Consumers need to know what is a greenhouse emissions intensive product and, what is not. This will help them make better judgements on what to buy and what not to buy. It would mean that all products will carry a greenhouse or carbon rating that reflects the cost in emissions to create, distribute, run, maintain and finally dispose of the product, or indeed service.
In many cases, the methodolgy to measure the emissions lifecyle of a product or service exists, and international standards are being agreed. The lifecycle analysis business is growing and is becoming increasingly sophisticated.
Therefore it is possible that products can have a carbon rating that is a rating over an expected lifecycle.
A carbon rating will need to be conspicious on the product or service, in advertisements and potentially displayed in supermarkets and retail outlets. In that way, consumers can choose products knowing what the likely carbon impact might be. As lifecycle considers the source of the product, it will take into account the emissions at that stage, so it would take into account the energy source from which a product is made.
This idea is not new. The Carbon Trust has been playing with it for years, but with the advent of cap and trade, and a value being put on a new commodity, carbon, then it would do well if everyone, immediately, understood the environmental cost of a purchase. It would bring home to the public the cost to the environment of products based on such things as their source of energy, place of manufacturer, durability and the cost to dispose of them.
Ratings, like diets, might then be a thing the world lives by.
