Decision Support for Consumers — Information Services for a More Sustainable World

Abstract

A set of revolutionary new information services for consumer decision support are described in this paper. The paper argues for a new environmental law stating the right of consumers for information on how to make environmentally conscious consumer decisions. The two issues are closely related: the new information services cannot be developed properly and will not find widespread use without relevant (preferably European) legislation, and new laws cannot be implemented without highly sophisticated new information services. The emphasis in this paper is on the consumer’s view of the information services and on general issues such as the proposed legal and organisational background. Nevertheless, the technical solutions worked out in a PhD thesis at the University of Karlsruhe are also summarized.