Climate change is one of the most pressing challenges for our industry. There is strong evidence that New Zealand is becoming warmer, drier and exposed to more frequent weather events. The changing climate will influence what grapes we can grow and how and where we grow them. Just as importantly, how we respond to a changing climate will be crucial to our reputation, as a producer of premium sustainable wine, influence our market access, protect our social license to operate, and help reduce ongoing production costs.
To reflect the importance of climate change mitigation to our reputation the New Zealand Winegrowers (NZW) board agreed to update the industry’s climate change goal to ‘the New Zealand wine industry is net zero by 2050’. A net zero target is more ambitious than the previous goal of carbon neutrality as it seeks a specific balance between the amount of greenhouse gases (GHGs) produced and the amount removed from the atmosphere. This goal increases our industry focus on reduction in absolute emissions across the whole supply chain and includes nitrous oxide and methane as well as other GHGs.
According to the World Economic Forum, a net zero goal sets the gold standard to limit temperature rise to 1.5C by the end of the century. Individual companies in pursuit of a net zero goal can focus as much as possible on reduction across the whole supply chain and use offsetting to reach net zero only if it is unfeasible to eliminate emissions permanently.
This year NZW has partnered with EECA (the Energy Efficiency and Conservation Authority) and thinkstep-anz to develop the industry’s Roadmap to Net Zero 2050. This work will help to identify achievable milestones that will guide our industry towards our goal and provide insights for winemakers and viticulturists on how to reduce emissions in the winery and vineyard. The Roadmap will be presented at the Research and Innovation Forum taking place as part of Altogether Unique 2024 in Wellington on 30 August 2024. If you would like to find out more, we would love to see you there.
How far do we have to travel?
In June this year NZW released the National GHG Emissions Report 2023. This report outlines vineyard and winery GHG emissions analyses based on submissions from Sustainable Winegrowing New Zealand members for the 2022/23 season. This is the third report to quantify and track the industry’s GHG emissions. It does not quantify the full emissions footprint of wine but production does capture emissions from energy use, plant protection chemistry, and fertiliser (manufacturing and filed emissions), as well as winery transport and packaging. We are the only wine industry worldwide that tracks this data at a national level.
Estimated GHG emissions from wine production and packaging to the winery door was 170,245 tonnes CO2e for the 2023 vintage, equivalent to 310g CO2e/bottle of wine. Vineyard activities account for 34% of total emissions, with winery activities accounting for the remaining 66%. The two main contributors to total emissions are winery packaging, which accounts for 53% of total emissions, and fuel use on vineyards, which accounts for 20%. Total vineyard emissions were 1398kg CO2e/ha on average for the 2022/23 season. Diesel use accounted for the most GHG emissions on vineyards at 780kg CO2e/ha.
The need to take action
These statistics highlight that as an industry we have a long way to go to reach our net zero goal by 2050. There is no doubt that research and innovation are needed to help drive progress and will be a vital component of a more sustainable future. Nonetheless, there are decisions and actions that all members can take now to begin or accelerate their journey to net zero. Many members are already working hard to minimise their impact on a changing climate.
There is no silver bullet and progress requires the collective implementation of a number of small actions; whether that’s an individual vineyard owner doing one fewer vineyard pass next season, a wine company conducting an energy audit and implementing its recommendations, or engaging with EECA to help produce an emissions reduction plan. Overall, the most important decision is to just start thinking about what opportunities you have to reduce emissions in your business. Every step we take helps to protect our reputation and market access. Only together can we make a positive impact on our industry, our wine and our world.
Dr Edwin Massey is General Manager Sustainability at NZW
