Glossary of Climate Smart Terms
 

• Adaptation: Adaptation refers to practices that help adjust to current and future effects of climate change (such as reduced water availability) or take advantage of opportunities presented by climate change.​​​

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• Carbon Footprint:

  • Vineyard Carbon Footprint: The amount of greenhouse gas emissions emitted from vineyard operations (e.g., grape cultivation, equipment use, irrigation, fertilizer and pesticide application, harvesting) minus the carbon sequestered in the vineyard's soil and vegetation. ​

  • Winery Carbon Footprint: The total amount of greenhouse gases emitted by a winery operation’s activities, including wine production, packaging, distribution, etc. 

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• Carbon Sequestration: The capture and long-term storage of carbon dioxide (CO2) in plant material and soils. Plants are considered a “sink” for CO2 because they uptake CO2 during photosynthesis and store it in plant tissue such as leaves, wood, and roots. 

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• Climate Positive (aka Carbon Negative)​: When an organization reduces more emissions than are produced, achieved through reducing use of fossil fuels, using renewable energy and removing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere (i.e., carbon sequestration). ​

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• Circular Supply Chain: A system aimed at eliminating waste and the continual use of resources.

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• Climate Smart Winegrowing: Refers to practices that help manage a vineyard or winery’s climate challenges and risks, mitigate climate change impacts (through carbon sequestration and reducing greenhouse gas emissions), and build resiliency to current and future climate impacts.

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• Decarbonization: Switching the source of energy from fossil fuels such as natural gas and oil to carbon-free renewable energy sources. 

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• GHG Inventory: A quantified accounting of an operation’s activities that release greenhouse gas emissions or remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. A GHG inventory can help an operation manage GHG risks and identify reduction opportunities. The emissions included in a GHG inventory are divided into three scopes: Scope 1, Scope 2 and Scope 3. 

  • Scope 1: Refers to direct emissions from activities under the company’s control such as production and company vehicles. 

  • Scope 2: Refers to all purchased energy (electricity and fuel). 

  • Scope 3: Refers to indirect emissions from the value chain such as those generated from transporting and distributing products. Scope 3 emissions for your company are other organizations scope 1 and 2 emissions.  

• Global Warming Potential: The ability of a greenhouse gas to trap extra heat compared to CO2. GHGs referred to as “potent” have a much higher global warming potential than CO2.

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• Hotspot: An area of the product life cycle that has significant potential impact on an environmental aspect, such as GHG emissions, and is identified and generally agreed upon by experts. The intent of identifying hotspots is to understand where to focus improvement initiatives. 

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• Mitigation: Mitigation refers to practices that help to reduce the impacts of climate change by reducing emissions of GHGs or through carbon sequestration.

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