The ethical drinker A smaller footprint

A new book profiles 13 wine industry climate pioneers

- Natalie Earl, Decanter Sustainability Editor

How far would you go to reduce your carbon footprint? I calculated mine and was rather shocked to discover that, despite being a vegetarian, recycling meticulously, buying locally where I can and not owning a car, my annual footprint is well over the UK target. My self-righteousness took a blow. The key culprit? Travel - flying, mainly - equating to eight tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent. Roughly the weight of 63 giant pandas, apparently.

Author Camilla Gjerde almost certainly has a lower carbon footprint than me. She stopped flying some time ago, as did Alsace winemaker Yannick Meckert, about whom she writes in her book Natural Trailblazers: 13 Ways to Climate-Friendly Wine (£29 Now What Publishing). While carrying out research for the book, she travelled only by train and bike (save for a few emergency taxis).

Gjerde took inspiration from sustainability researcher Kimberly Nicholas and her book Under the Sky We Make (Penguin, 2021), which focuses on what we as individuals can do to reduce our carbon footprint. And so, focusing on carbon emissions reduction, Gjerde highlights 13 people who are determined to reduce wine's climate footprint, bringing their stories to life on the page.