This report from the Forum for the Future published in July 2008, explores the potential of carbon labelling. It concludes that carbon labelling does have a role to play in moving people towards a low-carbon shopping basket, but that trying to put a label on everything isn’t the answer. It says that people don’t just want to be told that it’s up to them to choose the right products - they want government and retailers to act too, by taking the most environmentally damaging products off the shelves. For more information see here.

Japan’s Yomiuri Shimbun newpaper reports that Sapporo Breweries Ltd. has announced it will introduce a label on one of its beer products next year stating how much carbon dioxide is emitted per can during the entire production and disposal process. The label will be printed on 350ml cans of Black Label draft beer.

According to the company, it will be the world's first brewer to print the amount of CO2 emission on its products. The Economy, Trade and Industry Ministry is working at hammering out unified rules on how to calculate CO2 emissions and label it. The rules are expected to be in place by February or March next year. Sapporo plans to begin labeling the amount of CO2 emission on its products immediately after the introduction of the unified rules. I can’t find anything on the Sapporo website but you can read coverage in the paper here.