Financial Times 27Feb2020

16 ★ FINANCIAL TIMES Thursday 27 February 2020

COMPANIES

A N J L I R AVA L— LO N D O N

BP is to cut ties with three US industry
lobby groups over disagreements with
their climate policies.
The UK oil and gas major named the
American Fuel and Petrochemical Man-
ufacturers (AFPM), the Western States
Petroleum Association (WSPA) and the

Western Energy Alliance (WEA) as

groups it will be leaving.

The move comes afterBPcarried out

areview of its membership of 30 impor-

tant global trade associations, assessing

their lobbying activities and positions

on climate policies against its own.

Big shareholders and environmental

activists have criticised energy majors

for membership of organisations with

lobbying positions that run counter to

company promises to cut emissions.

BP said it had “material differences”

with the AFPM and WSPA regarding

policy positions on carbon pricing and

with the WEA on the federal regulation

of methane emissions.Royal Dutch

Shell andTotallast year said they would

quit the AFPM because of its stance on

climate issues.

While BP is leaving the AFPM — the

major lobby group for refiners — it will

remain a member of other Washington

power brokers with stances on climate

policy that run counter to its own, and of

advocates of the Paris climate goals.

BP identified a further five organisa-

tions with which it is only partially

aligned on climate policy, including the

American Petroleum Institute, but of

which it will continue to be a member.

The API has come under fire for suc-

cessfully lobbying the Trump adminis-

tration to roll back Obama-era methane

regulations and pushing to speed up

approval for oil and gas projects, with-

out taking into account certain environ-

mental criteria.

Even as the biggest energy majors

have defended US federal oversight of

methane emissions and pledged to con-

trol greenhouse gases from their own

operations, critics say supporting such

groups means they are acting as ena-

blers for more lax corporate polluters.

Bernard Looney, BP’s new chief exec-

utive, has pledged to align the com-

pany’s lobbying efforts with its inten-

tions as it seeks to become a net zero

emissions company by 2050.

“When differences arise we will be

transparent. But if our views cannot be

reconciled, we will be prepared to part

company,” he said yesterday.

He said he wanted to counter the

impression that the company would say

one thing and do another after facing

much criticism over its spending plans,

lobbying practices and advertising.

Other groups BP will continue as a

member of include the Australian Insti-

tute of Petroleum and Canadian Associ-

ation of Petroleum Producers, which BP

acknowledged did not actively support

the goals of the Paris climate deal. It is

only partially aligned with the National

Association of Manufacturers on carbon

pricing and not entirely in agreement

with the US Chamber of Commerce on

its position on climate science.

Oil & gas

BP quits three big lobby groups over climate change

Energy major sticks with

other bodies, despite

differences on emissions

E M I KO T E R A ZO N O— LO N D O N

WhenOli Madgettmoved from the UK
to Australia in 2014, he did not imagine
that the digital skills he had used devel-
oping interactive voting systems for TV
shows such asTheXFactorwould be use-
ful in his next venture: winemaking.
But after a few frustrating years look-
ing for a visual tool that would allow him
to map the most troublesome areas of
his vineyard near Adelaide, Mr Madgett
created a mobile phone app he describes
as a “Google Maps for agriculture”.
Platfarmallows farmers to integrate
soil maps and sensor data into diagrams
that help identify areas in the vineyard
that need work, thereby cutting costs
and improving grape quality.

“We have all this imagery [from satel-
lites], but we have had nothing to turn
this data into practical action,” he said.
Winemakers have traditionally taken
pride in their artisanal skills, with
technology making up a niche part of
the sector. Total venture capital funding
in wine tech has been just under $1bn
since 2000, according to Dealroom, a
data and analysis firm. This compares
with food and agritech financing of
$20bn in 2019.
But as the effects of climate change, a
shrinking labour force, and stalling
demand take hold, some are opening up

to innovations, from GPS-tracked

sniffer dogs to UV light-zapping robots.

Robots have become a novel solution

for winemakers as a result of tightening

restrictions on working hours and

tougher immigration controls.

AtSymington Family Estates, in Por-

tugal’s Douro Valley, a solar-powered

autonomous robot called VineScout

shuttles up and down the rows of vines,

recording metrics such as leaf tempera-

ture and water availability.

“In monitoring our crops, we need a

lot of manpower and boots on the

ground,” said Fernando Alves, R&D viti-

culture manager at Symington, adding

that he hoped the robot would eventu-

ally replace the back-breaking manual

work of vine-sampling at dawn.

Baron Philippe de Rothschild, which

owns the Château Mouton-Rothschild

in France, worked withNaio Technolo-

giesto develop Ted, a robot that can

weed and spray vineyards. The device,

which straddles the vines and travels up

and down their rows, is used byLVMH’s

wine and spirits armMoët Hennessy.

Climate change is affecting harvests

and grape quality. With water availabil-

ity a concern,Chris Storm, viticulture

head atVino Farmsin California,

decided to tackle irrigation using sen-

sors fromTule Technologythat meas-

ure water vapour coming off vines.

They provide water management rec-

ommendations to growers based on AI-

powered analysis of the data.

“When Tule came up with the eva-

potranspiration technology, it was a

leap in precision,” said Mr Storm.

Climate change will exacerbate fungal

disease, which thrives in extreme tem-

peratures and results in over-reliance

on pesticides. Sigfredo Fuentes, associ-

ate professor of digital agriculture, food

and wine at Melbourne university,

developed a digital app linked to a GPS

which is attached to dogs trained to sniff

out the disease. When an affected plant

is identified, the dog knows and sits or

crouches nearby to signal its presence.

In the US, David Gadoury, professor of

plant pathology and microbe biology at

Cornell, is refining the use of ultraviolet

light to kill fungi. His team will be work-

ing with Norwegian start-upSaga

Robotics, which is trialling the tech in

Italian vineyards.

Winemakers face an uphill struggle

as younger consumers turn to craft beer

and spirits. According to alcoholic bev-

erage data group IWSR, consumption in

the US, the largest wine market, fell in

2019 for the first time in 25 years.

“There is oversupply... It’s putting

a lot of pressure on the wineries and

in turn the growers,” said Uri Rosenz-

weig, head of product at Israeli agritech

start-up Trellis, which counts among

its clientsTreasury Wine Estates, the

Australian group behindPenfoldsand

Wolf Blass.

“[The wine industry] doesn’t have a

choice but to turn to technology.”

For some, machines are not just more

efficient than humans; they can make

better decisions. Growers “have a lot of

emotional bias”, Mr Rosenzweig said.

Trellis uses AI to predict yields and

harvest timing. Tech helps reduce waste

of resources, such as water and fertilis-

ers, aiding sustainability.

“[Millennials] are on a quest for a

more sustainable planet, and we want to

meet them,” saidChris Byrne, a vine-

yard owner in Australia. He is leading a

group of growers working with Adelaide

university and state-backed authority

Wine Australia on a $5m project to cre-

ate a fully automated vineyard using AI.

The highest goal of each grower is to

create a quality product.

Mr Alves said: “The final object is to

improve the level of wine.”

Food & beverage.Innovation

Go-ahead growers raise a toast to the smart vineyard

GPS-fitted dogs, apps and

robots battle climate change

and shrinking labour force

The VineScout

robot gathers

information at

Symington

Family Estates

in Portugal’s

Douro Valley

The sector ‘doesn’t

have a choice but to

turn to technology’

Uri Rosenzweig, Trellis

$1bn

VC funding in wine

tech since 2000

$20bn

Food and agritech

financing last year

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FEBRUARY 27 2020 Section:Companies Time: 26/2/2020 - 17: 15 User: cathy.pryor Page Name: CONEWS3, Part,Page,Edition: USA, 16, 1