Al Gore to speak at climate change conference in Porto

Following the first event held this July featuring President Barack Obama, former US Vice-President, environmentalist and Nobel Laureate Al Gore will address the wine industry next March at an event highlighting the challenges it is facing due to climate change.

(Photo: Tom Raftery/Flickr)

Al Gore will be the keynote speaker at the international conference Climate Change Leadership – Solutions for the Wine Industry Porto 2019, organised by Adrian Bridge, CEO of the Fladgate Partnership, which will seek to provide the industry with “short and long-term practical solutions” to the challenges of climate change.

Other confirmed speakers include Miguel Torres, Cristina Mariani May, Professor Roger Boulton of UC-Davis, António Amorim, climatologist Dr. Greg Jones, Switzerland’s Dr. José Vouillamoz, Cindy de Vries from Fetzer Vineyards, Alvaro Gonzalez from Concha y Toro, Heinrich Schloms from South Africa, Spain’s Jaume Gramona, France’s Joël Rochard, Britain’s Jamie Goode and Linda Johnson-Bell.

“The objective of the Climate Change Leadership conference is to discuss concrete ideas, share real experiences and provide effective solutions, which have been shown to work, on whatever scale. It will focus on real examples of what companies are doing to mitigate climate change,” said Adrian Bridge, CEO of Taylor’s Port, the main organiser of the event.

“There is no time, and no need, to reinvent things. If we share our successes and experiences, we will all benefit. That’s the objective behind the Porto Protocol movement.”

As grape farmers, the wine industry is particularly vulnerable to the impact of climate change, which brings with it increasingly erratic and unpredictable weather patterns.

This can include violent rainstorms that cause erosion and flooding, prolonged periods of drought, excessive rainfall and more frequent hail storms, all of which has a direct impact on the wine industry’s ability to cultivate grapes.

Aimed at business owners and CEOs, this conference aims to identify “where and how we can start to push back”, and will provide solutions and real examples of what is working within the wine industry globally, and within different sectors working to tackle climate change.

It follows the launch of the Porto Protocol earlier this year – a voluntary pledge in which encouraging companies to do more than they are currently doing to help mitigate and resolve climate change. It will also provide a database of case studies of what can be done and who can help, creating a platform through with to share information and advice.

Climate Change Leadership – Solutions for the Wine Industry Porto 2019 will also feature an extensive Trade Show Area at the Alfandega Conference Centre where sponsors and exhibitors display their products, services, and initiatives mitigating and adapting to climate change to the approximately 700 delegates coming to Oporto from over 50 countries.

The Climate Change Leadership Porto – Solutions for the Wine Industry, will take place in Porto, in Portugal, from March 5-7, 2019.

For further information and to register attendance, visit www.climatechange-porto.com or contact us at info@climatechange.pt.

Find more information about the Porto Protocol and membership at www.portoprotocol.com