Has the credit crunch begun to affect what you put in your shopping basket? How about the carbon crunch: does climate change influence what products you buy? The answer to the first question might be yes, but the answer to the second is more likely to be no – for now.

We know that we only have around ten years to take serious action on climate change. We also know that what we buy and how we use products has huge carbon (as well as other sustainability) impacts. At the moment, shoppers don’t know a high carbon detergent from a low carbon one. But this might be about to change, with trial carbon footprint labels appearing on groceries in supermarkets like Casino in France and Tesco in the UK.

Putting carbon labels on the products we buy regularly – like sausages, carrots or toothpaste – is a relatively new idea. It might surprise you to hear though that, in the UK, mass carbon labelling is already with us. Think about some of the big purchases you might make: like a new house, a new car or a new fridge. All these are already carbon labelled – or, to be precise, labelled with energy efficiency ratings (a proxy for carbon).

Now it’s crunch time. Time for retailers, manufacturers and governments to decide whether to roll out carbon labelling on everyday products on a big scale. That’s why Forum for the Future decided to commission independent research – sponsored by Lloyd’s Register – to explore the role of carbon labelling.

Our research highlighted that carbon labelling does have a role to play in moving us towards a low-carbon shopping basket, but that trying to put a label on everything isn’t the answer. And consumers don’t just want to be told that it’s up to them to choose the right products. They want government and retailers to act too, by taking the most environmentally damaging products off the shelves. Our latest report, Check-out carbon, sets out key recommendations for moving forward the debates around carbon labelling. If you want to know how business can help consumers reduce carbon impacts at the checkout, then check it out here.