1. The Environmental Labelling Rollout of Consumer Goods by Public Authorities: Analysis of and Lessons Learned from the French Case
- Author
-
Laurent Bertrandias, Yohan Bernard, Agnès François-Lecompte, Laboratoire d'Economie et de Gestion de l'Ouest (LEGO), Université de Bretagne Sud (UBS)-Université de Brest (UBO)-Institut Mines-Télécom [Paris] (IMT)-Institut Brestois des Sciences de l'Homme et de la Société (IBSHS), Université de Brest (UBO)-Université Bretagne Loire (UBL)-IMT Atlantique Bretagne-Pays de la Loire (IMT Atlantique), Institut Mines-Télécom [Paris] (IMT), Centre de Recherche en Management (CRM), Université Toulouse 1 Capitole (UT1), Université Fédérale Toulouse Midi-Pyrénées-Université Fédérale Toulouse Midi-Pyrénées-Institut d'Administration des Entreprises - Toulouse (IAE)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Centre de Recherche en Gestion des Organisations [Dijon] (CREGO), Université Bourgogne Franche-Comté [COMUE] (UBFC)-Université de Haute-Alsace (UHA) Mulhouse - Colmar (Université de Haute-Alsace (UHA))-Université de Bourgogne (UB)-Université de Franche-Comté (UFC), Université Bourgogne Franche-Comté [COMUE] (UBFC), Laboratoire d'Economie et de Gestion de l'Ouest ( LEGO ), Université de Bretagne Sud ( UBS ) -Université de Brest ( UBO ) -Institut Mines-Télécom [Paris]-Université Bretagne Loire ( UBL ) -IMT Atlantique Bretagne-Pays de la Loire ( IMT Atlantique ), Centre de Recherche en Management ( CRM ), Institut d'Administration des Entreprises - Toulouse ( IAE ) -Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique ( CNRS ) -Université Toulouse 1 Capitole ( UT1 ), Centre de Recherche en Gestion des Organisations ( CReGO ), and Université de Franche-Comté ( UFC ) -Université de Bourgogne ( UB )
- Subjects
Institutionalisation ,Strategy and Management ,media_common.quotation_subject ,010501 environmental sciences ,01 natural sciences ,Industrial and Manufacturing Engineering ,Newspaper ,Documentation ,Institution ,Business sector ,media_common.cataloged_instance ,Sociology ,European union ,Legitimacy ,0505 law ,0105 earth and related environmental sciences ,General Environmental Science ,media_common ,Renewable Energy, Sustainability and the Environment ,business.industry ,05 social sciences ,Public relations ,Institutional work ,[SDE.ES]Environmental Sciences/Environmental and Society ,Work (electrical) ,050501 criminology ,business ,[ SDE.ES ] Environmental Sciences/Environmental and Society ,State - Abstract
International audience; Several countries or groups of countries, such as the European Union, have set up or are setting up Environmental Labelling (EL) systems for consumer products to guide consumers towards environmentally friendly products and to incite industrial producers to adopt sustainable practices. Ten years ago, France attempted to set up such a system, originally designed to be generalised, namely used in all business sectors and for all consumer products. Public authorities, however, finally decided on a voluntary, supervised EL rollout because of the reactions of the established stakeholders. The purpose of this article is to examine the institutionalisation of this system in France through a historical approach. A longitudinal analysis over the period from September 2007 to June 2016 was carried out. Various data sources were used: articles in national newspapers, presentation materials used during the meetings on the topic, documentation from companies and public-sector actors, parliamentary reports, etc. In addition, 16 interviews were held with key informants who were often directly involved in the EL rollout. Concepts of legitimacy and institutional work are used to drive an interpretation of the difficulties the public authorities encountered when trying to impose Generalised Environmental Labelling (GEL). The results highlight a combination of factors such as the absence of supporters and the presence of active opponents, an overly ambitious scheduling, and a goal-related drift. Several recommendations for public authorities willing to promote GEL are formulated.
- Published
- 2017
- Full Text
- View/download PDF