Can Labeling Policies Facilitate Sustainable Consumption and Production?: A Case Study of a Government-led Ecolabeling Program in Indonesia

Abstract

Purpose: This study aims to evaluate the effectiveness of a top-down approach to facilitate sustainable consumption and production through an evaluation of the Indonesian ecolabeling policy, Ekolabel Indonesia.
 Originality: Academic assessments of eco-labels systematically take place in the developed country context. However, persistent environmental threats are driving developing countries, such as Indonesia, to adopt top-down approaches to ecolabeling strategies. Consequently, the emergence of such government-led interventions signals the need for thorough examination.
 Methodology: This study analyzes the policy through a program theory-driven evaluation. While there are various adaptations of this conceptual analytical model, this study utilizes two complementary frameworks: the Theory of Change (ToC) framework and the Multi-Criteria Policy Evaluation (MCPE) approach using Mickwitz’s (2003) valuation multi-criteria.
 Result: The study has four main findings: firstly, the scope of the ecolabel-related Indonesian National Standards remains limited to make a significant impact on the environment. Secondly, there needs to be a sharp uptake of the Ekolabel logo among a wide variety of products. Thirdly, transparency, in the form of data accessibility, must be improved to ensure that stakeholders are held accountable to the policy’s outputs. Lastly, the Ministry must ensure that smaller businesses are not marginalized from the initiative due to de facto barriers such as high conformity assessment costs by private certification bodies.
 Conclusions and Implication: Ekolabel Indonesia has paved the way for other Sustainable Consumption and Production initiatives in Indonesia. However, the Indonesian government needs to address these fundamental issues that compromise its ability to maximize impact. Significant effort needs to be directed towards increasing participation and providing support for equitable development.