Businesses must do more to give consumers the information they need to make informed choices about buying low-carbon products, said the CBI today.
Launching a new report, Buying into it - making the consumer case for low-carbon, CBI Director-General John Cridland said that creating a mass market for low-carbon goods is crucial to meeting ambitious climate change targets.
It comes as a survey of nearly 2,000 people, commissioned for the report, revealed that 83 percent of the public think businesses have a responsibility to tell their customers about energy efficiency, but only 16 percent trust manufacturers and even fewer trust retailers (9%) to be truthful about it.
The CBI is calling on the Government to join forces with businesses to find new ways of inspiring consumers to go green, including developing clear and standardised labelling for low-carbon products.
John Cridland, CBI Director-General, said:
"Consumers are often baffled when faced with a variety of low-carbon products on sale, each making different green claims.
"All too often we find that consumers are something of a Cinderella when it comes to action on climate change. Unless we can get the public truly on board, then all the investment in new technology and all our low-carbon innovation will be for nothing.
“Businesses need to provide clear, consistent labelling that becomes a trusted universal standard with the public. The success of A-G labeling for white goods like fridges and washing machines shows that this kind of approach works.
"It is only when we get significant public buy-in of low-carbon goods that we will make real progress towards our carbon reduction targets."
The report found that three-quarters of the public don’t think about energy efficiency when making the biggest purchase of their lives, a new home, but more than half (53%) do think about energy efficiency when buying a fridge. This reflects the success of the A-G white goods labelling system, which provides clear standardised information on the energy efficiency of white goods.
In his speech to the CBI, Energy and Climate Change Secretary Chris Huhne said:
"The government wants to work together with business on this; so let’s get together and start talking about how we can deliver better information for consumers.
"Together, we can make it easier for consumers to buy energy efficient products; from providing useful advice in-store and online to developing set of consistent messages. And a simple, consistent, voluntary labelling system setting out real-world costs can make a real difference.
"It can save consumers money, encourage competition on energy efficiency – and refocus consumers on the more sustainable options. Because at the moment, energy consumption isn’t well understood."
With consumers accounting directly and indirectly for almost three quarters of UK carbon emissions, the CBI says a joint business-government taskforce should focus on the following areas to help build a mass market for low-carbon goods:
Exploiting the roll-out of smart meters and the Green Deal to build consumer awareness about wider low-carbon choicesDelivering better standards and consistent labelling to provide consumers with simple, clear and comparable information to make informed choices on a wider range of products, including DVD players, games consoles and cookers.Businesses also need to build trust in their green credentials through the use of common language and symbolsTraining for shop floor staff so they can help customers make greener choices.