In April 2022, the Danish Ministry of Food, Agriculture, and Fisheries announced it would begin funding the development of a climate label for food, making Denmark the first country to do so. The voluntary climate labeling in Denmark is intended to enforce transparency while minimizing consumer confusion over a multitude of different labels on food products.
The plan is to become carbon neutral by 2050.The program goals are to promote climate-friendly food production and help shoppers make “green” choices when buying food.
However, this is not Denmark’s first foray into environmental labelling. Last year, the Danish official dietary guidelines included carbon emissions for the first time, offering its citizens advice on how to have a climate-friendly diet. The announcement of climate labelling on food therefore appears to be a conscious directive to instill social responsibility at the heart of Danish consumption.
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Officials from the Danish Ministry of Energy, Utilities, and Climate stated that the Government is proposing to work with supermarkets to place stickers on all food products that clearly indicate their carbon footprint.
Research from the University of Technology Sydney and Duke University suggests that using labels that are easy to understand may create demand for responsibly produced food. Lead author of the research, Dr. Adrian Camilleri, describes the current lack of transparency, “With an appliance such as a heater you can feel the energy used and see an electricity bill at the end of the month, so the impact is quite salient, whereas the impact of food production is largely invisible.”
A credible nationwide system will be hugely important to empower consumer decision-making on food and could help to inspire similar policies around the world. It is notable that Denmark’s actions come ahead of the European Union’s proposal for a Europe-wide food labelling framework at the end of 2022. As the European Commission forbids Denmark to demand all foods carry a climate label, voluntary labelling may suffer from limited visibility and misinterpretation.
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The Danish government has set aside 9 million kroner (equal to $1.3 million US dollars) and established a working group led by the Danish Veterinary and Food Administration to create a labeling proposal. The Danish Plant-Based Association will help to create standards for the labels.
Minister for the Environment Lars Christian Lilleholt says that giving consumers easy access to information is important, but accurate labeling comes with a long list of challenges. The labels may have to consider water and land usage, life-cycle analysis, greenhouse gas emissions, and carbon footprint from transport. Director of the Danish Agriculture & Food Council, Morten Høyer, approves of the proposal, but notes a challenging component: nutritional value. “It might be necessary to weigh up the environmental impact against the nutritional value of the product. A bottle of soda may have a low environmental impact, but it is not a product you can live on,” says Høyer.
According to GlobalData’s 2021 Q1 consumer survey, over a quarter (27%) of Danish consumers are often or always influenced by how ethical, environmentally friendly, or socially responsible a product is. This sentiment ranks lower than the global average of 42% but does suggest significant attention is paid to how a product is presented. When asked more specifically about carbon footprint labelling on product packaging, GlobalData’s Q3 2021 consumer survey reveals that while Denmark still falls below the global average (60%), but two in five (40%) of its population are influenced positively to some extent by such information.
Denmark currently produces seven tons of carbon dioxide per year, with two tons coming from food-related purchases. According to Rasmus Prehn, the Danish Minister of Food, Agriculture, and Fisheries, Danes want to eat more climate-friendly foods but do not know how to make those choices. A standardized, government-controlled labeling system will make it easier for consumers to determine which foods are better for the environment.
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On the surface, eco-labelling supports the green values that are increasingly evident among European consumers. However, Danish retailers will need to balance this new initiative with other consumer desires, such as those for ethical certifications or minimalistic packaging. Excessive jargon may mislead consumers, so user-friendly visual designs will be vital to ensure climate action is well presented on food packaging.
Denmark, which ranked 17th in the world in the Climate Change Performance Index, announced the proposal last year in the wake of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change report highlighting the consequences of global warming.
Voluntary Climate Labelling in Denmark, written by Tor Kjolberg