Confronting Climate Change

South Africa’s fruit and wine exporters on 7 July 2008 launched an innovative research programme to measure the carbon footprint of the industry. The project will also establish how the South African industry measures up, in terms of its carbon emissions, internationally. As part of the initiative, the process will enable the sector to formulate a carbon reduction plan with effective mitigation and adaptation strategies to meet the challenge of climate change.

It will be the first such industry-wide measure to be developed in South Africa. The research is co-ordinated by the Deciduous Fruit Producers Trust, managed by ComMark’s Regional Standards Programme, and co-funded by DFID, ComMark and the Deciduous Fruit Producers Trust.