Share This Article
At the largest virtual wine forum, around 170 speakers from five continents met to discuss the impact of the climate crisis on the wine sector.
What is the wine sector doing in the face of climate change? Green Wine Future 2022 sought to answer this short and important question. This virtual forum, which took place from 23 to 26 May, was attended by almost 170 speakers from eight major wine-growing regions of the world (France, Spain, Portugal, South Africa, Chile, California, Australia and New Zealand).
A total of 16 presentations and 24 discussion panels brought together the world’s leading wine specialists, including producers, researchers and analysts. The event broke physical and temporal boundaries, bringing together professionals from New Zealand to California, equivalent to seven time zones. Green Wine Future 2022 is the largest online conference to date dedicated exclusively to wine.
Climate change at the centre of the debates
It was not only about discussing the dramatic effects of climate change on wine production, but also about mentioning initiatives with a positive impact on the environment. Whether regenerative viticulture or sustainable oenological practices, carbon sequestration or the future of wine tourism, water conservation or the economic model of sustainable agriculture – all the important issues concerning the future of the wine sector were addressed. In addition to these exciting and erudite discussions, Green Wine Future 2022 was above all an opportunity to create a space for debate and a dynamic capable of uniting all wine sector players at international level around the challenges associated with the climate crisis.
A growing awareness
For several years, the wine sector has taken note of the need to evolve its production and sales model in order to preserve soils and biodiversity in the long term. So, in order to survive, it is imperative that it change. “You can be a businessman and respect the environment at the same time,” stressed Clarence Louie, tribal leader of the Osoyoos in British Columbia, Canada. “We will not cultivate new land because we want to preserve our natural ecosystems,” said Louie, who facilitated the creation of the first winery in North America owned by an indigenous people. Pancho Campo, founder of Green Wine Future, said, “The wine industry needs to learn from progress in other areas of agri-food and focus on reduction rather than adaptation. He is the first Chilean citizen to be awarded the title of Master of Wine and is convinced that “without reductions and major efforts to decarbonise the wine sector, no measure will effectively contribute to the fight against climate change”.