A new global consumer label intends to identify corporations and products made with wind energy. It will be called "WindMade".
The Global Wind Energy Council, WWF, the UN Global Compact and Vestas Wind Systems (VWS.CO) announced their support for the label today–as did PricewaterhouseCoopers (the official verification partner) and Bloomberg (the official data provider to WindMade).
"The WindMade initiative is a direct response to increasing consumer demand for sustainable products," the organizations said in a release.
A global survey of more than 25,000 consumers across 20 markets shows
that 92% of respondents believe that renewable energy is a good
solution to mitigating climate change, and that if presented with a
choice, most of them would prefer products made with wind energy, even
at a premium.
However, while many companies have already made bold
statements about their commitment to renewable energy, consumers have
difficulty verifying the source of the energy used. WindMade says it will offer the transparency required for making informed choices.
“Governments are dragging their feet, but consumers want to see change now. The private sector needs to step up to provide the solutions we need to respond to the global energy and climate crises. With WindMade, we want to facilitate the change that the public demands,” said Steve Sawyer, Secretary General of the Global Wind Energy Council, and interim CEO of WindMade.
The WindMade consortium hopes to attract leading consumer brands as members. To use the WindMade label for their communications or products, WindMade members will undergo a certification process to verify their wind energy procurement. The standard for certification is currently being developed by a technical expert group.
“"It is crucial that the WindMade criteria live up to the high standards necessary for the label to serve consumers’ desire to make tangible impact and boost clean renewables. We believe that voluntary certification is one key to raising the bar for mainstream performance. We hope to see WindMade develop into a good example of a standard for corporations to close the gap between ambition and reality in the important area of renewable energy”, said James Leape, Director General of WWF.
“This is the first time we can connect to consumers, something we’ve wanted to do for a long time,” said Georg Kell, Executive Director of UN Global Compact. “As a market-based solution supportive of the Global Compact’s mission, WindMade has the potential to be a strong force in advancing the use of renewable energy by business everywhere.”
The WindMade initiative will be presented in more detail at a high-level gathering of the founding partners during the World Economic Forum in Davos on February 28. A public consultation will be held from March 2011 to inform the development of the certification standard.
The WindMade label will be managed through a non-profit organization dedicated to accelerating the adoption of renewable energy by improving corporations’ ability to communicate their wind energy investments to their stakeholders.
In Related News…
Eight companies have indicated their interest in developing wind energy projects off the coast of Maryland, federal officials said Friday. Read the full story in the Baltimore Sun at the link below.
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