ICLEI - Local Governments for Sustainability and Reykjavik City Council have announced the details of EcoProcura 2009 conference.

Titled "Climate Neutral through Procurement" and it aims to exchange ideas, experiences, concepts and opinions on how sustainable procurement can contribute to reducing greenhouse gas emissions and adaptation to climate change.

ICLEI's EcoProcura Conferences is the only European conference to provide a platform to promote exchange and dialogue amongst purchasers from all levels of governments, suppliers, policy-makers and multipliers on strategies and the latest practical solutions for implementing sustainable procurement.

For further information, visit ICLEI Europe's web site.

The South Korean government has decided that certain products will get labels showing the amount of carbon gas emitted during their production.

The ministry said that it has selected 10 items to test the carbon gas labeling system to begin next month. The system will be officially introduced by January 2009.

» Continue reading "Product Carbon Labeling Takes Shape in South Korea"

Companies behind some of the biggest brands on U.K. supermarket shelves have pledged to slash the environmental impact of transporting their goods.

» Continue reading "Food Firms Pledge to Cut Mileage"

The European Commission (EC) has proposed a legislative package aimed at improving the environmental performance and energy efficiency of products in the European Union (EU) and stimulating their market uptake.

» Continue reading "The European Commission Proposes Legislation Promoting Sustainable Products, Technologies "

IGPN issues a statement to call on world leaders, including those meeting at the Hokkaido Toyako Summit to immediately implement Green Purchasing around the world.

» Continue reading "Statement for the G8 summit 2008"

The G8 leaders gathered at the Hokkaido Toyako Summit agreed to encourage the practice of Green Purchasing by enhancing efforts in the WTO negotiations to eliminate tariffs and non-tariff barriers to environmental goods and services with a view to disseminating clean technology and skills.

For further information, read the article 34 of the Document of Environment and Climate Change.

The Nordic Ecolabel, a standard promoted by the Nordic Council for environmentally sustainable products, has provided the pre-requisites for companies to apply for the Swan label for fuels including ethanol, biodiesel, biogas and mixtures of these fuels.
The Nordic Ecolabel has requirements for the entire product lifecycle, from the raw materials to the finished product, in this case the fuel that is available at the petrol stations.

The most essential requirements for Nordic Ecolabelled fuels are reduced emissions that negatively affect global warming and climate change with an absolute threshold value to the amount of CO2 that may be released to the atmosphere during the entire life-cycle of the fuel.

Other pre-requisites include restrictions on the total energy used at the production stage, traceability of crops and certified sustainable farming, and defined limitations on health effects of these fuels.

Within a year, the requirements for Nordic Ecolabelled fuel will be revised to allow for the incorporation of new results from technical research, certifications and European Union directives.

For more information, please visit Nordic Ecolabel.