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Modern consumers are confronted by a growing array of colorful eco-labels on everything from coffee to computers. Yet, not all of these eco-labels are trustworthy. Despite the existence of well-established best practices for eco-labeling, many labels remain little more than superficial exercises in 'greenwash.' How can consumers separate greenwash from genuine attempts to address environmental challenges? 'Beyond Greenwash' systematically investigates the credibility of transnational eco-labeling in a global and cross-sectoral context. It brings original data, an innovative mixed-method research design, and a unique measure of procedural credibility in transnational governance to bear on one of the most salient questions in contemporary global environmental politics.

Eco-labels and the credibility puzzle in transnational governance -- The correlates of procedural credibility in transnational eco-labeling -- A targets of governance approach to explaining procedural credibility -- Credibility in sustainable aquaculture eco-labeling -- Credibility in carbon neutral eco-labeling -- Drawing big lessons from small labels -- Appendix A: Organizations in the transnational eco-labeling organization dataset -- Appendix B: The index of best practice in eco-labeling (ibp).

This thesis analyzes the strengths and weaknesses of various types of eco-labels, focusing primarily on differences between mandatory and voluntary eco-labeling programs. I argue that many of the problems with eco-labeling could be addressed by improving regulations. The current regulation of eco-labeling in the United States is discussed, especially the shortcomings of the FTC's Green Guides. I recommend creating enforceable national legislation to regulate environmental claims that includes involvement of key stakeholders, a list of acceptable environmental claims, enforceable national definitions of environmental terms, an avenue for manufacturers and consumers to challenge environmental claims, consumer education, and periodic review and revision.

Along with the rising concern of environmental performance, eco-labelling is becoming more popular. However, the complex process of eco-labelling demotivated manufacturers and service providers to be certificated. In this paper, we propose a decision support system aiming at further improvement and acceleration of the eco-labeling process in order to democratize a broader application and certification of eco-labels. This decision support system will be based upon a comprehensive knowledge base composed of various domain ontologies covering the whole life cycle of a product or service. Through continuous enrichment on the knowledge base in modular ontologies and by defing standard RDF and OWL format interfaces, the decision support system will stimulate domain knowledge sharing and have the interoperability to be applied into other practice.

International audience ; Along with the rising concern of environmental performance, eco-labelling is becoming more popular. However, the complex process of eco-labelling demotivated manufacturers and service providers to be certificated. In this paper, we propose a decision support system aiming at further improvement and acceleration of the eco-labeling process in order to democratize a broader application and certification of eco-labels. This decision support system will be based upon a comprehensive knowledge base composed of various domain ontologies covering the whole life cycle of a product or service. Through continuous enrichment on the knowledge base in modular ontologies and by defing standard RDF and OWL format interfaces, the decision support system will stimulate domain knowledge sharing and have the interoperability to be applied into other practice.

Creating food systems that provide healthy food for everyone without exploiting human or planetary resources, is one of the greatest challenges of this century. Front-end nutrition labeling and eco-efficiency systems have been proposed as a means of addressing health disparities and sustainable food and nutrition security. The aim of the study is the exploratory analysis of existing front-end nutrition labeling and eco-efficiency systems in order to make informed decisions about the further development of an effective labeling system. To carry out the study, the method of systematic document review and data triangulation was applied. The review provided information on the impact of color-coded labels and warnings in driving consumer purchasing behavior towards healthier products. Each labeling system had different attributes that should be taken into account when developing front-end nutrition labeling and eco-efficiency policies, depending on local contexts. However, front-end labeling is unlikely to be a panacea for changing consumer behavior but can target small incremental changes at different levels and actors in the food system.

Eco-labels inform consumers about the environmental aspects of a product or a service. Consumers who are concerned with environmental issues can use the information on eco-labels to learn the environmental aspects of the products that they buy. The aim of this study is to determine how often the students of higher education pay attention to eco-labels when they are purchasing and the levels of the five internal factors that may motivate the consumers to pay attention to eco-labels. These factors are pro-environmental attitude (willingness to pay higher prices for products with eco-label), perceived consumer effectiveness (how much they believe that individual actions can improve the environment), belief in environment-friendly buying, trust in eco-label and knowledge in eco-labels. This study provided an opportunity to learn if the students consider the environmental aspects when they are buying and what teachers and education professionals can do to encourage the students to pay attention to eco-labels. Three textbooks used for General Studies for Primary students, three textbooks used in Integrated Science for Secondary 1-3 students and six teaching materials published by publishers (there is no textbook for Liberal Studies that is standardized by Education Bureau) used in Science, Technology and the Environment in Liberal Studies for Secondary 4-6 students were reviewed to find if the topic of eco-labeling was mentioned in them. It was found that none of the textbooks used for General Studies for Primary students mentioned eco-labeling, all textbooks used in Integrated Science used for Secondary 1-3 mentioned the Energy Efficiency Label and all teaching material used in liberal studies also mentioned Energy Efficiency Label, among them, one book mentioned the European Union's Eco-label. A survey was carried out to assess how often students pay attention to eco-labels and how much they agree to statements relating to the five internal factors that may motivate them to pay attention to eco-labels. A test was given to assess their knowledge in the Energy Efficiency Label Scheme (EELS) issued by the Electrical and Mechanical Service Department and eco-labels issued to food and wood products respectively. The mean was 2.8(on a scale of 6, in which 1 means strongly disagree and 6 means strongly agree), when asked if they agreed that they often pay attention to eco- label when they were buying 3.5 for pro-environmental attitude, 4.2 for perceived consumer effectiveness, 3.4 for belief in environmental buying, 3.6 for trust in eco-labels and 3.6 in perceived knowledge in eco-labels. 63.2% of the students correctly answered that there are five grades in EELS, 40% of students correctly chose that the lower the grading, the more efficient is the electrical appliance. 8.4% of students correctly chose all five kind of electrical applicants that are mandated to show EEL. 2.1% attempted to name any eco-labels issued to wood products and 3.1% attempted to name any eco-labels issued to food products. It was concluded that students do not often pay attention to eco-labels when they are buying and that the limited knowledge in eco-labels was the potential cause. ; published_or_final_version ; Environmental Management ; Master ; Master of Science in Environmental Management

Abstract:
Eco-labeling of services has become increasingly common, yet little empirical evidence exists concerning its effectiveness. We address this gap in the literature by analyzing a highly visible eco-label, the American College and University Presidents' Climate Commitment (ACUPCC), in the sector of higher education. We match information about the ACUPCC to the US Department of Education IPEDS database to examine the impact of signing on student applications, admissions, and enrollment. We mainly utilize a difference-in-difference approach to identify the effects of interest but confirm results with an interrupted time series model. We find that signing the ACUPCC increases applications and admitted students by 2.5–3.5 %. However, the evidence regarding enrollment is weaker with only some specifications finding increases of around 1–2 %. Overall, there is considerable heterogeneity across sectors and selectivity of the institutions. These results show that, at the minimum, voluntary and information-based approaches (VIBAs) for services can be effective in generating visibility and influencing less-costly consumer behavior.

Purpose : With the rising concern of safety, health and environmental performance, eco-labeled product and service are becoming more and more popular. However, the long and complex process of eco-labeling sometimes demotivates manufacturers and service providers to be certificated. The purpose of this paper is to propose a decision support platform aiming at further improvement and acceleration of the eco-labeling process in order to democratize a broader application and certification of eco-labels, also to consolidate the credibility and validity of eco-labels. Design/methodology/approach : This decision support platform is based on a comprehensive knowledge base composed of various domain ontologies that are constructed according to an official eco-label criteria documentation. Findings : Through standard Resource Description Framework and Web Ontology Language ontology query interface, the assets of the decision support platform will stimulate domain knowledge sharing and can be applied into other applications. A case study of laundry detergent eco-labeling process is also presented in this paper. Originality/value : The authors present a reasoning methodology based on inference with Semantic Web Rule Language (SWRL) rules which allows decision making with explanation.

International audience ; Purpose : With the rising concern of safety, health and environmental performance, eco-labeled product and service are becoming more and more popular. However, the long and complex process of eco-labeling sometimes demotivates manufacturers and service providers to be certificated. The purpose of this paper is to propose a decision support platform aiming at further improvement and acceleration of the eco-labeling process in order to democratize a broader application and certification of eco-labels, also to consolidate the credibility and validity of eco-labels. Design/methodology/approach : This decision support platform is based on a comprehensive knowledge base composed of various domain ontologies that are constructed according to an official eco-label criteria documentation. Findings : Through standard Resource Description Framework and Web Ontology Language ontology query interface, the assets of the decision support platform will stimulate domain knowledge sharing and can be applied into other applications. A case study of laundry detergent eco-labeling process is also presented in this paper. Originality/value : The authors present a reasoning methodology based on inference with Semantic Web Rule Language (SWRL) rules which allows decision making with explanation.