Climate change: the alarm also rings in the vineyard, between solutions and future scenarios

Some people still have doubts, but climate change, with its potentially devastating effects, is a tangible reality, in the eyes of all, and who pays for its effects is the one who, more than any other, is responsible for it: the human being. Nothing and no one is immune to the effects of global warming, especially wine, which, as an agricultural product, is affected by climatic dynamics like any other crop, even though its resilience is much higher than average. This, however, does not mean that the oenological world can stand by and watch, or that the role of humans is not fundamental in plunging the world towards an average temperature increase of 2-4 degrees from here to the end of the century, as an impressive number of academic studies report. However, how does climate change affect the wine sector, and what is the role of the wine world in this respect? These are the topics discussed at the Vinexpo Symposium in Bordeaux, dedicated to the impact of climate change on wine, by leading experts to encourage the sector to a collective awareness that can offer positive reactions in response to the great issue of climate change.
After the message of the director of the International Monetary Fund, Christine Lagarde, who reiterated the need to “leave the planet in better conditions than we found it, and also viticulture must do its part, in terms of reducing the use of pesticides and better management of water resources, it was Michel Jarraud, for years Secretary General of the World Meteorological Organization, who put order on what is the current climate situation and, above all, on the role of humans, “the main responsible for the peak of temperatures reached in the last twenty years, linked to the highest levels of CO2 recorded in the last 800.000 years”. Wine, as Jean-Robert Pitte, former president of Sorbonne and member of the Academie du Vin de France, recalls, “is not new to climate change, global warming requires us to adapt once again, starting with vineyard management and the cultivation of different varieties. While we wait for solutions worldwide, we will have to continue to produce excellent wines”.
“In terms of global warming, which will not affect all wine regions in the same way, we must maintain a balanced position. The wine industry has always been aware of this reality, and this the reason why we have to be more responsible, first of all in mitigating the effects of climate change, starting with the reduction of CO2 and the management of water resources. However, the biggest effort is to adapt to the new reality: we must ensure that the final product, wine, does not suffer the change. So, instead, the DG of Oiv, Pau Roca.