The conference brochure with the updated agenda and general information is now available for download here.

Overview

The overview of the conference explores the current status of ecolabelling programs from national and international perspectives.

Regulatory Framework for Certification and Labelling Programs

The conference will provide an opportunity to examine the role of the ACCC and the Trade Practices Act in relation to the regulation of certification and labelling programs and the importance of protecting consumers from misleading claims. Also on the agenda is the use of ISO 14020, an international standard outlining guiding principles for the development and implementation of environmental labels and declarations. How certification and labelling fit within the wider environmental policy and regulatory context will also be discussed as will the relationship between ecolabelling and WTO rules including technical barriers to trade.

Roles for Government, Industry and Civil Society in Developing, Implementing and Regulating Certification and Labelling Programs

This theme encourages attendees to explore the possibilities. What roles should governments, industry and civil society play in the development, implementation and regulation of certification and labelling programs? Should governments play a strong role in developing voluntary systems or, instead, should they work to establish a wider regulatory framework in which credible private ecolabelling programs can operate? What are appropriate roles for industry in participating in these systems when the principle of independence of verification is critical? How can environmental and social organisations work with industry and government in developing these systems without compromising their integrity and independence? What stakeholder based structures and arrangements can optimise efficiency, dynamism and credibility?

The Status of Ecolabelling Across a Range of Sectors

A diverse range of certification programs is represented at the Future of Ecolabelling in Australia conference. The conference program includes a semi-plenary session on the Status of Forest Certification in Australia including presentations from the Forest Stewardship Council and the Australian Forestry Standard along with industry perspectives. Alternatively, participants can listen to developments of certification and labelling in the energy and manufacturing sectors including presentations from the National Green Power program coordinated by SEDA, Energy Star and Energy Rating programs of the AGO, the Environmental Choice life-cycle based initiative of the Australian Environmental Labelling Association covering a wide range of manufactured products and Dr. Ian Russell from CSIRO on the application of the EU Eco-label criteria on Australian wool supply chains. Conference attendees will also learn about the current status of certification and labelling in Australia in fisheries from the Marine Stewardship Council, the launch of fairtrade certification of products such as coffee and tea, developments in mining certification from WWF, and the sustainable tourism initiative, Green Globe 21.

The Business Case for Certification and Labelling

Discover what drives businesses to become involved in certification and labelling programs. Learn about what benefits can be gained, what costs could be incurred and how ecolabelling programs can fit into broader corporate responsibility strategies. Company representatives, ranging from small to large scale and across a wide range of industries, will present in various sessions throughout the conference on their experiences in using certification and labelling initiatives to demonstrate strong environmental and social performance to supply chain clients and end consumers.

Consumer Expectations and Behaviour

Find out how ecolabelling affects consumers' purchasing decisions and what expectations consumers have of the standards assured by certification and labelling programs.

Credibility in the Market

Credibility in the market is a necessary quality of effective certification and labelling programs. The conference will discuss what is required to establish credible certification and labelling systems including meaningful stakeholder participation, sound science in standards development, quality assurance in the inspection and certification process and effective communication of key messages to consumers.

Contributions to Sustainability

One of the core objectives of certification and labelling initiatives is to improve the environmental and social performance of companies by demonstration of compliance to stringent standards. At the same time, it is often difficult to measure environmental and social impacts of certification and labelling as these systems do not operate in a vacuum and most company improvements have multiple causes.

The conference provides an opportunity to review the impact of labelling and certification in protecting the environment and social justice values in society. Listen to various initiatives as they outline their contributions to sustainability and learn about the results of the ICLEI (International Council for Local Environmental Initiatives) RELIEF project that quantified the environmental impacts of green public purchasing including ecolabelled products.

Building Synergies with other Corporate Responsibility Initiatives

Certification and Labelling initiatives are specific tools within the wider context of Corporate Social and Environmental Responsibility. The performance information developed through certification and labelling of companies, products and services can feed into the work of other triple bottom line approaches including ethical investment programs, green procurement initiatives and sustainability reporting, among others. Learn more about how these initiatives can be coordinated to provide credible and consistent information to consumers and communities as well as offering even greater opportunities to socially and environmentally responsible companies.

Future Trends

This topic addresses future directions of certification and labelling including initial international developments in the coordination and convergence of initiatives with the goal of reducing producer frustration and consumer confusion and developments to raise the bar on the performance of certification and labelling systems.