This Climate Talk is an initiative of Dr. Richard Smart, renowned International Wine Grower and Consultant.
Dr. Smart challenged Porto Protocol to organize a webinar about mitigation (vs adaptation), on reducing the carbon footprint of the grape and wine sector. In his own words, mitigation is more of an ethical decision than an economic one, and the focus is on avoiding the causes of the climate crisis so that it does not happen. According to him “it is a decision that an industry can take to help ensure its future, in the same spirit in which this decision is being taken by countries and states, communities and families”.
This session was the first “Research Edition” of our Climate Talks by Porto Protocol, a slightly different format from what our community is used to: we will have a series of presentations, each focused on different research themes, either from a scientific or market approach, on different components underlying the decision to mitigate:
- Kieran Hirlam (AWRI) will present Life Cycle Analysis (LCA) and carbon footprint to demonstrate that the 750ml glass bottle is an important component of the industry's carbon footprint.
- Heena Panchasara (Central Queensland University) will describe how pyrolysis enables the industry to convert waste streams from vineyards and wineries into energy.
- Richard Halstead (Wine Intelligence) will discuss how the glass bottle can be replaced by alternative packaging and how wine consumers can react.
These presentations were followed by a debate moderated by Tiago Alves de Sousa (Alves de Sousa), Producer and Professor (UTAD), who will bridge the gap between the conclusions resulting from the investigation of each guest and their adaptation to the day-to-day life of the vineyard and wine sector. For those in the grape and wine industry who see a response to the climate crisis beyond adaptation, we hope this digital conversation will serve as an incentive to contemplate mitigation.
