutions are promoting specific programs to
harmonize the methodologies for the assessment and communication of
environmental footprint of products.
The EcoProwine Label is a science-based sustainability
label that can promote sustainable practices in the wine
sector!
Conclusions

14. Thanks for your attention
chiara.corbo@unicatt.it