Together for Carbon Labelling

The initiative for more CO₂e-Transparency in the food industry

The food industry has the obligation to reduce the footprint our nutrition has for the world. For this, strong and committed producers join forces with NGO for quality control and an effective, agile management team. We (i) establish a scientific advisory board to develop comparative standards for CO₂e transparency in the food industry; (ii) develop an industry standard for transparent collection and communication of the CO₂e footprint of a product; (iii) communicate the importance of product-related CO₂ emissions to the public, politicians, consumers and companies.

With the initiative Together for Carbon Labelling – short TCL – companies of the food industry join forces for more CO₂e transparency. The aim of the initiative is to create an industry-wide standard for transparent communication of the CO₂e emissions of a food product. In doing so, we want to simplify the purchasing decision process for environmentally conscious consumers in the one hand. On the other hand, the initiative support participating companies in identifying and reducing their CO₂e consumption.

Starting in Germany, we work together to change the European food standard. We are committed to ensuring that the climate impact of food is labelled in a simple and transparent manner to be understandable and convincing for all kinds of consumers. In this way, we lay the foundation for reducing the food industry’s overall CO₂e footprint along the entire value chain.

Partners in the TCL initiative are selected based on the highest standards for trustworthiness. They might be competitors on the market and are surely on different levels of their journey towards carbon neutrality and positive impact. Inside the initiative, all members are equal though and work together with energy and commitment.

Results are developed and controlled by researchers and non-profit partners. Together with our members, we aim to promote the importance of uniform communication of product-related CO₂ emissions to the public, politicians, consumers, and to other companies. In the near future, the initiative is supposed to expand the successful pioneering work of the participating companies in Germany to an EU-wide standard so that the CO₂ footprint of our food decreases. The concept is easily adaptable to other sectors, too.We believe that our endeavour to establish an industry-wide standard requires a strong community. To have the greatest possible reach, we need to bring together policy actors, consumers and business. That’s why we’re building our alliance of diverse companies, starting from different points – but committed to a common goal: CO2e-Transparency.

What the initiative delivers

Joint agile contain co-creation and communication
Research-based development of standards in measurement, communication and reduction
Integration of existing solutions rather than exclusion or competition

What the initiative needs

Members from food producers, manufacturers or retailers
Partners and multipliers from science, politics, communication et cetera
Solution providers in the fields of carbon measurement, supply chain transparency, carbon reduction technologies or equivalent business model innovations
Investment into continuation of the initiative and the development of products as a joint venture of the members, e.g. apps as communication and incentive tools, market development campaigns, et cetera