Sustainability labelling for food: one day to understand all about it
The European Commission is expected to reveal their proposal for a Regulation on Substantiating Green Claims based on the Product Environmental Footprint (PEF) on the 30th of November. By the end of 2023, the Commission will also release a sustainable food systems law, including principles underpinning a sustainability label.
In the current food environment, labels are crucial to provide information to consumers and help them make the sustainable choice. Therefore, a label should be based on a methodology that reflects the complexities of the agrifood system and covers ‘external’ costs like pesticide use, impact on biodiversity and climate, animal welfare and more.
IFOAM Organics Europe already raised concerns about the PEF, the methodology developed by the European Commission, in our position paper on sustainability labelling and the Planet-Score. The latter is an alternative currently being developed by ITAB, the French Organic Institute, which reflects in a more accurate way the complexities and externalities of the agrifood system.
To understand better what is at stake behind these labels and their methodology, we invite you to follow our events on 26 Wednesday October.
Three different events will take place this day:
- 9:45-10:45: Direct action showing how the Planet-Score works in a supermarket near the European Parliament (Carrefour Express Luxembourg, Rue du Luxembourg 3, 1050 Brussels). If you want to attend this event, please email [email protected];
- 11:00-11:30: A hybrid press conference (in French and English) at the European Parliament with several Members of the European Parliaments, NGOs’ representatives and representatives from business;
- 16:00-18:30: A webinar gathering different actors from the economic, political and research side to explore the implications of the methodological choices around the environmental labelling of food and textile products. The event will be interpreted in French, English and German. Online registration necessary.
We invite you to participate, register, and share these events to your network! To learn more about IFOAM Organics Europe’s work on sustainability labelling, you can check our website.