Top > Press Releases > Back Issues > March 2009>Establishment of the basic rules on the carbon footprint system – Rules for the calculation and labeling of CO2 emissions set up
The Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI) has been working to establish a carbon footprint system for Japan, a system aimed at promoting joint efforts by businesses and consumers to prevent global warming by estimating greenhouse gas emissions throughout a product’s or a service’s life cycle in terms of the amount of CO2, and displaying them clearly with a mark.
As part of this effort, METI announced the “Guidelines on the Carbon Footprint System,” which describes the background and the goals of the system as well as how to calculate and display CO2 emissions, and the “Standards for Establishing Product Category Rules (PCR).”
1. Outline of the carbon footprint system
The carbon footprint system calculates, in terms of the amount of CO2, greenhouse gas emissions throughout a product’s or a service’s life cycle, from raw material procurement to disposal and recycling, and displays this information clearl with a simple mark. Aiming to promote joint efforts by businesses and consumers to prevent global warming, METI has been working to establish this system.
2. Discussions leading to the basic rules
As part of this effort, to clarify the background and the goal of the system as well as how to calculate and display CO2 emissions, METI has convened the Study Group on Rules on the Calculation, Labeling and Evaluation of CO2 Emissions (Chair: Atsushi Inaba, professor at the University of Tokyo) five times since July 2008 to conduct discussions on the “Guidelines on the Carbon Footprint System” (hereinafter “the Guidelines”) and the “Standards for Establishing Product Category Rules (PCR)” (hereinafter “the Standards”).
To take opinions from businesses and consumers into consideration, METI invited public comments for both the Guidelines (October 3-24, 2008) and the Standards (December 17, 2008, - January 13, 2009). The public comments collected were reported to the Study Group at its fifth meeting on February 9, 2009, and consequently the two documents were finalized.
(*) Product Category Rules (PCR): Criteria for carbon footprint calculation applicable to a single product category. They consist of the definition of products/services falling within the category, the definition of their life cycle stages, methods of calculation and labeling, and so forth.
3. Next policy measure
METI plans to launch a market trial project for the carbon footprint system in FY 2009. The Guidelines and the Standards will be used as the basic rules in this trial and be improved in response to any problems identified there. Specifications in the Guidelines and the Standards are expected to become Technical Specifications (TS)*.
*Technical Specifications (TS): technical documents that the Japanese Industrial Standards Committee acknowledges and announces, as a result of deliberation, as potential future Japanese Industrial Standards (JIS).
Release Date
March 3, 2009
Division in Charge
Environmental Industries Office, Industrial Science and Technology Policy and Environment Bureau
Distribution and Logistics Policy Division, Commerce and Distribution Policy Group
Conformity Assessment Division, Industrial Science and Technology Policy and Environment Bureau
Related Information
| Visualization of the Carbon Footprint |
