Label Tesco green, literally.
The British grocery market leader has pledged to take concrete steps to bring about a low-carbon economy. In the past, it has initiated a number of programs to reduce its carbon footprint (a measure in units of carbon of how the company's activities produce greenhouse gases), including the increased use of biofuels, rail transport, etc.
The company's latest step may be its most unusual yet. Tesco has announced that it will label the 70,000 products it sells to quantify carbon costs along with nutritional information.
Peter Madden, chief executive of the green thinktank Forum for the Future, told The Guardian, "This is big stuff. When you have a company as powerful as Tesco and a boss as influential as (Sir) Terry Leahy giving serious attention to climate change, the rest of business has to listen."
Sir Terry, said that the company has ambitious goals to reduce its impact on the environment and that its critics often fail to see the obvious. "Tesco has come to be portrayed as part of the problem. This could not be more wrong. When you want to reach and empower the many, Tesco is a big part of the solution," he said.
The new labeling program will not go into effect immediately. Tesco has said it is working on a "universally accepted and commonly understood" measuring system.
"I am not a scientist," said Sir Terry. "But I listen when the scientists say that if we fail to mitigate climate change, the environmental, social and economic consequences will be stark and severe."
Discussion Question: What is your reaction to Tesco's proposed carbon labeling program? Do you see an opportunity for something similar being implemented in the U.S. or elsewhere?