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Siegelklarheit

Assessment Platform for Sustainable Labels

Labels are great! They allow companies to communicate on sustainability issues in a comprehensive and credible way and enable consumers to align their purchases with their values. Why is it then, that only a few sustainability-oriented consumers rely on product labels for their buying decisions?

To improve the transparency of labels, the German Government, supported by GIZ, developed Siegelklarheit as an information platform to assess the most relevant sustainability labels, and highlight those meeting defined minimum criteria within the areas of environmental, social and credibility principles. While this process builds on the work of an independent expert group and thus delivers highly reliable recommendations, the platform has not yet reached consumers beyond those already interested in sustainability.

A consortium led by the CSCP and including the VERBRAUCHER INITIATIVE as well as the Wuppertal Institute is now supporting the GIZ and the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) in mainstreaming label recommendations as provided by Siegelklarheit. Some of the main project activities include the use of new communication channels, an improved app and the introduction of new types of content. Moreover, the consortium will explore the opportunities to provide relevant label information right at the point of sale and seeks to engage with brick and mortar as well as online retailers and marketplaces.

This project contributes towards more sustainable consumption behaviours and patterns. Sustainable consumption has gained societal and political awareness over the past years and most notably through the inclusion as a core component of SDG12 within the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). At the governmental level in Germany, sustainable consumption is mainly promoted via the National Programme for Sustainable Consumption within the German Sustainability Strategy.

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