Posted: Mar 05, 2019
California’s Jackson Family Wines and Spain’s Familia Torres are hoping to trigger others to join forces.
One of the many reasons that climate change isn’t being addressed as quickly as it could is that many industries benefit from the status quo. In that regard, the industries most in danger of suffering due to climate change would seem like a sensible source of pushback. Wine is likely one of those industries. Not only are grapes an agricultural product that relies heavily on environmental factors, but since wine is typically marked by its origins and vintage, weather — and therefore, climate — is integral to every bottle.
Understanding this importance, two major wineries from two continents have joined forces to launch an organization to combat global warming — called International Wineries for Climate Action. California’s Jackson Family Wines and Spain’s Familia Torres, the two wineries behind the group, have already committed to reaching an 80 percent reduction in total carbon emissions by 2045, and they are hoping to encourage other wineries around the globe to make a similar pledge to reverse the impacts of climate change.
“Our common goal is to move beyond conversations around the urgency of climate change by collaborating on scalable solutions to reduce our global industry’s carbon footprint,” Katie Jackson, second-generation proprietor and senior vice president of corporate responsibility at Jackson Family Wines, said in a statement. Specifically, beyond a commitment to reducing CO2, International Wineries for Climate Action is also hoping to foster collaboration between vineyards and to provide a platform for sharing best practices that have proven successful in axing emissions.
Of course, “80 percent reduction” is a relative term, so to start, the group is working towards establishing an emissions baseline and then creating a standard for tracking progress towards these goals. But from there, the plan is to take a “science-based approach” to reducing emissions and eventually for participating wineries to have at least 20 percent renewable energy generated on site. “We are just at the beginning with our initiative, but we hope it will be a trigger, a boost for other wineries to join and accelerate or to start the implementation of carbon-emissions-reduction-programs,” explained Miguel A. Torres, president at Familia Torres and fourth generation family member. Frankly, it’d be nice if more than just wineries could take note.
By Mike Pomranz
March 04, 2019
Source: Foodandwine.com
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