Consumer demand for climate solutions leads to expansion of WindMade label

The WindMade organisation announced today the development of a new consumer label for companies and products made using renewable energy. This will be backed by the UN Global Compact, WWF, Vestas Wind Systems, and the Global Wind Energy Council, the partners behind the WindMade eco-label. This move was declared at a press conference during the COP18 climate negotiations in Doha.

“Expanding WindMade is a natural progression, and this move follows strong demand from the market,” said Steve Sawyer, WindMade’s Chairman. “Today’s announcement will allow us to engage a wider range of interested partners and supporters for this new renewable energy label, which is built on the success of WindMade.”

WindMade was launched in 2011 as the first global consumer label for companies powered with wind energy. A range of major global companies including Motorola, Bloomberg, Deutsche Bank, Widex and BD (Becton, Dickinson and Company) have already adopted the WindMade label to demonstrate their commitment to using renewable energy in their operations.

“Both the private sector and consumers have a critical role to play in addressing climate change, and the value of voluntary corporate action cannot be emphasised enough,” said Christiana Figueres, Executive Secretary of the UNFCCC. “The aim of WindMade to foster corporate commitment to renewable energy and to raise consumer awareness for climate solutions is an important complement to intergovernmental policies.”

The new label in the WindMade family will recognize a wide variety of renewable energy sources, including wind, solar, and geothermal, as well as hydro power and biomass from approved certification schemes. This will offer added flexibility to companies that use multiple renewable energy technologies in their energy mix.
“This new label continues the progress made by WindMade to successfully engage companies in addressing the impacts of climate change,” said Georg Kell, Executive Director of the UN Global Compact. “It is fully aligned with the UN Global Compact’s efforts to promote greater corporate sustainability through the use renewable energy.”

“We fully support the expansion of the existing WindMade label portfolio to include a comprehensive renewable energy label. WWF is working towards 100% renewable energy on a global scale, the most important measure to stop catastrophic climate change,” said Samantha Smith, leader of WWF’s Global Climate and Energy Initiative. “Progressive business can play a key role in furthering this ambition by voluntarily committing to do more than regulations require, and so support moves by governments worldwide to set ambitious renewable targets for 2030.”

A global survey of 24,000 consumers across 20 countries, conducted earlier this year, shows that 92 percent of consumers believe that renewable energy is a good solution to mitigating climate change, and that if presented with a choice, most of them would prefer products made with renewable energy, even at a premium.

The WindMade family of labels is founded on the principles of credibility, transparency and intuitive communication, which are critical for an eco-label to capture and retain the attention of consumers. “Companies are playing an increasingly important role in driving renewable energy investments around the world. We also know from our surveys that consumers are ready to reward companies that use clean energy,” said Morten Albæk, Global Senior Vice President at Vestas and driving force in the conception of WindMade. “Having a consumer label that creates transparency about company use of renewable energy is really a win-win proposition. We are very pleased to see WindMade take this important step in the journey we initiated two years ago,” Albæk concluded.

The new label will build on the technical foundations of the WindMade standard and will be applicable to organizations, buildings, events and eventually products.

The WindMade organization remains committed to grow and develop its portfolio of labels to cater to the need of sustainable brands around the world.

The new renewable energy label is under development and will be launched in 2013

Source: WindMade