ClimateGenn hosted by Nick Breeze

In this episode of Sustainability in Alentejo Wine Series, I am speaking with João Roquette, CEO and Chairman of the Esporão group about the company’s transformation to organic and resilient production. Esporão is one of the most famous brand names in Portuguese wine and especially in Alentejo. João has played a leading role driving the company’s move towards organic viticulture. During my visit I saw huge amounts of effort going into researching indigenous varieties for adaptability to the new climate conditions which are extreme today but will rapidly become normal tomorrow. The extent of this work has made Esporão a phenomenal success. The company owns 623ha of organic vineyards – the biggest ownership in Portugal, representing about 18% of total organic production in the country. Here João talks us through how the company reoriented itself as a pioneer towards sustainability goals before the WASP programme was established. He also says, the Alentejo region as a whole should be proudly waving the flag as leaders in Portugal in taking bold environmental action.

In this ClimateGenn episode I speak to Silver Lining Institute Executive Director, Kelly Wanser about the urgent need to invest billions of dollars into expanding our global coverage of climate modelling capacity. [Support this channel on https://patreon.com/genncc] The worsening risks we face mean climate interventions to cool the planet are back in discussion in the corridors of power. We discuss the hold ups and the necessity for research that could give all of us a clear idea as to whether such schemes should be deployed or not. We also discuss how engaging the talents of global south scientists beyond the current superficial level could be a game changer in advancing our ability to respond, and to intervene, in order to counter the catastrophic impacts of warming we are seeing accelerating all around us. Quotes: “We are in the far end of what looks like a really bad place for climate change.” “The media is telling us the math doesn’t add up and the situation is getting a little bit frightening.” On climate interventions: “Looking at the system where it is and the dangers to people… and the dangers to natural systems, ecology and biodiversity, we are now seeing there is more openness in those communities who were extremely opposed to this than they were in the past… and that’s new!” “Ultimately, in the United States, and we’ll make this call to the rest of the world, we think there needs to be a step function, a real multi-billion dollar increase in investing against our observations and out model improvements. Separate from climate intervention, just to do the problems, we are not investing enough.” “We quickly need money and this technical access for researchers in the global south if we want to say that their participation is meaningful… I’ll speak bluntly, I think their participation is more superficial than it should be because they don’t have the capacity to actually do the science.” Excerpts from interview with Kelly Wanser, Exec Director of SilverLining Institute.

During my trip across Alentejo, it was a pleasure to visit the cooperative Adega de Borba. Winemaking in and around Borba has a long pedigree and is even mentioned in ‘Murray’s handbook to Travels in Portugal’, published in 1864, with reference to ‘A considerable quantity of wine is produced at Borba..’ View more at https://genn.cc/alentejo And so it is to this day with Borba producing around 10 million bottles per year. The co-op is also renowned for its quality with their very popular Adega de Borba Reserva being a top seller with its iconic label printed on cork. During my visit I was given a tour of the winery and the cellars by Helena Ferreira, the director in charge of production and quality control. Helena has been implementing an impressive suite of sustainability protocols right across the organisation. These include training the 300 growers, covering over 2200 hectares of vineyards, to improving energy, water, and waste management. All of this work is to ensure that the one thousand families who rely on Adega de Borba for their living, have confidence that they will be producing wine there in the years and decades yet to come. This is episode 4 of 8 in a special series on sustainability in Alentejo in Southern Portugal - one of the most vulnerable wine regions in the world.

In this ClimateGenn episode, we are discussing the risk of maladaptation that can seriously undermine our efforts to tackle the climate challenges we know are coming towards us.  [Support this channel via https://patreon.com/genncc & get new episodes early + visit https://genn.cc for more information Dr Lisa Schipper is an Environmental Social Science Research Fellow at the Environmental Change Institute at the University of Oxford whose work focuses on adaptation to climate change in developing countries, looking at factors that include gender, religion, and culture, to understand what drives vulnerability. As vulnerability and suffering increase, it is critical we are able to engage as many people as possible to help shape the solutions that benefit us all and avoid critical errors that can have long-lasting detrimental effects. In the next episode, I am speaking with Kelly Wanser from the Silver Lining Institute in Washington about their work in trying to counter near-term Earth system destabilisation by a combination of advanced supercomputer situations and interventions that might include marine cloud brightening. Thanks for listening to ClimateGenn - you can support this work and get episodes earlier by becoming a Patron backer and you can also subscribe for free on YouTube and all major podcast channels.

In this Alentejo Wines episode, I am speaking to Iain Richardson, from the wine estate, Mouchão. [View more on https://genn.cc and support this channel on https://patreon.com/genncc] Mouchão is a great example of an integrated estate in Alentejo where different flora and fauna are interwoven to create the whole. The Sobreiro, or cork oak trees, are an integral part of the history of this region and yet, as Iain tells us, climate is one of the drivers that is causing a substantial die-off against which he and his team are fighting. For reference, the Arroba, mentioned in this recording is actually a measure used for weighing cork, equivalent to 15 kilograms. The story of Mouchao is one that really marries the past with the present in terms of identifying the moment where history and tradition are faced with the need for non-linear responses in order to achieve sustainability. It is the story that really connects the glass of wine, or jug of olive oil, to the seemingly infinite physical and chemical interactions within the biosphere. It is also the great human challenge to adapt to these changes, regenerate our soils, and build resilience while learning to live in a different world. This feeds back into the importance of what programmes like WASP can achieve when they provide the framework for measuring change and disseminating knowledge.

Visit https://patreon.com/genncc or https://genn.cc In this ClimateGenn episode, I speak with Lieutenant General Norman Seip, the President of the American Security Project, about the urgency for the US Senate to stop playing dice with the global climate and vote through policy that will steer America back on course to being a nation worthy of respect. Ever since President George Bush Senior declared the American Way of Life is not up for negotiation, the United States has stood in the way of global efforts to limit the impacts of climate destruction.    We are now unnecessarily gambling our collective futures away because US politicians put wealth and ideology above the endless warnings of climate scientists, ecologists, among many others now screaming for change to avert disaster.  It is late in the day and we are all now at risk from business as usual policy and investment that prolongs the use of fossil fuels. Changing now could avert some suffering and, as we discuss here, the United States must grow up and face its responsibility as the world's largest emitter.

Get episodes early by supporting via Patreon: https://patreon.com/genncc full transcript at https://Genn.cc Nick Breeze, Dr Greg V Jones In the second episode of the Alentejo climate and sustainability series, I'm speaking with winemaker and climate scientist Dr. Greg Jones, who has co-authored climate and wine research papers looking at the vulnerability of certain regions to climate change. One, in particular, that is relevant to this series titled 'Climate Change & Global Wine Quality', published in 2005 states, "Other regions currently with warmer growing seasons, i.e. southern Portugal may become too warm for the existing varieties grown there and hot climate maturity regions may become too warm to produce high-quality wines of any type."  A couple of factors that are important in responding to this deduction are as follows. Mitigation is still essential. Every one of us, every business, every wine business, must play a part in the decarbonisation of human systems. Doing so is a collective responsibility that runs all the way through the wine business, from the vineyards, to how wine is communicated and consumed. But this alone is not enough wine producers have to go further in building resilience, regenerating soils, and ecosystems. This is as much about stewardship as it is about survival.  The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, the IPCC recently released a report that states adaptation is critical, because climate impacts due to human-caused global warming, are now unavoidable. Here, Dr. Jones outlines some of the impacts we can expect in regions such as Alentejo, which are among the world's most vulnerable to heat increases and drought conditions. He also gives us his view on why regional certification programs such as the Wines of Alentejo Sustainability Programme play a crucial role in the sharing of knowledge, as well as providing the framework by which actions and progress can be measured. This second episode represents a broader view before we zoom in and meet the producers in Alentejo and hear their fascinating stories about the actions they are taking to boost resilience and protect the quality and reputation of the region.

In this ClimateGenn episode I speak with Fossil Free London activist Nuri Syed Corser about their focussed activism targeting the biggest polluters operating in the UK’s capital. [Get more early by supporting on https://patreon.com/genncc or follow on https://genn.cc] At a time when the UK is reeling from extreme heatwaves, the government are holding back on renewable energy projects and backing fossil fuel investments that will please their backers and make the climate problem much, much worse. They are also using the Russian invasion of Ukraine as an excuse to increase coal, oil and gas extraction across the British Isles. Activist groups like Fossil Free London help to highlight who the polluters are and bring public attention to their careless and destructive activities. As has been said in previous interviews, the activists and civil society groups are more inline with what the science tells us we need to do than the policymakers entrusted to protect us. This has to stop. Thanks for listening to Climate Genn. In the next episode I am speaking with a retired US General Norman Seip who is now President of the American Security Project and who agrees with me that as much as Climate Change is a US National Security Threat, US climate policy is itself a security threat to the rest of the world. You can subscribe on Youtube and all podcast channels. You can also get content early as well as extras by backing this series on Patreon.com. Please do get in touch or send feedback via genn.cc. Thanks.

As Part of the Climate Genn podcast, I am publishing concurrently with my normal interviews, a series within a series every week for the next 8 weeks called Sustainability & Wine in Alentejo, Portugal’s largest and most climate vulnerable region. This series is part of a larger project commissioned by the Wines of Alentejo Sustainability Programme with whom I have been collaborating for the past year. Find out more at https://genn.cc Alentejo Episodes to be released 1 per week for 8 weeks: EP. 1 Sustainability & Wine in Alentejo An Introduction - Alentejo, a climate-vulnerable region EP. 2 Dr Greg Jones - we need regional schemes that build into broader framework at a global level EP. 3 Herdade do Mouchão, Iain Richardson - 600 mature cork oak trees a year lost, it was tragic! EP. 4 Adega de Borba, Helena Ferriera - 1000 families depend on this business EP. 5 Herdade do Esporão, João Roquette - Leaders In Portugal EP. 6 Professor Kimberly Nicholas, Working With Nature EP. 7 Herdade de Coelheiros, Luis Patrão - If we don’t adapt we are finished EP. 8 Wines of Alentejo Sustainability Programme (WASP) João Barroso

In this ClimateGenn episode, I am speaking to climate psychologist and Deputy Director and theme lead for the Centre for Climate Change and Social Transformation (CAST Centre) Dr Stuart Capstick from Cardiff University about why scientists who research aspects of climate change are deciding to protest in public, and in some cases getting arrested. Get episodes early and access additional content - https://patreon.com/genncc We discuss the role of scientists in society as a group that have for many years played a key role in informing policy - but what happens when policymakers are not listening and the consequences mean risking the lives and well beings of citizens, which of course, includes their own family and friends. Stuart is a researcher looking at many aspects of civil disobedience and the publics response to it and has a lot to say that implies to me that more and more people with positions of authority are saying that is enough is enough - the risks to our own existence are now too high. In the next episode I speak with Nuri Syed Corser from Fossil Free London, a group of activists specifically targeting the fossil fuel industry, their backers and enablers, by, for example, disrupting shareholder events and other tactics. Thanks for listening to ClimateGenn - you can subscribe on Youtube and all major podcast channels as well as access podcasts early by becoming a Patreon backer.