Château Ksara becomes IWCA Silver Member

International Wineries for Climate Action (IWCA) is delighted to announce that its first

Lebanese member of IWCA, Château Ksara, has achieved the coveted Silver Membership status.

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Co-owner, Kamil Chaoui at the château, said, “This is a major milestone for a winery that has achieved so many milestones throughout its 170-year-old history. We have an obligation to set standards in a region where often the realities of climate change and best practice are overlooked in the face of simply surviving but we embrace this role, not just for the future of the wine industry but for Lebanon as a whole.”

IWCA is a rapidly growing collective of wine-producing companies present in 14 countries across the globe. Representing approximately 3.5% of global wine production, its members form a unified voice for change, promoting reduction in carbon emissions and setting the standard for decarbonization internationally. The organization’s certification is recognized globally with retailers and industry professionals and authenticates winery action to promote emission reduction.

Château Ksara founded in 1857, Château Ksara has embodied the core values of tradition, nobility, and modernity. As Lebanon’s oldest winery, it has made it its mission to not only continue a centuries-old practice of winemaking, but to also implement the newest and most innovative processes to set standards in winemaking for generations to come.

As climate change and urbanization have accelerated the risk of drought in the Bekaa Valley, Château Ksara has made a commitment to best practices in the vineyard and the winery to reduce its carbon footprint and enhance its circular economy by recycling 50% of its waste-water, using a treatment in which bacteria feed on wine waste such as sugar, pips and skins; using solar power; reutilizing agricultural waste to create further sources of renewable energy and using lighter bottles to further reduce its carbon footprint.

“We are delighted to welcome celebrate Château Ksara’s Silver Membership of IWCA,” said Katie

Jackson, President of IWCA and Vice President of Sustainability at Jackson Family Wines. “This

reinforces the presence of IWCA in the country, and we are proud to count on them as our first members in Lebanon. As vine growers, we are severely suffering from the consequences of climate change, our duty to future generations is to act now. We hope that many more wineries, inside and outside our country, join our cause to accelerate the decarbonization of the wine industry.”

Key achievement in the past year at Château Ksara are:

• Water Management and Recycling: installing a tertiary filtration system of 6 m³/hr in

  September 2024 to address regional water scarcity, enabling recycling during dry months. By September 2025, we had recycled and reused about 3,000 m³ of water we aim to recycle an additional 1,000 m³ by year-end.

• Solar Energy: In September 2024, we added 103 solar panels, raising our capacity to 346.93

  KWp. This led to a 10.25% production increase, generating 69,000 kWh in the first eight months of 2025. In 2024, solar covered 51% of our electric needs, and we expect to surpass 57% in 2025.

• Regenerative agriculture: We embrace regenerative agriculture by pursuing CCPB organic

  certification for 14 hectares in Aana, enriching biodiversity through indigenous tree planting,

  fostering pollinators with permanent beehives.

• Solid Waste Management and Circular Economy: We contributed in composting, in 2024, 350 tons of organic waste, recycling 32 tons of cardboard, grounding 15,000 glass bottles used fortiling, upcycling 92 barrels into furniture, and upcycling 118,140 corks into steam. We expect similar figures in 2025.

• Lightweight Bottles We increased our use of lightweight 750cl bottles from 14% in 2023 to 58% in 2025.

Join the movement

IWCA actively invites wineries interested in its mission to contact us. The organization is open to any wine company involved in the production process from winegrowing to bottling that believes in taking strategic action to accelerate innovative climate solutions. 

Visit www.iwcawine.org to learn how your winery can apply to join this organization. IWCA actively invites wineries interested in its mission to contact us. The organization is open to any wine company involved in the production process from winegrowing to bottling that believes in taking strategic action to accelerate innovative climate solutions.