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This is mixed news and has probably been on the horizon for some time. There is a debate to be had around whether decarbonising products should be consumer or industry led. Clearly neither Tesco’s competitors responded to the challenge laid down by them, nor the consumer found talk of carbon compelling – it did not reach tipping point on either fronts. And it’s unsurprising, really, as it was a technocrat’s communication. People struggle to connect to lumps of carbon (OK so it’s gas, which is even less tangible). It needs humanising. Research and, even more concretely, sales show that consumers do chose ethical options when they connect to it – think Fair Trade, which is still growing and has a more human face than organic. Of the large retailers Co-op pioneered it and they were genuine and it connected to their brand. The real concern is that the Tesco supply chain may not continue to be nudged towards reducing their energy consumption and GHG emissions, but there’s plenty of companies talking about how much economic and environmental savings are to be had from a little focus on efficiency. For consumers, we need a human face to the issue and a social movement which isn’t going to be controlled by a quango.