Can Carbon Labeling Be Development Friendly?

Carbon accounting and labeling for
products are new instruments of supply chain management that
may affect developing country export opportunities. Most
instruments in use today are private business management
tools, although the underlying science and methodologies may
spread to issues subject to public regulation. This note
seeks to inform stakeholders involved in the design of
carbon labeling schemes and in the making of carbon emission
measurement methodologies about an overlooked issue: how can
carbon labeling are made to be both developments friendly
and scientifically correct in its representation of
developing-country agricultural sectors? As a result of the
pressures placed on designers and users of carbon accounting
and labeling instruments, there is a risk that carbon
accounting and labeling instruments will not properly
represent the complexity of production systems in developing countries.