Rabobank‘s Wine Quarterly, released just this morning, notes that while many people talk about climate change, “for wine, there seems to be a greater sense of urgency. This industry is feeling the impact more directly than others,” writes Stephen Rennekleiv, lead beverage analyst, who was a presenter at the recent Climate Change Leadership Porto Summit 2019 in Portugal.
He notes that most initiatives focused on reducing greenhouse gases in the vineyard, winery, packaging and transportation.
Citing Mike Veseth, the formula for dealing with climate change is already established: do an environmental audit to establish a baseline, set specific quantitative goals to reduce emissions, improve efficiency, evaluate results. The repeat the process.
Rennekleiv notes that some companies, such as Jackson Family Wines, aren’t just measuring progress but including the annual targets set for management and for setting management compensation. “What gets measured and rewarded is what improves,” he writes.
Reducing wine’s carbon footprint will require a number of solutions across the entire value chain of wine. These initiatives will vary not only across the value chain but also from region to region.
And finally, Rennekleiv writes, it’s necessary to question some established assumptions as to the solutions. For example, organic production is often assumed to be more environmentally friendly, data from one presentation suggested organic agriculture actually generates 32% more GHG emissions than conventional agriculture.
One thing wineries could do is to shift to lighter glass bottles. Katie Jackson of Jackson Family Wines suggested the industry often overestimates the value consumers place on heavy bottles. When JFW switched to lighter bottles, consumers seemed almost unaware.