Former US vice-president and Nobel Peace Prize winner Al Gore gave the closing speech, "An uncomfortable truth", with a video conference from Nashville, Tennessee, and answered the questions put forward by both attendees and journalists. Gore praised the global wine trade for tackling climate change and taking the right steps. He addressed its areas of influence and political, ecological, ethical and economic responsibilities. He emphasized that "Things we measure get more attention than the things we don't measure. So CO2 has historically been treated as irrelevant." "We are not putting a price on the horrible destruction that carbon is causing" asking governments to monetize carbon dioxide via national taxes and tradable emissions credit instruments. He revealed that "800 US cities have independently joined the Kioto Treaty", but they realized little can be done unless they have "a national law". Pancho Campo, an ambassador of Al Gore's "The Climate Project", lamented the lack of Spanish participation at the conference - only 5% of attendees - while praising the Catalonian government for its support. "The only Spanish winemaker here today is Bodegas Torres and the P.D.O. Condado de Huelva, but nobody from such important winemaking regions as Rioja or Ribera del Duero." However, "we have 350 people from 36 countries from Japan to Vancouver and everywhere in between". Acknowledging the amount of confusion still existing in the industry, he calls for "those of us in the wine industry - which is after all an agricultural activity and therefore very vulnerable to climate change - have a great opportunity to take the lead." In a joint speech, several winemakers explained how they prepare to combat climate change. Namely, Bodegas Torres (Spain) and Banrock Station (Australia) showed the audience the time, effort and resources they devote to achieve sustainable productions. Spanish producer Miguel Torres told delegates he was pioneering "carbon capture and storage", whereby harmful CO2 emissions are trapped and stored underground. He has set up the first recovery process for the CO2 produced by fermenting grapes in Chile he said, and "we are trying to convert it into something solid that will remain in the ground instead of being emitted into the air". If the Chile pilot project is successful, he intends to implement it in his Spanish vineyards, with co-financing from the regional government of Catalonia. Meanwhile, "we move the vines to areas higher and cooler. Vines previously planted on the coast have moved further inland, and land vines toward the mountain". Tony Sharley, an environmental scientist and manager of Banrock Station - acclaimed as the most eco-friendly winery is the world - gave a practical presentation of how they research and invest in lowering transportation costs, catching and recycling rain water, reducing water use, recycled packaging, replanting trees in surrounding landscape. As a result they have seen an increase in enotourism, wine quality and revenue. He expects this direct relation between conversation and profit will have a domino effect on the industry. Dr. Richard Smart, a world leader in canopy management and viticulture, said there is incontrovertible evidence that changes in temperature of even one degree translate into dramatically different weather, based on sources such as the research by Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change IPCC and France National Agronomic Research Industry INRA. His speech focused on adaptation to the inevitable. He recommends producers to consider not only the varietals they are planting, but the location of the vines as well. While "some relatively cold regions in the southern hemisphere such as Chile, New Zealand, Argentina or even northern Europe are 'lucky' and have room to maneuver as growers move to cooler or higher areas to plant grapes, fine wine regions like Bordeaux or Burgundy will cease to be viable because such tactics would not be possible there." Dr. Smart places power in the citizens' hands to force politicians to take action and warned against genetic modification as the solution. "Research authorities have wasted millions on trying to put a cactus gene in a Chardonnay grape. In 30 years, they expect to have a Chardonnay grape that is adapted to higher temperature. But in my opinion, this will produce nothing but Chardonnay-flavored tequila". The conference was a unique occasion for two of the best enologists in the world today - Jacques Lurton and Michel Rolland, members of the exclusive group of "flying winemakers" - to give a masterly wine tasting on wines affected by the climate change. The 350 attendees were challenged to a blind tasting where whites were commented by Lurton and reds by Rolland. Lurton, fifth generation of a well-renowned Bordeaux winemaking family, admitted that some French regions "were making wines near their climatic limit" but "there was still room for maneuver". He predicted a change in style of wine over the next 20 years, with perhaps a Bordeaux Cabernet Sauvignon becoming closer to those currently being made in Napa Valley, California. Rolland, a consultant and "wine designer" in over 13 countries from Argentina to Australia, asserts that "climate change has not changed the production techniques". He said, "It is necessary for mental attitudes to change, that the producer uses less water, less energy, and practice a more holistic agriculture. If we do not meet these codes, wine quality will not improve," adding that "although climate warming may be relatively positive for some regions, I do not foresee great wines coming from countries like Denmark." Please click here to view a list of all the speakers (pdf document).