“Warning – contents may damage the planet’s lungs”

Plaid Cymru calls for health warnings on products that cause the most damage to our planet

Delyth Jewell MS, Plaid Cymru spokesperson for Climate Change, has called for Global Health Warnings to be placed on products that aren’t ethically sourced.

The calls have been made ahead of Go Green Day on 25 June 2021, the focus for which is tackling tropical deforestation. The planet loses an area of forest equivalent to nine times the size of Wales every year, caused by demand for everyday products, such as unsustainable palm oil, coffee and paper.

The proposal is for Global Health Warnings to be placed on coffee and sugar that aren’t Fairtrade, and soy and palm oil that aren’t ethically sourced.

In Senedd this week, Ms Jewell MS called on the Welsh Government to make a statement on the steps it will take to shorten supply chains in its own procurement policy.

Plaid Cymru’s spokesperson for Climate Change, Delyth Jewell MS said,

“We’d expect a warning on any produce that would cause damage to our health – so why not for our planet’s health?

“The idea of the Global Health Warnings would be to mimic the health warnings on packets of cigarettes – and to emphasise that instead of causing disease to one person’s lungs, the consumption of certain products is damaging the lungs of the planet.

“Global deforestation might sound like something that's far away, but the planet loses an area of forest equivalent to nine times the size of Wales every year, because of our consumption of palm oil, soy, coffee, the paper that we write with, and the timber that we build with.

“As a starting point, Global Health Warnings could be placed on coffee and sugar that aren’t Fairtrade, and soy and palm oil that aren’t ethically sourced.”