GREEN PRODUCT CERTIFICATIONS

Green product certifications give goods or services a recognised label when they meet defined environmental requirements. Governments or independent scheme owners set the criteria, arrange checks and permit qualifying suppliers to use the label. For CDR, a scheme could recognise carbon stored in a product, require verified removals to counterbalance emissions remaining after feasible reductions, or identify a contribution to removals without claiming that the product is neutral. These are variants of the same certification lever, with different accounting and legal requirements. The commercial incentive comes from customers and procurement teams choosing certified offerings, giving suppliers a reason to incorporate carbon-storing materials or purchase removals. Permission to advertise a neutral or net-zero product must be assessed separately in each market.

Scheme owners must decide exactly what the label certifies and which emissions are included, from raw materials and production through use and disposal. For carbon stored in materials, criteria should establish atmospheric origin, additional storage caused by the activity, storage duration and eventual release. A residual-emissions variant should define what remains after feasible reductions, require continuing reductions and specify the quality and duration of the removals used. Contribution labels need rules on the amount allocated, eligible activities and reporting of spending and delivery. Financing a future project should not be presented as a completed removal. Gross emissions, reductions and removals should be disclosed separately. Independent assessment, periodic checks and withdrawal procedures should enforce the requirements. Common calculation tools and recognition of equivalent assessments can keep participation manageable for smaller suppliers.

Certification can help suppliers distinguish a carbon-storing product or removal-supported service from competing offerings. Buyers gain a recognisable signal instead of having to investigate each supplier's evidence themselves. Where a label requires removal purchases for each reporting period or unit sold, maintaining certification can create recurring demand linked to sales. A materials label can instead encourage manufacturers to incorporate and retain atmospheric carbon in their products. Retailer commitments and procurement preferences can strengthen these incentives. Whether suppliers gain higher sales or a price premium depends on buyer recognition, credible criteria and the cost of qualifying.

Weak criteria can let suppliers buy a favourable label while postponing feasible emissions cuts, and multiple competing schemes can confuse consumers. The EU restrictions applying from 27 September 2026 prohibit product or service claims of neutral, reduced or positive greenhouse-gas impact based on offsets outside the product's value chain. Using genuine removals, or compensating only residual emissions, does not create an exception. The reason is that external compensation can mislead buyers about the product's own impact. Claims supported by the actual product lifecycle, including qualifying carbon storage in biomass products, are treated differently, but still need substantiation and lawful wording. High assessment costs can also exclude smaller suppliers.

Scheme owners should assess certified sales, carbon retained in products, removals purchased and retired, audit failures and participation by smaller suppliers. Consumer research should establish whether buyers understand what the label means and use it when purchasing. The results can guide changes to criteria and assessment procedures, correction of misleading claims and support for suppliers.

Standards specialists, lifecycle experts and verifiers should help define credible requirements. Manufacturers, service providers and removal suppliers can test data availability and costs. Consumer organisations should assess clarity, while retailers and procurement authorities identify how certification can influence purchasing. Waste operators can test assumptions about material reuse and disposal.

Supranational, national and regional authorities can establish public certification schemes within their powers. Municipalities can operate local schemes, as San Francisco’s environmental certification of businesses and services demonstrates. Industry organisations and independent scheme owners can set requirements and licence labels through contracts. International standards supply common methods, while buyers and funders influence uptake without necessarily operating a scheme. A local business-practices label would need additional product-specific accounting before certifying a product’s removal claim.