The purpose of the project was to hold an Environmental Consensus Conference and a review conference in the first half of 2010. The question, “Do you support the product carbon footprint system, and carry out energy saving and carbon reduction in daily purchasing?” was put forth and discussed in the conference. A hundred and thirty-six individuals applied to attend the conference and 25 were selected according to the selecting rules set up by the Conference Advisory Committee. The conference was held on four successive Sundays from July 11th to August 1st. On the first day, lectures were arranged to provide members with relevant background. On the following two days, a forum for experts and businesses was held to provide experience exchange. On the third day, two sub-issues were discussed in the group discussion, i.e.(I)Do you support the product carbon footprint system, and carry out energy saving and carbon reduction in daily purchasing? And (II) What kind of strategies should the government adopt when proposing the product carbon footprint system? The diverse comments gradually converged into a consensus during the panel discussion. After consensus results were checked by the panel of members, the “Environmental Consensus Conference Conclusion Report for the First Half of 2010” was accomplished and announced to the public on August 1st. According to the conclusion report, 16 members supported the system, 5 members didn’t support the system, and 2 members took a neutral stance. Six suggestions were proposed for the government: (I) Set a clear objective for promoting the policy, (II) Prevent businesses from taking advantage of the system as a tool for “green washing”, (III) Help the public better recognize the system, (IV) Encourage businesses to produce low-carbon products, (V) Simplify the labeling-system and enhance its reliability, and (VI) Strengthen the auditing of advertisements. In order to evaluate the outcome of the consensus conference, the conference advisory committee members, panel representatives and the EPA representatives were invited to join the review conference held on August 16th. The conference has produced suggestions for “spreading the messages of the conference”, “selecting diverse panel members” and “forming a consensus”, which are good references for future conferences.

Environmental consensus conference、deliberative democracy、carbon footprint labeling