Nordic environment ministers: "This is a Nordic environmental success

29.10.14 | News
The Nordic ministers were full of praise for the Nordic Ecolabel when they celebrated its 25th anniversary in Stockholm on Wednesday this week. "The Nordic Ecolabel is a Nordic "super brand" says Sigurður Ingi Jóhannsson, Iceland's minister of the environment.

The familiar green swan which can be seen on notebooks, washing up liquid and in the form of pennants at hotels has become an environmental success. Almost everyone in the Nordic Region knows the Nordic Ecolabel, more precisely 91 per cent of the population. This makes it one of the world's most successful environmental labels.

Businesses must "get on board"

Despite stringent and strict assessments the business community has also accepted the Nordic Ecolabel.   Today the Ecolabel is found within 191 different product areas from everything to washing up liquid to hotels to construction and the logo can be found on 18,000 different products. Even though the green Ecolabel is one of the world's foremost environmental labels, the Nordic environmental ministers are still not entirely satisfied.

"No, we want more businesses to get on board this environmental train. The environment is becoming more important every day and there is no doubt that those who are show consideration for the environment will have a competitive advantage", says Sweden's climate and environment minister, Åsa Romson.

Consumer power

In the meantime, the Nordic ministers for the environment believe that the Nordic Ecolabel could never have become what it is today without people's conscious environmental choices.

"This is consumer power in practice. Consumers can influence businesses to adjust and produce less environmentally damaging products and services. The Nordic Ecolabel rests on the individual's commitment to the environment, and the label is based on the belief of the individual", says Norway's climate and environment minister, Tine Sundtoft.     

The Nordic Council of Ministers established the official Nordic Ecolabel in 1989. The Nordic Ecolabel gives consumers today the opportunity to choose the most healthy and environmentally safe products. The Nordic Ecolabel places environmental demands on products in the whole life cycle – from production, to use and when it ends as waste.

Facts about the Nordic Ecolabel:

  • Established by the Nordic Council of Ministers in 1989
  • Known to 91 per cent of the Nordic citizens know the Ecolabel
  • 1,628 companies have the Nordic Ecolabel
  • 191 different product areas have the Nordic Ecolabel
  • 18,000 different product areas have the Nordic Ecolabel