Imports hide a third of UK emissions, warns Carbon Trust

British consumers could be generating a third more CO2 than they realise because the carbon footprint of imported goods is often hidden, according to the Carbon Trust.

Tom Delay, chief executive of the trust, said in an interview with the Financial Times that consumers must become more aware of the hidden carbon impacts of the goods they buy.

"If people had all the information, they could make genuinely green choices for themselves," he said.

Delay argued that many attempts to measure UK carbon emissions failed to take into account the upstream impact of many goods and services.

Most carbon calculators put the carbon footprint of the average Briton at about five tonnes. But the Carbon Trust estimates that the figure rises to about 11 tonnes if the amenities they rely on – such as public transport, buildings and other infrastructure – were taken into account, and would be higher still if the impact of imported goods was counted.

Large export-led economies such as China have long argued that it is unfair to make them responsible for the carbon emissions associated with goods that are consumed in developed countries. Industrialised nations counter that China and other exporters have been paid for the goods and thus for the emissions.

In the FT interview, Delay said if consumers were properly informed about embedded carbon, they would make different choices. For example, he pointed out that rice has a much larger carbon impact than pasta, a fact that could encourage people to switch to the less carbon-intensive option.

The Carbon Trust is trying to establish a system of carbon labels on products, showing how much CO2 has been generated in their manufacture. To qualify for the label, companies will need to undertake a carbon footprint assessment of their product supply chain while committing to try to reduce emissions.

Companies displaying the label will sign up to a "reduce or lose" clause whereby if they fail to reduce the carbon footprint of the product over a two-year period, they will have the label withdrawn.