Biodiversity equals stability was the key message at Sicily’s second international SOStain symposium.

It isn’t well known that the Italian island of Sicily is home to the greatest biodiversity in the European Union, stemming from the fact that that the island is a bridge between Europe and Africa, according to Gaetano Benedetto, president of the World Wildlife Foundation Italy Study Center.

The drive to protect its flora and fauna is evident in the rapid adoption of organic certification by its winegrowers. With a dry Mediterranean climate and windy conditions that allow for fewer inputs in the vineyards, the island is naturally suited to organic production and has the most certified-organic land under vine of any region in Italy: over 37,000 hectares, which account for 35% of the country’s total.

There are several factors driving sustainability efforts both in Sicily and on the mainland of Italy, many of which were discussed at SOStain Sicilia’s second International Symposium on Sustainable Interactions, held on October 5, 2023, in Torre del Barone di Sciacca.

SOStain Sicilia is led by president Alberto Tasca d’Almerita and a board of directors composed of five producers who represent a cross-section of the industry: Giuseppe Bursi sits on behalf of cooperatives, Letizia Russo of large companies, Arianna Occhipinti of small companies practicing organic agriculture and biodynamics, and Alberto Tasca and Alessio Planeta of family businesses. SOStain was jointly established by the Consorzio di Tutela Vini DOC Sicilia and
winemakers’ association Assovini Sicilia in 2020.

The agency, which does not allow members of its program to use synthetic herbicides, is based on the specifications of VIVA, a program developed by the Italian Ministry of the Environment and Energy Security in 2011 to promote sustainability within the Italian wine sector.

SOStain’s main goals are promoting inclusivity, as producers do not have to be certified to participate in certain aspects of its program, and fostering the involvement of all players in the wine supply chain, making it one of the most progressive sustainabilitycertification
programs to date.

The symposium was organized into three sections—Nature, Economy, and Society—with talks by 13 academic presenters (myself among them), followed by four partner presentations that demonstrated the agency of SOStain Sicilia in putting action behind its initiatives.

Ernesto Ghigna, European marketing director for O-I, introduced a wine bottle composed of 100% Sicilian glass; weighing 410 grams, it has a 90% recycle rate. Given the difficulty of achieving carbon neutrality in glass production, O-I relied on existing infrastructure in Marsala and a nearby cullet supplier to create a one-of-a-kind “closed-loop economy” in which glass bottles are produced, sold, and eventually recycled into cullet, fromwhich more bottles are produced. The initiative produced its first bottles in May.

In her opening remarks, Lucrezia Lamastra, president of SOStain’s scientific committee and professor at the Catholic University of Piacenza, noted that the annual carbon savings of the program are equal to 1,000 flights around the globe.

Among the compelling presentations on the natural world, “Biodiversity as a Keystone in a Changing World” was riveting in its clarity. Gianluca Sarà, professor and coordinator of ecology laboratory at Palermo University, stated in no uncertain terms: “Biodiversity is the basic layer of the foundation upon which sustainability is built. Any loss of biodiversity undermines the entire ecosystem, and it jeopardizes the flexibility and the resilience of our planet.”

Sarà, who coordinates marine biology studies, described the need for a paradigm shift in which we see ourselves as protectors rather than exploiters of the ecosystem. The takeaway: biodiversity equals stability.

Sarà’s talk served as the connective tissue for discussions by Paolo Fontana, entomologist at Fondazione Edmund Mach in Trento, about the impact of synthetic inputs on bees and the species’ viability as an indicator of environmental health and by Attilio Carapezza, entomologist and president of the Sicilian FonSociety of Natural Sciences, about the unprecedented decline of insects.

Carapezza noted, for instance, that Germany recorded an overall biomass loss of 78%. “We cannot live without insects; they first emerged in the Devonian era, and their disappearance would shatter our existence,” he remarked. “A world without insects means a world without chocolate.

The cacao plant is pollinated by a very tiny insect that has evolved for this purpose.” He pointed to the increasing threat of invasive species, which could result in the loss of palm trees and palm beetles.

Speaking on the topic of energy transition, Maurizio Cellura, director of the Center for Sustainability and Ecological Transition at the University of Palermo, began with citing the need for a universal language or “grammar” of sustainability, proposing a course to train educators in metrics and the skills needed for the transition to a sustainable economy.

He pointed to the “tough choices” facing us as the raw materials critical to producing fuel cells, i.e. solar panels, decline. “We need to stretch our practice areas and to seek new renewable sources—those that will transfer us to a circular economy,” Cellura said. “To do that, we must develop synergies that connect the sourcing of raw materials and the supply chain to climate justice.”

In addition to moderator Anna Favella and Lamastra, who presented an overview of SOStain’s results to date, I was the only other woman and the only English speaker to present as part of a panel that day. My talk, titled “The Sustainability Certification Landscape in California and US Market Trends,” provided a snapshot of where the California wine industry currently stands in terms of adoption and
compliance with sustainable mandates.

“The evolution of the wine industry certification landscape in California has resulted in a dizzying array of regional and national certifying organizations that stand under the sustainability umbrella,” I explained.

“And while these efforts have positioned California as a leader in sustainable practices in the United States, ours is a complex landscape that is constantly evolving and . . . particularly challenging for consumers to navigate in an informed and empowered way.”

This scenario stands in stark contrast to the streamlined and transparent certification system being championed by SOStain in Sicily. Drinks Business editor-in chief Patrick Schmitt, MW, remarked that the talk had the effect of an “exposé” in pulling back the curtain on what passes as sustainably certified in California.