Jackson Family Wines has unveiled a
robust, 10-year sustainability strategy to tackle the climate crisis and build
resiliency for changing social and environmental landscapes.
For nearly four decades, the privately owned wine company has carved a niche for
itself crafting a broad portfolio of thoughtfully cultivated wines. JFW’s
Rooted for Good
sustainability and climate action plan aims to build on this legacy by setting a
new standard for the wine industry through climate-positive commitments,
positive social impact, and investments in long-term resiliency.
It also just so happens to be the largest program JFW has ever undertaken.
“This has to be the decade of
action … We need
to have a leading voice,” JFW president Rick Tigner said at a recent press
event. “If we can lead by example, get other wineries to join in on this
conversation and be more collaborative, this decade of action will get off to a
great start.”
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Back-to-back record-hot years, severe droughts and wildfires sealed JFW’s
commitment to rigorous environmental and social targets. The company tallied the
cost of a runaway climate, and determined that it owed itself and the world
greater sustainability commitments. They chatted with employees, suppliers,
communities, conservationists, biologists and activists. After reviewing the
data and hearing from stakeholders, they determined more action was needed, and
fast.
In 2019, JFW joined the Torres family of Spain
to form the International Wineries for Climate
Action (IWCA) to evangelize the scientific
imperative for climate action, and create a model and network to help peers take
action. Two years later, JFW announced Rooted for Good.
Tigner sees JFW as a proof-of-concept for scalable climate and social justice
solutions. If the winemaker can prove sustainability is financially beneficial,
he believes its leverage can help supply chains and other wineries follow suit.
“We need to be moving collectively,” Julien Gervreau, VP of Sustainability
at JFW, asserted at the event. “The new IPCC
report
is a stark reminder of the scientific imperative that we have as a global
economy and global society to change, and to accelerate that change and work
together.”
Rooted for Good is a bold, comprehensive set of goals and initiatives crafted to
lead climate solutions, spur positive social impact, and support JFW’s vision
for the wine industry’s sustainable future. It hinges on four key sustainability
goals to reach by 2030:
Climate action and greenhouse gas emissions
JFW wants to lead the wine industry into a decarbonized future — as shown in the
company’s founding of the IWCA and membership in the UN’s Race to Zero
campaign
— and Rooted for Good is the starting line. JFW aims to halve its scope 1-3
(direct and indirect) carbon emissions by 2030 and strives for climate
positivity — sequestering more carbon than it emits — by 2050, all without
purchasing carbon
offsets.
“We don’t think you can just buy your way out of this,” Gervreau said. “This
isn’t something that has to be accomplished through direct mitigation efforts.”
To start, JFW will continue to invest in onsite renewable
energy
(it’s well on its way already: The company’s 23,000+ solar panels provide 30
percent of its electricity, making it the largest on-site generator of solar
energy in the US wine industry). JFW will also transition to zero-emission
vehicles (JFW is actively encouraging EV adoption for its employees and offering
free charging onsite) and product transport, develop advanced soil-carbon
sequestration
in its vineyards, and more — all in an effort to galvanize climate-positive
vintning as industry-standard best practices.
Social responsibility and DEI
Recognizing the interplay between social and environmental justice and their
role in overall sustainability, JFW will work to reflect diverse wine industry
stakeholders
and customers in its leadership, launching an internal DEI steering committee
and employee council to enact meaningful diversity and inclusion. JFW’s
recruitment and talent acquisition efforts partner with various organizations to
remove barriers of entry for diverse candidates, including women and people of
color. The company will also broaden opportunities for professional growth among
underrepresented communities — providing scholarships, mentorships, and
career-advancement programs aimed at diversifying the winery’s workforce and
leadership.
JFW will also refine its sick and family leave policies, with a focus on
flexibility and holistic wellness and mental
health.
Farming and land use
By 2030, JFW will integrate regenerative farming
practices
across all of its estate vineyards, boosting soil health and sequestering 20,000
MTCO2e annually. Through techniques such as organic mulching and composting,
reducing or eliminating soil disturbance, rotational livestock grazing, cover
cropping, and protection of natural ecosystems, the company resolves to flourish
synergistically with the biome while simultaneously reducing and sequestering
emissions and boosting climate resiliency.
The company has already seen promising benefits of erosion control, water
retention and soil fertility. It will work with the scientific community to
further understand and implement regenerative practices across all of its estate
vineyards, and develop vineyard-specific strategies tailored to the unique
agronomy and climate impacts of each locale.
“The thing we work on is future-proofing our vineyards,” Tigner said. “If we’re
going to plant a vineyard in 2021, we need to plant it thinking about what the
climate is going to be like in 2042.”
Aside from future-proofing vineyards and drawing down carbon, regenerative ag is
a necessary step towards ensuring JFW continues to produce high-quality wine
despite a warming climate.
“Sustainability really does tie to better-quality wine,” said Katie Jackson,
CSR SVP at JFW. “Regenerative techniques are just going to make our wines more
resilient in the face of climate change. As we continue to implement these
practices, we're going to see better-quality wines coming out and more
resilience achieved.”
Water management
An exceptional
drought
continues to grip the western US, as seen in unprecedented water shortages
in the Colorado River Basin and widespread wildfires. According to the US
Drought Monitor, Santa Rosa, California — JFW’s hometown — is in an
extreme
drought
that has worsened dramatically in recent months, with temperatures soaring 9-12
degrees higher than average amidst dwindling water reserves and wildfires raging
in the nearby hills.
As such, the company is reinforcing its commitment to water conservation and
quality-improvement projects for local watersheds, with key initiatives
including water recycling, rainwater collection, and real-time water monitoring
to increase efficiency. JFW plans to adopt precision irrigation in its vineyards
and water-evaporation reduction in reservoirs. On the remediation side, the
company will partner with government and private agencies to increase
groundwater recharge and watershed-restoration projects to protect and enhance
local ecosystems and their services.
Rooted for Good from the beginning
Four decades of sustainability efforts have created a name for JFW among
conscious vintners. The company formally began baselining various footprints in
2008. In 2015, it released a comprehensive sustainability report outlining its
efforts and identifying 10 key areas of improvement. After tackling most of its
original 2015 goals, JFW set out new
targets,
and with a new sense of urgency.
“A lot has changed since 2015,” Jackson said. “We’re seeing the impact of
climate change in a much more serious way.”
A livable world or a runaway climate will be determined by the choices
humanity makes during this decade of action. Jackson Family Wines is taking point to
fundamentally shift how the wine industry future-proofs itself and does business
for good.
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Christian is a writer, photographer, filmmaker, and outdoor junkie obsessed with the intersectionality between people and planet. He partners with brands and organizations with social and environmental impact at their core, assisting them in telling stories that change the world.
Published Aug 27, 2021 2pm EDT / 11am PDT / 7pm BST / 8pm CEST