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August 17, 2026
Ecolabels and sustainable certification schemes are powerful instruments for advancing global sustainability commitments. By setting robust sustainability performance criteria across value chains, they incentivize best practices, improve transparency, and can expand market access for more sustainable products and services. For consumers, ecolabels and sustainable certification schemes are key enablers to support more sustainable consumption.
Yet, despite their potential, these tools face challenges in developing robust criteria for rapidly evolving sustainability priorities, such as biodiversity protection, climate mitigation, and pollution reduction. These areas are inherently complex, context-specific, and still evolving in terms of metrics and data availability. As a result, translating these “trend” topics into measurable and verifiable criteria remains difficult.
This document aims to support ecolabels and sustainability certification schemes in identifying and considering relevant aspects related to climate, biodiversity, and pollution in the development of criteria for products and services across four high-impact sectors: building and construction, food, textiles, and electronics/ICT. The guidance promotes a lifecycle and holistic approach, highlighting priority areas—referred to as “hotspots”—within each value chain.
The intended audience of these guidelines includes ecolabels and other sustainable certification schemes, as well as stakeholders seeking to integrate environmental criteria for specific products, such as sustainable public procurement programs and initiatives aimed at enhancing transparency and facilitating access to consumer sustainability information in product supply chains, including Digital Product Information Systems.
This guidance was compiled under the Consumer Information Programme of the One Planet Network and the EcoAdvance project, jointly implemented by the German Agency for International Cooperation (GIZ), the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), and the Öko-Institute. It is funded by the German Federal Ministry for the Environment, Climate Action, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety (BMUKN) through the International Climate Initiative (IKI). The project promotes synergies between ecolabelling and public procurement, fostering more sustainable production and consumption practices and contributing to environmental conservation, biodiversity protection, and climate change mitigation.
More details at UNEP One Planet Network knowledge center.
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August 10, 2026
The rapid rise of the "olfactory economy" has brought fragrance products into a wide array of public and private spaces. Yet the volatile organic compounds (VOCs) and other pollutants they continuously release are posing a growing, often overlooked threat to consumers' respiratory health.
In January 2026, a pivotal group standard-Limit of Harmful Substances in Daily-use Fragrances, issued by the Shanghai Indoor Environmental Purification Industry Association-took effect. For the first time, it extends safety requirements beyond the product itself to cover the entire lifecycle, establishing strict limits on major health hazards, including total volatile organic compounds (TVOC), formaldehyde, benzene compounds, PM2.5, and five heavy metals.
Now, the China Environmental United Certification Center (CEC) has joined forces with the association to carry out professional evaluations of fragrance products in line with this new standard. Through authoritative third-party certification, the collaboration aims to give consumers clear, trustworthy safety labels, while steering the industry away from marketing-led growth toward technology-driven innovation. The ultimate goal: to help companies earn market trust through demonstrably safer products, and to genuinely protect every breath we take.
More details at one planet network knowledge center.
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August 3, 2026
Recently, CEC (China Environmental United Certification Center) granted the first “Zero-Waste Factory” evaluation certificate in the electrical and electronics sector of China to Motorola (Wuhan) Mobile Technology Communications Co., Ltd., a manufacturing base under Lenovo Group. This landmark recognition underscores how leading electronics manufacturers are advancing circularity, product life cycle responsibility, and sustainable operations aligned with consumer values.
The certification marks a significant step in promoting “Zero-Waste City Cells”, such as zero-waste factories and supply chains, which directly contribute to reducing environmental footprints and enhancing resource efficiency-key concerns for eco-conscious consumers. By obtaining this credential, Lenovo’s Motorola facility demonstrates tangible commitment to sustainable production practices, strengthening its brand image as an environmentally responsible enterprise.
CEC, in collaboration with the China Household Electrical Appliances Research Institute, has been developing standards and evaluation frameworks for zero-waste facilities since 2024, ensuring rigorous, industry-relevant benchmarks. The partnership combines technical expertise with certification authority, offering credible validation of corporate sustainability efforts that consumers can trust.
For consumers, this achievement signals greater transparency and accountability in electronics manufacturing, linking product purchases to broader environmental benefits like reduced waste generation and enhanced material recycling. It highlights how corporate sustainability initiatives can drive tangible progress toward national green goals, including Beautiful China construction.
Moving forward, CEC plans to scale up zero-waste and low-carbon certification services across more sectors, refine professional evaluation frameworks and further support sustainable consumption and production.
More details at One Planet Network website.
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