Earth Day is observed around the world on April 22 each year—but, in Champagne, every day is Earth Day.
As part of an industry that is heavily dependent on natural resources, vignerons are vulnerable to climate impacts—and no more so than in Champagne, where growers and Houses must rely on their famously chilly, northerly latitude to produce wines of acidity and vivacity.
In response to global warming, the Comité Interprofessionnel du vin de Champagne, the region’s trade association and governing body, initiated a carbon footprint assessment in 2003, becoming the world’s first winegrowing region to proactively do so. The region has pledged to:
- Decrease its carbon footprint by 75% by 2050
- Achieve 100% environmental certification of all vineyards by 2030
- Eradicate the use of herbicides by 2025.
Since 2003:
- Emissions generated by each bottle of champagne have been reduced by 20%
- 41% of vineyards have been environmentally certified
- The use of herbicides has been cut in half.
Producers now recycle 100% of their wine-production waste and 90% of their industrial waste. Since 2010, glassblowers have reduced the weight of champagne bottles by 7% to limit the impact of packaging- and transport-related carbon emissions. The region is also working hard to develop new grape varieties with effective, sustainable resistance while preserving quality and improving vine-growing in the long term. It will take 15 years to complete this selection process, making Champagne a committed world leader in sustainable development.
So, the next time you open a bottle of champagne, know that you’re supporting sustainability in Champagne—and helping the world go green! Vive la Champagne!