Hello. This is 6 Minute English from
BBC Learning English. I'm Sam.
And I'm Neil.
That's a tasty chocolate bar you're
munching on there, Neil.
Tasty but maybe not healthy.
But at least on the wrapper there's a
label to tell you about its sugar,
fat and calorie content.
Yes, the little coloured guide on the
wrapper allows consumers to compare
the healthiness of different things.
Well, in this programme, we'll be
looking at an idea to add a label
showing the carbon footprint of a
product, and talking about some
vocabulary used around this subject.
By carbon footprint we mean how
much carbon is used through the
activities of a person, company or
country. This new system sounds
like a good idea, Sam.
Yes - but as normal, we still have
a question for you to answer first.
I think we all agree we want to
reduce our carbon footprint
somehow - but according to the
Centre for Research into Energy
Demand Solutions, how many tonnes
of CO2 equivalent per person annually
could be reduced by living car-free?
Is it: a) Around 1 tonne,
b) Around 2 tonnes, or
c) Around 3 tonnes?
I'm sure living without a car would
reduce CO2, so I'll say
c) around 3 tonnes.
OK, Neil, we'll find out if that's
right at the end of the
programme. But let's talk
more about carbon labelling.
Listing the carbon dioxide
emissions of a product on the
packaging may encourage us
to make greener choices.
It's not a new idea but it's
something that's never caught on -
become popular or fashionable.
Until now. The idea now seems to
have returned, and it's something
the BBC World Service programme
The Climate Question has been
looking into. They've been speaking
to business leaders about adding
labelling to their products.
Such as Marc Engel, Chief Supply
Chain Officer at Unilever. Let's hear
why he thinks the idea is
growing in popularity.
What we are seeing is Generation Z
and Millennials, are much much
more willing to make choices,
informed choices, about
responsible products and brands,
so that's also why we're also
doing it. At the end of the day,
we're doing it because we believe
that this is what consumers will
ask from business - this is not
something that we
made up ourselves.
So, in this case, it seems it's people
buying Unilever products who are
driving this change - particularly
younger people from Gen Z.
So people born towards the end
of the 20th Century or the
beginning of the 21st Century,
or slightly older Millennials.
They want to make 'informed choices'
about what they buy - so, making
decisions based on good and
accurate information. Carbon
labelling is part of that information.
And Marc Engel mentioned consumers
wanting to buy 'responsible' products
or brands. Here, that means 'rusted'
or 'reliable' with less
environmental impact.
That all makes sense, and it's
why Unilever recently announced
it's committed to putting carbon
footprint information on
70,000 products. The Climate
Question programme also spoke
to Dr Zaina Gadema-Cooke - an expert
in supply chain management at
Northumbria University. What does she
call measuring a product's
carbon footprint?
The problem with footprinting is it's
almost impossible to include the
consumption stage associated with
the consumer because we all deal
with the products that we purchase
and dispose of differently. So, it's
very difficult to include that - so
'farm-to-fork' calculations tend to
really be 'farm-to-retail-shelf' calculations
of carbon footprint loadings.
So, Dr Zaina Gadema-Cooke describes
the measurement of a product's carbon
footprint as 'footprinting'. And this, she
says, is difficult to measure because we
don't know what people do with the stuff
after they have bought it.
Yes, so for example, a carbon label
might show an estimate of the carbon
footprint of milk from the cow to
the consumer - what Dr Zaina
Gadema-Cooke calls 'farm to fork' but
after it leaves the supermarket shelf,
we don't know how efficiently it is
stored, how much is wasted and
what happens to the packaging.
It's all food for thought - something
to think seriously about.
And, Sam, what did you think about
my answer to your question earlier?
Ah yes, I asked you - according to the
Centre for Research into Energy
Demand Solutions, how many
tonnes of CO2 equivalent per
person annually - could be
reduced by living car-free?
And I said around 3 tonnes.
Which was actually, a bit too much.
Research found living car-free
reduces a person's annual CO2
production by an
average of 2.04 tonnes.
Anyway, let's briefly recap some
of the vocabulary we've
mentioned today.
Yes, we've been talking about
measuring our carbon footprint - that's
how much carbon is used through the
activities of a person, company or country.
And footprinting is an informal way of
saying measuring the carbon
footprint of something.
When something has caught on it
means it has become popular or
fashionable. And, making informed
choices means making decisions
based on good and
accurate information.
Buying something that is
responsible means that it is
trusted or reliable. And, the phrase
from farm to fork describes the
processes involved from
agricultural production
to consumption.
We're out of time now, but thanks
for listening. Bye for now.
Goodbye.