ClimateGenn hosted by Nick Breeze

In Alentejo, techniques to conserve water are transforming the outlook for the region. As large olive oil and wine estates start to deploy regenerative farming techniques, we see the landscape come alive with biodiversity thriving. Indigenous grape varieties mean that new wine styles that are both elegant and charming are giving Alentejo a new character that resonates with international markets. This is an exciting chapter in the journey of this wine region that predates the Romans.Download the FREE ebook: https://sustentabilidade.vinhosdoalentejo.pt/uploads/ebook/into-the-heat.pdf

Sustainability is often framed and presented as a purely environmental subject. The truth is that the economics of any given sustainability effort are underpinned by economic viability. It is the market place that determines whether products are desired and thus bought. If the producers get it wrong, there is no business, meaning job losses and environmental objectives are abandoned. Here we dive into the economic challenges that face Alentejo’s wine industry but also are mirrored in many regions around the world.Download the FREE ebook: https://sustentabilidade.vinhosdoalentejo.pt/uploads/ebook/into-the-heat.pdfFrancisco Mateus was the President of the Wines of Alentejo wine commission at the time of this interview. He stepped down in 2025. His broader picture view helps us to place the economic pillar of sustainability into a broader context.

In this episode Nick Breeze speaks with a range of producers hearing how critical it is to invest in communities, building house, schools, offering scholarships to children and transport links.Download the FREE ebook: https://sustentabilidade.vinhosdoalentejo.pt/uploads/ebook/into-the-heat.pdfWithout communities in this scarcely populated region, there would be no development of regenerative agriculture. Without the economic structure of business the land, degraded from decades past, would turn to desert and spread north. Supporting communities in Alentejo is literally holding back the Sahara.

Southern Portugal’s alentejo region is the location setting for our tour of sustainability practices but Portugal is facing a range of different environmental challenges that will become more pronounced in coming years. In this episode with guest prof. Francisco Ferreira, we delve into the water, heat and other climate issues.Francisco Ferreira is a professor of Environmental Engineering at Universidade Nova de Lisboa and president of the environmental NGO ZERO, recognized for his extensive work on air quality, climate change, and sustainable development in Lisbon and across Portugal.Download the FREE ‘Into The Heat’ ebook:

Jason Box accepted the invitation to come Into The Heat with Nick Breeze and here he gives insights into what he saw. At the outset, Jason thought the efforts to survive in these conditions were ‘fighting gravity’. After 2 days, that view changed. Jason also offers great insights into the potential for using data rich landscapes to create digital twins that can help produce greater quality products resilience in anticipating future climate.Download the FREE ebook: https://sustentabilidade.vinhosdoalentejo.pt/uploads/ebook/into-the-heat.pdfProfessor Jason Box is an American glaciologist renowned for his pioneering research on the Greenland ice sheet, having participated in over 30 expeditions since 1994 and leading projects such as the Dark Snow Project and the Extreme Ice Survey to study ice-climate interactions and glacier dynamics. He is a professor at the Geological Survey of Denmark and Greenland (GEUS) and is prominently featured in the documentary film Into the Ice, which follows his fieldwork investigating the mass balance and melt processes of Greenland’s ice sheet. Box is among the most cited scientists in his field, has contributed to major climate reports including the IPCC, and is recognized for his impactful science communication and advocacy on climate change. Jason has also featured in many Climate.Genn podcast episodes on this channel in the last ten years.

In this episode, Nick Breeze discusses with author and broadcaster Janet Wang, how interventions in landscapes and agriculture can have a positive impact, and how what may appear out of control, might just be a very happy ecosystem.Janet Z. Wang is a British-Chinese wine journalist, author, and TV pundit renowned for her expertise on Chinese wine and culture. She is the author of The Chinese Wine Renaissance: A Wine Lover’s Companion (Ebury Press, 2020), a comprehensive guide exploring the history, varieties, and cultural significance of wine in China, with a foreword by Oz Clarke OBE. Wang is a principal Chinese-speaking member of the prestigious Circle of Wine Writers and the Association of Wine Educators.The video podcasts can be viewed here or on Youtube, Apple, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts.Download the Into The Heat ebook: https://sustentabilidade.vinhosdoalentejo.pt/uploads/ebook/into-the-heat.pdf

Diving into what regenerative really means and how it both increases resilience to climate extremes and rebuilds soil climate sinks. The soils currently hold roughly twice as much carbon than the atmosphere.Download the FREE ebook: ⁠https://sustentabilidade.vinhosdoalentejo.pt/uploads/ebook/into-the-heat.pdf⁠Kimberly Nicholas is a sustainability scientist and full professor at Lund University in Sweden, renowned for her research on climate change, sustainable food systems, and the connections between people, land, and climate. She is the author of the Los Angeles Times bestseller UNDER THE SKY WE MAKE: How to be Human in a Warming World, has published over 65 peer-reviewed articles, and communicates climate solutions through her widely read newsletter and frequent international lectures.

João Barroso is the Sustainability and R&D Director at Wines of Alentejo, where he developed and leads the award-winning Wines of Alentejo Sustainability Programme, coordinating and monitoring sustainability performance across Portugal’s largest wine region.Download the FREE ‘Into The Heat’ ebook:https://sustentabilidade.vinhosdoalentejo.pt/uploads/ebook/into-the-heat.pdfA closer look behind the #sustainability certification in Alentejo Portugal. #wine #climatechange #drought

Welcome to ‘Into The Heat’. Join me on a two week road trip across Alentejo in Southern Portugal, visiting the Wines of Alentejo Sustainability Programme (WASP) certified wine producers. In this series we are going to discover:We are going to learn about how Europe’s most climate vulnerable wine region is learning, not just to cope with a hotter climate, but how to thrive in it– boosting biodiversity, creating job security, improving viticulture techniques that defy expectations and meet consumer expectations of elegance and incredible more-ish-ness.The video podcasts can be viewed here or on Youtube, Apple, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts.Download free ebook: https://sustentabilidade.vinhosdoalentejo.pt/uploads/ebook/into-the-heat.pdfJoin Nick Breeze, Jason Box, Janet wang and João Barroso on a 2 week road-trip across Alentejo in S Portugal.

In this ClimateGenn episode I am speaking with professor Jennifer Francis from the Woodwell Climate Research Center. Jennifer is a leading expert on the changes going on in the Arctic region and as she says– these changes will impact everyone on Earth.The Arctic is a gigantic ecosystem worthy of our protection– and yet at this time, world powers talk of domination and resource extraction– demonstrating hubris and reckless ambition, when what we need is a unified plan for restoration and preservation.