By Madeline Baker, Times Chronicle
Leaders from the Okanagan wine and tourism industries came together at the Penticton Wine Information Centre on Wednesday, April 20 for the Canadian announcement of Green Wine Future 2022, an international conference about the wine industry’s relationship with climate change.
Green Wine Future 2022 is the brainchild of environmentalist and wine expert Pancho Campo, an entrepreneur from Barcelona whose Planet Future Foundation also produces documentary films on the destructive impact of climate change on glaciers, marine environments, rainforests, and drought-blighted regions.
When Campo first arrived in the Thompson-Okanagan region, he was immediately impressed by three things: the quality and affordability of local wine, the climate and how well-suited it is to outdoor activities, and the dedication of those in its wine industry to protecting the environment that sustains them.
He said that it was rewarding to be in the company of people who expressed even more concern about the state of the environment than himself, which has rarely been the case since he began hosting large-scale conferences on climate change in the early 2000s. In fact, many people in the European wine industry apparently believed his first conference to be nothing but a marketing scheme, a false belief which led to dismal attendance.
However, their talk about this man who had “the crazy idea of putting two and two together: wine and climate change,” as Campo described it, did make the press curious enough to seek Campo out and publish his views. Before long, word of his industry-based approach to tackling climate change had spread so far that future conferences included delegates from 70 different countries and keynote speakers like Nobel Peace Prize winners Al Gore and Barack Obama.
Green Wine Future 2022, Campo’s newest planned conference, will feature more than 126 speakers from around the world and take place across eight different time zones. The entire conference will be hosted online and all presentations will be archived so that attendees never have to miss content.
As part of his research for the conference, Campo travelled to famous wine producing regions like Bordeaux, Burgundy, Napa Valley, and South Africa to learn more about the worst impacts of climate change on their product, from grapes being scorched on the vine to heavy rains during the harvest season causing fungal infections in all parts of the plant.
His approach preaches the importance of adaptation and mitigation used together, not simply one or the other, to improve the overall condition of the environment while also finding unique solutions in the current climate conditions.
Wine is Campo’s passion, which is why he started the Green Wine Future project, but the scope of his desire to make change is better represented by the Planet Future Foundation, which he called “my legacy to my children, and to society.”
“Climate change is the most pressing issue our society is facing,” said Campo. “Vladimir Putin will be deposed, COVID will end, but climate change still threatens all of us: our families, our businesses, our countries. It’s our responsibility.”
The night was co-hosted by Thompson Okanagan Tourism Association (TOTA) and international sommelier Wendy Vallaster, and opened with words from TOTA president Ellen Walker-Matthews, Wine Information Centre president Donna Faigaux, and Sustainable Winegrowing BC president Katie Pease.
Walker-Matthews and Pease emphasized the importance that winemakers in the province already place on adopting sustainable practices because, as Walker-Matthews acknowledged, a stable climate is necessary to sustaining the business itself. Without one, the other cannot exist.
Pease also shared the promising news that over 12 local vineyards have had their operations certified as sustainable since 2021, with a new season of potential certifications opening in early April of this year.
More information about Green Wine Future 2022 can be found at greenwinefuture.com, including more detailed lists of speakers and presentation topics and links for registration. Details of the provincial push for sustainability in winemaking can be found at sustainablewinegrowingbc.ca.
