Responsible consumption and production along with climate action are two of the seventeen Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) of the United Nations for promoting individual and collective actions to combat climate change. One of the challenges of reaching these goals is to reduce global carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions and other greenhouse gasses (GHG), which continue to rise. Carbon labelling is a promising alternative intervention for reducing carbon emissions, primarily through stimulating greater demand for goods and services with low or no environmental impacts. Carbon labelling as an information disclosure summarises data on the greenhouse gases (GHGs) emitted from the production, distribution and use (carbon footprints) of a good or service in a simple indicator presented at the point of purchase. The goal is to facilitate choices that can rapidly reduce GHG emissions to meet the challenges posed by escalating human-caused climate change. Carbon labelling has advantages over many other GHG mitigation initiatives, as it does not require government actions such as regulations, taxation or financial incentives, each of which faces barriers in many political systems. Carbon labels can enhance desired behaviour change towards climate friendly consumption among retail consumers by encouraging them to choose low-carbon products. Carbon labelling can also induce retailers and other actors in the supply chain (e.g., corporate buyers, transporters and producers) to provide consumers with low-carbon products, because attention to labelling data can make these organisations more aware of GHG emissions and inefficiencies associated with their products or more concerned about naming-and-shaming or reputation campaigns.
India’s economy will become carbon neutral by the year 2070, the country’s prime minster has announced at the COP26 climate crisis summit in Glasgow. The target date is two decades beyond what scientists say is needed to avert catastrophic climate impacts. India is the last of the world’s major carbon polluters to announce a net-zero target, with China saying it would reach that goal in 2060, and the United States and the European Union aiming for 2050.
China's carbon emissions are vast and growing, dwarfing those of other countries. Experts agree that without big reductions in China's emissions, the world cannot win the fight against climate change. In 2020, China's President Xi Jinping said his country would aim for its emissions to reach their highest point before 2030 and for carbon neutrality before 2060. His statement has now been confirmed as China's official position ahead of the COP26 global climate summit in Glasgow. But China has not said exactly how these goals will be achieved.
China's carbon emissions are vast and growing, dwarfing those of other countries. Experts agree that without big reductions in China's emissions, the world cannot win the fight against climate change. In 2020, China's President Xi Jinping said his country would aim for its emissions to reach their highest point before 2030 and for carbon neutrality before 2060. His statement has now been confirmed as China's official position ahead of the COP26 global climate summit in Glasgow. But China has not said exactly how these goals will be achieved.
A crucial U.N. conference heard calls on its first day for the world's major economies to keep their promises of financial help to address the climate crisis, while big polluters India and Brazil made new commitments to cut emissions. World leaders, environmental experts and activists all pleaded for decisive action to halt the global warming which threatens the future of the planet at the start of the two-week COP26 summit in the Scottish city of Glasgow on Monday. The task facing negotiators was made even more daunting by the failure of the Group of 20 major industrial nations to agree ambitious new commitments at the weekend.