1) Read the reports, trust the research, believe it’s happening, and support moves to Net Zero.
2) It’s all a hoax. The climate has always changed over the millennia; everyone’s making too much fuss, and none of it has affected me, anyway. So, focus on the good news stories and wish the negative stuff away.
3) The pragmatic approach. Listen to what everyone’s saying and reckon that, even if the gloomsters are all wrong, it makes sense to consider ways of improving how we are doing things.
It is not hard to see parallels in the wine world.
Having just read the latest Gallup report on US attitudes to alcohol (53% believe that even moderate consumption is unhealthy, and only slightly more - 54% - ever drink it); seen falling wine consumption figures in Romania; and the poor latest quarter results from India’s biggest wine distributor, I’m unashamedly the vinous equivalent of a climate change believer. There is simply too much accumulated data from too many places in support of the argument that the wine industry globally is looking fundamentally unhealthy.
But you don’t have to look very far to find the deniers. The people saying that the recent health advisories will soon blow over, and that any other current problems can be attributed to COVID, US wine pricing or the current shortage of cash.
In other words, any downturn is cyclical. Times will improve and Gen Z will all get to wine – they’ll just take a bit longer to do so. And, hey look! Here’s an IWSR report that says it’s already happening!
