Application of multiple criteria decision analysis in impact assessment of carbon labelling

In this paper, it is described how multiple criteria decision analysis (MCDA) methods, in particular the Evidential Reasoning (ER) approach, is applied to help Tesco, the largest UK retailer, to prioritise product groups for its carbon labelling program. The main objectives of the program are to maximise the positive impact of the program to the environment in terms of carbon footprint reduction, while not to introduce unintentionally non-carbon related risks such as resource depletion, pollution and ethical risks. The application is focused on comparing both the positive and negative impacts of labelling different product groups so that the ones with the relatively higher positive impacts are recommended for early participation in the program. The main challenges of the application are uncertainties in data and judgements, such as lack of data, inaccuracy of data estimates and weights of different criteria. It is demonstrated with examples how those challenges can be dealt with by applying the ER approach for MCDA. ©2009 IEEE.