The German National Programme on Sustainable Consumption aims to take sustainable consumption out of the niche into the mainstream. Market growth for many 'green' products lags behind this overarching goal, however. The 'Market analysis and interventions to promote green products' research project addresses this very issue. It examined a variety of product groups, analysing their market trends, exploring opportunities to set ambitious targets, and investigating voluntary instruments to accelerate the market penetration of green products. A total of seven product groups were scrutinised in individual case studies. Six of them feature in this report: organic food, energy-efficient household appliances, sanitary paper bearing the Blue Angel ecolabel, Blue Angel-certified laundry and cleaning products, car-sharing, and voluntary carbon offsets.
The report found enormous differences between these product groups in terms of their market growth, market relevance, regulatory frameworks and the role of voluntary instruments. In isolation, voluntary approaches based on information or cooperation are not enough to accelerate sales of green products. They nonetheless remain important as part of a bundle of instruments, and in combination with regulatory instruments and financial incentives. Cooperation between stakeholders such as the authorities, manufacturers, retailers, providers and other relevant actors is crucial for voluntary instruments to have an impact. The role of the public sector is especially important here, as it is key not just in providing information and creating transparency, but also as a major purchaser of green products and services.
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