An Open Letter to Wine Trade CEOs and Press as COP28 Concludes

As the global COP28 climate change conference concludes this week, IWCA’s Board of Directors — on behalf of the organization's 46 member wine companies across the world — have signed an open letter to wine trade CEOs and press calling for more decisive action in addressing the real and increasing threat of climate change.

As the letter states (read in full here):

"We are a collective that works to decarbonize the wine industry, and our mission is seriously compromised by the Conference of the Parties’ (COP) inability to stop new oil and gas exploration, and to agree on a date to phase out the use of all fossil fuels. We are disappointed that this year’s COP conclusions lack forcefulness and have in no way advanced the vital move towards detaching the global economy from fossil fuels to achieve a meaningful reduction in GHG emissions."

IWCA has released the open letter on behalf of our 140 wineries, representing 2% of the world's total wine production, due to our belief in a transparent, science-based approach to GHG emission reduction. A failure to meaningfully curb emissions jeopardizes the long-term survival of our sector. As the letter underlines,

"It is imperative that businesses such as ours, which rely on a stable climate and the quality of our soils, push emissions reduction to the top of the agenda. On behalf of the global wine sector, IWCA urges the Conference of the Parties to agree on an end date for the use of fossil fuels at COP29."

Wineries have experienced extremes of deep drought, intense heat and wildfires, and deep freezes in winegrowing regions around the world. According to the OIV, global wine production is down by 7% this year, largely due to the effects of climate. In Spain this year, drought and heat has seriously affected yields, and in British Columbia and in the Niagara regions, deep spring frosts killed many vines. California may be celebrating this year, due to the much-needed wet winter and a cooler than normal summer; however, recent vintages have not been as easy.

We renew our pledge as IWCA’s unifying voice for change promoting full carbon footprint disclosure and implementing emission reduction initiatives via robust and rigorous scrutiny.

Read our full letter here, and join us in our call for more more decisive action in addressing the real and increasing threat of climate change to our way of life, and to that of future generations.