Dr. Ayana Johnson, co-founder of Urban Ocean Lab and the All We Can Save Project, sits down with Professor Andrew Isaacs of UC Berkeley’s Haas School of Business. Hear from two great minds in the climate science field about the role that coastal waterways and vegetation play in absorbing carbon and how their protection will ultimately keep us safe from storm surges. In Napa, we are connected to these coastal systems via our river, streams, and riparian areas. Dr. Johnson emphasizes the connectivity between oceans and our farming practices that may not always be front-of-mind. 

Included in this discussion is the importance of climate justice when addressing the disproportionate impacts of climate change on communities. Dr. Johnson also highlights tenacity, collective action, and remaining joyful when confronting the challenges brought by a changing climate. What role can a farming community, and more specifically, our wine community play in meeting these challenges?

Senior Policy Advisor with Carbon 180, Vanessa Suarez, discusses key practices to promote carbon storage in soils, an opportunity to counteract the 1.5 degree Celsius warming threshold. Suarez encourages AOTC attendees to reframe their idea of carbon emissions to focus on the long game: net negative emissions. A concept Carbon 180 explores is agroforestry. How can we incorporate more biodiversity into our vineyards to promote the soil carbon holding capacity while improving wine quality and creating another path to economic stability for smaller wineries?

​Jamie Goode of Wine Anorak demystifies consumer perspectives and presents pathways for those in the wine industry to communicate and market environmental ethos and practice. While warning against the blanket term “sustainability” which he notes is well-positioned to promote greenwashing, Goode projects that future wine consumers will increasingly care about where their wine comes from. The audience is encouraged to share their innovative practices in narrative form through their labeling, marketing, and DTC channels to connect the consumer to the vineyard, farmers, soil, and ultimately, the wine. Illuminating the path forward for the wine industry, Goode shares, “Wine is the rockstar of agriculture and is ideally placed to lead conversations about climate change and green credentials.”

​Elisa Turner, Founder and CEO of IMPAKT IQ discusses the rapid acceleration of global ESG standards in the pipeline for 2024, and how financial institutions will begin looking at ESG scores like credit scores. In the past, there was no significant framework for consumers to learn about a company’s brand ethics. Now, ESG reporting is becoming mandatory for some sectors, whether the push is from government regulations, or consumer demand to purchase socially responsible and environmentally friendly goods. Wine distributors and wholesalers will require that wine companies meet certain ESG standards soon, particularly public companies like large grocers and retail. Elisa dives deep into the impacts this could have on local businesses and shares how IMPAKT IQ was designed to help navigate this new age of our industry both for large companies and smaller growers. 
Alan Lewis, VP of Natural Grocers, addresses the rapid state of transition in consumer demand for natural foods and the failure of regulatory bodies to keep up with what science now knows about the microbiome. When consumer trust erodes, how should companies respond, what changes in practices are expected, and how does this translate into market demand for Napa Valley wines? Turner & Lewis discuss the intersections of their work through a Q&A with the audience.

​Anthony Myint, Executive Director of Zero Foodprint, highlights incredible pathways for growers striving for innovative change, and poses this thought experiment: Can Napa Valley become the regenerative wine capital of the world? In their 5-year plan to generate funds to support growers with climate-smart farming, Zero Foodprint suggests an inventive OPT-OUT ordinance of 1% tax on food and wine that could be given directly to farmers. 1% of the Napa wine industry is more than $70 million dollars. Imagine what the Napa Valley could look like in 10, 20 and 50 years with this emphasis on regenerative agriculture: lush landscapes, healthy soil microbiomes, and a new consumer market dedicated to Napa Valley’s forward-thinking wines.

Sheep in the vineyard, no tillage and reduced pesticides were just a few of the solutions for vineyards to mitigate climate change that were recommended at the recent ‘Ahead of the Curve’ seminar hosted by the Napa Valley Grapegrowers. Given that the UN Climate Report 2023, released on 20th March, urges swift action to prevent the planet from surpassing the 1.5C degrees threshold of catastrophic warming, the seminar couldn‘t have come at a better time.

​‘We‘ve been offering the “Ahead of the Curve” seminar to our growers since 2007,’ said Sonya DeLuca, interim executive director of the Napa Valley Grapegrowers. ‘This is the second year in a row that we have focused on sustainability and climate efforts, because it is so critical to our future now,’ she added.

DeLuca referenced the extreme wildfires, droughts and atmospheric jet streams that have afflicted Napa Valley over the past five years. Given that Napa Valley currently has 17,000 hectares under vine and 1,500 grape growers, education on this topic is critical. Yet the majority of the solutions offered by the five experts who spoke during the day-long seminar at Charles Krug Winery can be applied to any global vineyard.