COP28: How Good equips Carrefour with carbon footprint labels, Sultan criticism continues

01 Dec 2023 --- US-based food rating company How Good is partnering with SES-imagotag, a global specialist in electronic shelf tags and IoT solutions, to provide environmental sustainability labels for Carrefour supermarket products throughout the UAE during the ongoing COP28 climate summit (Nov 30 to Dec 12) in Dubai.

How Good says it has sustainability insights on over 33,000 food ingredients that provide retailers and F&B brands with “the granular data” required for the sustainability storytelling that consumers demand.

The Carrefour stores featuring How Good labels, which the Majid Al Futtaim Group runs, will utilize SES-imagotag’s digital shelf edge tags for 2,500 different food products, allowing for visibility of where consumers are making purchasing decisions. 

“With the COP28 Food Systems and Agriculture Agenda, there is no better time to partner with Majid Al Futtaim to help Carrefour shoppers choose products that align with their environmental and social values,” says Ethan Soloviev, chief innovation officer at How Good. 

“With more than a third of all human-caused GHG emissions linked to the food system, food brands and retailers have an immense opportunity to drive transparency and empower more sustainable decision-making. Our launch at COP28 will be a clear signal of where the future of retail is headed with regard to sustainability.”

Footprint labeling 
Three labels will be applied to F&B products according to their credentials: 

• Product Carbon Footprint: A measure of a product’s GHGs, from cradle to shelf. 
• Comprehensive How Good Sustainability Rating: Products that receive How Good’s “Best” rating have a social and environmental impact better than 95% of all products assessed by How Good. Those rated “Great” are better than 85%, and those rated “Good” are better than 70%. Sustainability ratings are also part of Carrefour’s “Choose Better” program, also launching at COP28.
• Product Sustainability Attributes: Shoppers looking for insight into additional areas of climate concern can use How Good’s attributes to identify products that use less water than average in their production (Water Smart), have lower GHG emissions than average (Climate Friendly), have simple formula with seven or fewer ingredients (Clean Label), are made with ingredients that are not dependent on commercial or industrial processing (Minimally Processed), and respect workers’ rights and dignity (Fair Labor).

“Our launch of the Choose Better program is not only a testament to our commitment to sustainability, but also aligns with our purpose to help customers shop smarter and live better by helping them make healthier, more sustainable shopping choices,” says Sheila Chaiban, CMO at Majid Al Futtaim Retail. 

“Powered by How Good’s product rating system and SES-imagotag’s smart labels, we’re excited to enable shoppers to find products that are better for the planet.”The COP28 climate summit is being held in Dubai (Nov 30 to Dec 12).

COP28 concerns 
The labeling displays brought to COP28 come amid a wave of protest against what many lawmakers and environmentalists are calling the “corporate hijacking” of the summit. 

Earlier this year, 133 elected US and European officials co-signed a letter urging the removal of Sultan Al Jaber as COP28 president. Al Jaber is the head of the Abu Dhabi National Oil Company, which recently announced a plan to expand its oil and gas production significantly.

Research published by Corporate Europe Observatory and Corporate Accountability earlier in June exposed how “The Big 5” (Shell, BP, ExxonMobil, Chevron, TotalEnergies) oil and gas majors have brought more than 400 lobbyists to the UN climate talks since the Paris Agreement was signed at COP21. 

At the Bonn Climate Change Conference in Germany, the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) addressed polluter interference in climate talks, requiring all participants in UNFCCC talks to disclose their affiliations prior to participation. 

Action group Kick Big Polluters Out, composed of over 450 endorsers, said that while this move was welcome, “it’s simply not enough.” 

By Louis Gore-Langton