St.Bridget’s: An
Tony
Power has kindly supplied us with the articles on Fair Trade published by the
Guardian newspaper and I have put it in the Eco-congregation file at the back
of church. It is a very detailed pull out affair produced in association with
Oxfam, The Co-operative and Café Direct, covering a variety of subjects
concerning fair trade and makes interesting reading, but was too long to
include in this sheet. However, as it was Fairtrade fortnight when the article
was printed, I have some relative items to include in the Green sheet to link
with Tony’s helpful contribution.
Fairtrade Fortnight
Fairtrade Fortnight, the annual promotional campaign of the Fairtrade
Foundation, which encourages people to buy products carrying the Fairtrade
Mark, takes place this year from 26th February until 11th March. The theme this
year is 'Change Today, Choose Fairtrade', an urgent call to people in the UK to
engage with the Fairtrade Foundation's vision of an even bigger movement for
positive change on unfair trade.
The estimated retail value of sales of Fairtrade products in the UK in 2005 was
£195m, a 40% increase on 2004. The Fairtrade Foundation expects sales of
products with the Fairtrade Mark to at least maintain the pace of recent years,
doubling every two years.
During Fairtrade Fortnight last year around 10,000 events were held, from
fashion shows and football matches to concerts and exhibitions. Tastings of
Fairtrade products were held in churches, mosques, synagogues, schools,
universities, supermarkets and workplaces. Throughout 2006, there has been a
host of major developments for Fairtrade in the UK. One of the main successes
has been an increase to 210 in the number of Fairtrade Towns. There are also 50
Fairtrade Universities and 3,000 Fairtrade Churches. Fairtrade bananas
currently make up 7.9% of the UK banana market by value. Fairtrade roast and
ground coffee now accounts for around 20% of the market and Fairtrade
pineapples 5.2%. Over 2000 Fairtrade certified products are now available.
Ethical
Consumerism on the up and up
More money was spent in the UK in 2005 on ethical consumerism than on
retail tobacco and alcohol, according to the Co-operative Bank’s annual Ethical
Consumerism Report. The report has tracked British consumers’ ethical spending
in the UK annually since 1999.
Growth Market
The value of the ethical sector continues to show steady growth, with an
increase of 11% from 2004 to 2005. Over the same period, overall household
expenditure increased by only 1.4 per cent. The sector has a total market value
of £29.3 billion, up from around £8 billion in 1999.
Both the organic and the fairtrade markets showed huge growth from the previous
year (30.5% and 38.3% respectively), demonstrating the extent to which issues
around food production and trade justice have entered popular consumer
consciousness. The organic market is now worth over £1.5 billion. Despite the
massive leap, fairtrade still only accounts for £195m of sales out of total UK
food and drink spending of £67 billion, demonstrating how far there is to go to
an equitable global market. Spending on ethical food overall was up 18 per cent
from £4.6 billion to £5.4 billion.
Growth in Forest Stewardship sustainable timber slowed to 7.1% after a fourfold
increase in market value between 2002 and 2003. The ethical finance market,
which includes banking, investments, credit unions and shareholdings is now
worth £11.6 billion, a steady increase of 8.7% on 2004.
Energy Market
Spending on green energy leaped ahead by 42.1%, but still only amounted to a
market of £54m in 2005. When compared to total value of household expenditure
on energy - £18.3 billion - it suggests there is a long way to go before the
threat of climate change translates into the simple action of changing energy
supplier. Perhaps surprisingly, compared to this figure, the value of the home
micro-generation market increased by a quarter to £26m.
Maturing Market
Just over half of consumers avoided a product or service on the basis of
company reputation, which translated into valuing boycotts at around £3.7bn.
Conversely 61% of consumers made a positive choice on the basis of company
reputation. In 1999 however the figure was not substantially lower at 55%.
There has not been much of an increase in number of ethical consumers
therefore, rather that those consumers make far more purchasing decisions on an
ethical basis. The maturity of the market, bringing with it availability,
quality and choice, is surely a determining factor.
A Supported Market?
Despite these encouraging figures Co-op Executive Director of Business
Management Craig Shannon sounded a note of caution:
"Total ethical spending is spread over a wide range of products and
services, and in very few markets has it become the market norm. Overall, spend
on ethical foods still only accounts for 5% of the typical shopping basket.
Where the ethical or eco-choice has become the market leader, for example in
sales of A-rated energy fridges (which account for some 60 per cent of the
market), this has been underpinned by an EU labelling scheme, inefficient
products being removed from sale and the support of well targeted subsidies.
If, as many scientists are saying, we have ten years to make a dent in climate
change, it is this type of radical overhaul of the choices made available to
people that is going to deliver the rapid market changes required. The efforts
of far-sighted, highly motivated consumers need to be leveraged and supported
with business innovation and government intervention."
More statistics on the rise of ethical consumerism are available from the Co-operative Bank's website.
If you have items to contribute to the green
sheets please contact Sally on 0151 625 2659.
The items
included in the green sheets are for your information only, but we hope that
you find some of them useful.