OWG Proposed Target 12.8
RATING: FAIR – improving information quality and availability is unlikely to be harmful; consumers will undoubtedly benefit, and markets may then create incentives to improve along sustainability measures, although the environmental benefits are speculative and likely modest. The benefit to cost ratio will depend on the nature of the information requirements (compulsory or voluntary, the adequacy of the metrics, and the extent of the reporting burden), the ability of the consumers to understand the information, and the ability of the information to change behavior.
Download the entire report
In our recent report, not just the target above, but all 169 targets have been assessed by 60 teams of the world’s top economists. The targets have been categorized into five ratings based on evidence of economic, social, and environmental costs and benefits. While we applaud that the UN Open Working Group's final outcome document contains 43 fewer targets than the previous document, we are concerned that many targets have simply been combined, therefore reducing the number of both phenomenal and poor targets assessed according to our cost-benefit analysis. Our new assessment includes suggestions for how these can be improved as reported in this article by the Financial Times.
