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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of introducing environmental impact labelling for food products and its potential impact on (a) consumer awareness and choice and (b) meeting the UK’s carbon emissions targets.

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 - such as through labelling – so consumers can make more informed decisions whilst maintaining freedom of choice.

Currently, the specific impact of environmental labelling on purchasing behaviour in real world settings is under-researched. Defra have commissioned consumer insights work in order to strengthen the evidence base, to better understand the efficacy of eco-labelling upon consumer choice selection. This will also assist in understanding whether environmental labelling leads to more sustainable supply chains, in alignment with reducing the UK’s emissions targets.

The Government supports the work of WRAP, whose Courtauld 2030 voluntary agreement includes a target to reduce GHG emissions across the food supply chain. Courtauld's work includes agreeing a common set of emission factors, developing a standard for reporting on supply chain emissions in the food chain and reviewing the pathway to more robust emissions data governance. Although not explicitly linked to eco-labelling, this work aims to improve the data that would be required to underpin such a scheme.