Chinese Manufacturers Association and the Carbon Trust launch new product carbon footprint and labelling scheme for businesses in Hong Kong

The Chinese Manufacturers’ Association of Hong Kong (CMA) has launched a new carbon footprint and labelling scheme for businesses in Hong Kong, developed with the support of the Carbon Trust.

05 November 2015
Business leaders

The Chinese Manufacturers’ Association of Hong Kong (CMA) has launched a new carbon footprint and labelling scheme for businesses in Hong Kong, developed with the support of the Carbon Trust. This has built on more than a decade of the Carbon Trust’s experience in product carbon footprinting and labelling.
 

This new initiative forms part of CMA’s wider strategy across Hong Kong, to improve export competitiveness by providing robust carbon footprint information. Hong Kong’s export market is currently worth over HK$3,600 billion (more than £300 billion) and includes a burgeoning trade with mainland China.


Providing carbon footprinting information demonstrates to customers that a robust measurement process has been undertaken, which can drive improved sustainability and product quality. This helps to differentiate lower carbon products, incentivising both more sustainable production and greener purchasing behaviour.


The process for the scheme over the past two years had the Carbon Trust developing footprinting software and training tools for companies to use. Participating businesses have come from a range of manufacturing sectors including food, textiles, electrical & electronic goods and building materials.


One of the key aims of the scheme is to raise awareness of product carbon footprints among companies and consumers, helping to promote lower carbon production and reduce carbon emissions in the region.


Following CMA’s lead, the China Certification and Quality Centre is now looking to create a similar labelling scheme for Guangdong province. This is also currently being developed with support from the Carbon Trust.


There is an increasing level of interest in carbon footprinting and labelling in the region, which led to the creation of the Asia Carbon Footprint Network in 2013. The Network is now working with the Carbon Trust to create a wider Asian footprinting framework across China, Hong Kong, South Korea, Thailand, Taiwan and Malaysia.


This framework will support the sharing of information and create a common infrastructure, offering alternative routes to enable various national carbon labelling schemes to operate more effectively throughout Asia.