Maëlys Courtat
About
My research project
Towards credible, evidence-based environmental rating ecolabels for consumer productsEnvironmental rating ecolabels have emerged and multiplied at a rapid pace in Europe in recent years. They aim to help consumers make more sustainable consumption choices by assigning single ratings to products that summarise their environmental performance based on a range of impact categories. My research aims to assess the current technical basis for these ecolabels as well as contributing to their methodological development and harmonisation.
Supervisors
Environmental rating ecolabels have emerged and multiplied at a rapid pace in Europe in recent years. They aim to help consumers make more sustainable consumption choices by assigning single ratings to products that summarise their environmental performance based on a range of impact categories. My research aims to assess the current technical basis for these ecolabels as well as contributing to their methodological development and harmonisation.
Maëlys Courtat is a Doctoral Practitioner at the Centre for Environmental Sustainability, University of Surrey and Safety and Environmental Assurance Centre, Unilever.
Her research focuses on a novel generation of ecolabels, 'environmental rating ecolabels' (ERE), and the underpinning methodological mechanisms for their calculation.
With a background in biology engineering, and professional experience in product formulation and manufacturing processes development, her interests have evolved towards sustainable production and consumption. She completed an MSc in Environmental Assessment and Management at the University of Liverpool prior to starting her PhD journey.
Publications
Environmental rating ecolabels are a new generation of ecolabels. They are intended to enable consumers to compare the environmental impacts of multiple products and make more sustainable consumption choices. Falling outside of the three types defined in the ISO 14020 environmental label and declarations series, the recent proliferation of these business-to-consumer communication instruments has resulted in the creation of a plethora of methodologies to derive product performance ratings. Interest from consumers wanting more information on the products they purchase, as well as the promise of policy instruments aiming to increase transparency and combat greenwashing, are fuelling further multiplication of schemes. A move towards more credible, evidence-based environmental rating ecolabels is therefore urgently needed to promote assessment based on scientific understanding, gain consumer trust, and realise policy objectives.
We propose a framework based on four core principles - i) relevance, ii) scientific robustness, iii) trust and transparency, and iv) feasibility (scalability, affordability) - with 18 guidelines that can be followed by rating scheme developers. We characterise the rise of environmental rating ecolabels in geographical Europe and build an inventory of 33 existing schemes, at various stages of development and implementation, to which we apply the framework. This reveals the potential for significant improvement in current schemes, indicating important areas for development. The framework provides a valuable guide for the development of new schemes or an evaluation grid for existing initiatives.