The European spirits sector welcomes the “European Green Deal”, and is fully committed to being part of the solution and taking a proactive role in its implementation. Long-term sustainability is in our sector’s DNA and is at the heart of what we are doing. 100% of raw materials for spirits’ distillates, such as grains, fruits, vegetables or botanicals, are sourced directly from nature. As such, our sector is entirely dependent on an agricultural supply chain that is coming under increasing pressure with climate change (eg, extreme weather conditions affecting crops and water access).
We thus rely on the responsible and sustainable management of the environment. We are eager to answer growing consumer demand for the products they consume to be produced sustainably and with full respect to the environment.
As part of our transformative journey towards a fully sustainable low carbon, circular, and competitive sector we want to work and partner with all relevant actors in the value chain, ranging from farmers and upstream suppliers to downstream partners in the transport and sales & distribution sectors.
As part of our commitment, we will soon launch a dedicated publication which will provide an overview of the environmental impact of our sector; describe the areas for action and the indicators to measure progress as well as best practice examples. We will set our level of ambition and the transformative journey the sector is committed to take as well as decide on what success will look like. We will also identify the legislative and regulatory measures required to support our transition.
The Green Deal is a unique chance to accelerate real tranformative change in all sectors, including ours. We look forward to discussingof the core elements that must be in place to ensure its success and create “a just transition for all, leaving no one behind” as said by Commissioner Kyriakides.
