International Wineries for Climate Action Issues Official IWCA Certificate for Member Wineries
This new certification has been developed in collaboration with LRQA
International Wineries for Climate Action (IWCA) has launched an official certificate for its member wineries with the aim of becoming the highest standard of climate activism in the global wine sector. The IWCA certification demonstrates the commitment of all members to decarbonize the wine sector and move towards Net Zero by 2050 by effectively monitoring their progress.
IWCA, in partnership with LRQA (formerly known as Lloyd’s Register), has developed a comprehensive process to audit companies and verify whether they meet IWCA membership requirements by establishing a standardized way of calculating wineries’ carbon footprint. Under this process, GHG emissions inventories from all prospective IWCA members must be verified by LRQA or any other third-party ISO14064-accredited audit firm and accurately compiled in an ‘Audit Summary Form.’ Once the winery has been granted membership, IWCA will present the winery with the IWCA certificate, which will also be validated by the audit firm.
“The newly created IWCA certificate is an additional asset for the member winery, as it evaluates the consistency of a winery’s carbon footprint, its performance related to GHG emissions reduction efforts in line with the science-based medium and long-term targets (becoming Net Zero by no later than 2050), and its commitment to implementing renewable energy at the winery,” says Josep Maria Ribas, Climate Change Director at Familia Torres, one of the founding board members of IWCA. He announced the launch of the IWCA certificate during his participation in the Wine Talks of VinExpo Paris in February 2022. “It is a certification that will serve as a guarantee of a winery’s commitment to doing what is necessary.”
The IWCA certification scheme has been developed in collaboration with LRQA, one of the leading global audit firms with a strong expertise in sustainability ISO standards, although it can also be issued by other accredited auditing firms, following the same process.
“LRQA acknowledges the extraordinary effort IWCA has done to gather wineries from all over the world under the same emissions accounting scheme. Standardization is a must, but so is trustworthiness; IWCA accomplishes both. This certificate represents the highest standard of climate activism in the wine sector and it will certainly inspire other sectors to do the same. We are proud to be IWCA’s recommended audit partner, and LRQA will continue helping IWCA in its efforts to decarbonize the wine sector,” says Olga Rivas, Technical Director Business Assurance, LRQA Spain.
International Wineries for Climate Action (IWCA) is a collaborative working group of environmentally committed wineries taking a science-based approach to reducing carbon emissions across the wine industry. Visit www.iwcawine.org to learn how your winery can apply to join this organization.
