The recently established American Alliance for the Environment will host the first South American regional eco-labeling program.
The initiative is supported by the UN Environment Program (UNEP) through funding from Germany and represents a significant step towards promoting eco-labelling of products. Its role is to initiate sustainable trade and enable better informed consumer choices, UNEP announced.
The alliance brings together current founders from Costa Rica, Ecuador and Mexico, along with interested institutions from Colombia, Brazil, Paraguay, Panama, Uruguay, the Dominican Republic, El Salvador and Honduras, representing a consumer market of 450 million people.
Representatives of the governments of Colombia, Ecuador, and Costa Rica emphasized that within the Alliance, each product must meet specific criteria to obtain an environmental label, ensuring that consumers receive reliable information about how the item was produced and thus make informed and responsible purchasing decisions.
Eco-labeling also leads companies to reduce long-term operating costs and business risks, contributes to strengthening local economies and creating green jobs.
“This initiative is key to connecting producers and consumers about the environmental impact of the products they buy through clear and reliable information. Our collective efforts to tackle the triple planetary crisis of climate change, biodiversity loss and pollution depend heavily on changing production practices and consumer behaviour,” said Sheila Agarwal-Khan, Director of the Department of Industry and Economy at UNEP.
She added that the alliance empowers consumers, businesses and actors in public procurement to make better-informed decisions in all high-impact product categories, from food to air conditioners and plastic products.
Milena Maglovski
Source: energetskiportal.rs
