Wine Australia, a statutory corporation that regulates the Australian wine industry, announced a multifaceted program focused on environmental, social, and corporate governance (ESG) as well as sustainability, as reported by National Tribune on June 17. Rachel Triggs, Wine Australia’s General Manager of ESG and Market Access, will lead the program. The scheme will integrate the expertise of the whole grape and wine industry to establish sector-wide sustainability and ESG strategies for the industry. Triggs stressed the clear business sense of the project as the world increasingly focuses on ESG frameworks when assessing the impact and ethical practices of companies. ESG frameworks have a significant impact on the global market access dynamics, including on purchasing and investment trends, Triggs added.

Wine Australia CEO Martin Cole has called on the grape and wine industry to further invest in sustainability and ESG. He also emphasized the need to rise above environmental sustainability and incorporate ethical and economic sustainability with greater capacity. So far, 852 winegrowers in Australia have joined Sustainable Winegrowing Australia, an organization that weighs social responsibility and aims to produce high-quality wines in an eco-friendly and economically feasible winemaking process. Currently, members of Sustainable Winegrowing Australia hold 51,200 hectares of vineyards, covering more than one-third of Australia’s vines. Specifically, members seek to power their breweries with solar energy, adopt resource-conserving water management systems, and use recyclable cans instead of heavy glass bottles for wine packages to achieve sustainable development.

Sources:

https://www.nationaltribune.com.au/wine-australia-strengthens-focus-on-sectors-sustainability/

https://www.vintecclub.com/en-au/wine-articles/sustainability/sustainability-in-the-australian-wine-industry/

https://sustainablewinegrowing.com.au/