Low carbon diet: don’t drink NZ wine

The Times Online‘s “ecoworrier

4 thoughts on “Low carbon diet: don’t drink NZ wine”

  1. Sadly NZ is an easy target because we are so far away from Europe. Here is Dr Kevin Anderson from the Tyndall Centre for Climate Change Research giving evidence to the UK Environmental Audit Committee on 8th May 2007:

    Q253 Mark Pritchard (MP Conservative): Then a final point, and it is not a flippant point or I hope it is not seen as a flippant point, but I raised it a few weeks ago in the Chamber, that one of the best ways to deal with climate change in the short term urgently and immediately – two of the words you have used – is actually to create a new generation of what I call ‘patriotic purchasers’. These are people who buy British not only because it is good for manufacturing and makes them feel good themselves, but actually it is the quickest way for them to save all those gas-guzzling ships or aircraft coming over from China bringing in products that they could buy perhaps ten per cent more expensively here in the UK, but overall the net gain is one for the environment and for their pocket in the medium to long term.

    Dr Anderson: I would agree completely, but the legislation would be difficult there because of WTO Rules. We import New Zealand lamb when we have plenty of lamb on the west coast of Scotland, so why are we doing that?

    To my mind the implications for trade and tourist represent a far greater threat to NZ, in the short run, than the weather effects of climate change.

  2. I agree. Exporters are going to have to be very careful not to allow negative perceptions to develop. They need to be proactive in adopting a “low carbon” stance, and find creative ways of marketing that. Pretty much what Air NZ’s CEO was saying in the Herald story I blogged earlier.

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