Letter of Principles of The Porto Protocol Introduction
Climate change is real and is happening around us every day all over the world, jeopardizing present and future generations. The Porto Protocol has two major objectives. The first is to ask everyone to do more to help than they are doing at the moment. Too often we think that the problem is for others to solve or that our individual contribution will not matter. The second objective is to create a platform where participants can share their ideas, achievements and experiences. Many companies have worked hard to develop solutions that they are applying to their businesses, often through hard work and careful research. We need to share between us the solutions that are making a difference, stimulate new ideas and inspire others to take action. As grape farmers, we are especially sensitive and vulnerable to the multiple impacts of an increasingly unpredictable climate. But these effects can be diminished if everyone plays their part.Wine is the last great branded agricultural industry and is run by people who farm land, often in remote places. It is an industry that also talks to the consumer. It therefore is part of the solution.Firstly, it has enriched the economies and environments of many remote areas of the world. This is because the grape vine can survive in hostile conditions and, as such, support economic activity in places that would otherwise have none.Secondly, across the world, the growing of grapes for wine is often the work of families. Family ownership tends to foster long term thinking.
Thirdly, wine is the world’s only branded agricultural product. It has a unique ability to communicate with the consumer. The wine industry talks directly to consumers and consumers listen.Finally, wine is closely bound to a sense of place. A wine depends for its distinctive character on its ‘terroir’, a unique combination of vine, climate and geography. It cannot be made anywhere else than its place of origin. Wine growers are custodians of exceptional places, many classified as world heritage. Consumers know this and they care.
Principles By joining The Porto Protocol, companies are committed to:
•Do more than they are doing at the moment•Guide their activity by good environmental practices principles•Promote, in the respective value chain, this principles that characterize good environmental practices
•Seek to identify opportunities for cooperation with other Porto Protocol members and with external entities, regarding Climate Change
•Execute projects oriented towards the sustainability of the organization
•Disseminate good practices and case studies to The Porto Protocol platform
•Participate in the initiatives promoted by Climate Change Leadership Porto, to support The Porto Protocol
•Publicly report on their development performance•Appoint a delegate to manage the relationship with The Porto Protocol The Porto Protocol assumes the commitment to its members to:
•Promote, through The Porto Protocol platform the communication and dissemination of good practices of its members, as well as of the projects and other initiatives that companies are the main road to Climate Change fight.
•Develop, together with members, tools to help fight climate change, share/dissemination of innovative ideas and provide access to learning tools, reports and know-how produced by Official entities
•Encourage debate and companies to explore new concepts•Maintain a close relationship with its members through a regular communication and promotion of events
•Support the leadership of companies in matters of climate change
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