Climate Change & the Impact on Tea

This special date was created in memory of the 19th August bomb attack on the Canal Hotel in Baghdad, Iraq. The attack left 22 people dead, one of whom was Sergio Vieira de Mello, the chief humanitarian in Iraq.

Whilst there are so many humanitarian issues facing us today, it's difficult to know where to shine the spotlight. This year, for Humanitarian Day, the United Nations have chosen to focus on the race to stop the devastating effects of climate change and in particular highlight the immediate consequences of the climate emergency for those that are most vulnerable. Ironically these people are often the ones who have least contributed to the climate emergency yet are the very ones who are already losing their homes, their livelihoods and their lives.

In May 2021, Christian Aid published a report "Reading the tea leaves - Climate change and the British Cuppa". Why from a British perspective you might ask? Well to give this some context, tea is the most popular hot beverage consumed in the UK where around 75% of the population enjoy at least one cup every single day (think we may skew the averages a little here at Jenier!!)

With such a dependence on tea as part of our businesses and daily life, it's reasonable to look at any impact climate change may have for sure, but let's not make any mistake, the impact of climate change on tea for the tea growing regions has far greater implications right now than for that of a British consumer in the future.

Kenya

The largest exporter of black tea in the world, Kenya has for years had the perfect climate for growing tea. A tropical climate, red volcanic soil and long days filled with sunshine, meant the best growing conditions for tea were over 2000m enjoying temperatures between 16C - 29C and stable rainfall. But the climate is changing and bringing extreme weather patterns, erratic rainfall, floods and droughts, frost and rising temperatures all of which threaten the carefully cultivated, established tea plantations.

Research and modelling show that by 2050, tea production in the optimal growing areas will be cut by over 25% and in areas described as 'average' growing conditions, by nearly 40%. The greatest contributing change to these projected losses is the rise in temperature above 23.5C which is the optimal temperature for tea bushes to flourish.

But we don't need to wait until 2050 to see the effects of climate change, a decline in tea production is happening now. A survey conducted by the UN's Food & Agriculture Agency of 700 farmers across all 7 growing regions found farmers reporting changes in rainfall patterns, distribution and a reduced yield from the tea bushes as a direct link to climate change. In addition, 43% of the respondents had been forced to change the planting season in response to the changes of rainy and dry seasons with 35% citing drought as a major contributor.

Tea farmer Richard Koskinen from Kericho in Kenya's western highlands explains how tea has been their community's livelihood for decades and how without the tea industry, they will struggle to survive. The decline in tea production has begun. Considering the whole of the African continent contributes only 4% of global carbon emissions it is a tragic situation for the tea farmers as there is very little they can do except ask World Leaders to listen and take real action now.

India

The North East region of Assam is the largest single tea growing region in the world and of course North Bengal in the Darjeeling district is well known as a major tea growing region too, but climate change is already threatening the tea industry in these areas placing the very livelihoods of everyone involved in jeopardy.

The picture is similar to Kenya?s tea growing regions with droughts and erratic rainfall, some of which is extremely heavy. Intense rainfall causes erosion and waterlogging of soil which in turn causes damage to the tea bush root development. Whilst there are reports that climate change may lead to other areas in India becoming suitable for tea growing, it obviously doesn't help the families who've cultivated their farms for decades to produce such unique varieties as Darjeeling.

Reports by the Darjeeling Tea Research & Development Centre, cite rising temperatures, annual decline in rainfall and humidity has contributed to the overall production decline, a drop in quality of leaf and a loss of taste.

China

Tea production is predominantly produced in the provinces towards the south and east of the country. Here conditions are normally humid and tropical in range but climate change is already impacting on crop growth with studies linking longer monsoon seasons and heavier rainfall to crop losses. It is the same here, increase in temperatures, heavier rainfall are the main drivers of change.

As the largest tea producing nation in the world, many farmers have also noticed that the extreme weather conditions are affecting the taste and aroma of the tea and indeed there is good evidence to support why this is happening.

Sri Lanka

A tenth of the Sri Lankan population are employed in the tea industry which is the fourth largest in the world. Sri Lanka has an excellent tea growing climate with a history of predictable rainfall and suitable temperatures for growing tea. However, the World Bank warns that a failure to act to reduce emissions predict a temperature rise of up to 2C by 2050 which would have catastrophic effects for tea production

Climate impact on the taste of tea

Tea bushes produce 'secondary metabolites' which are responsible for giving tea it's flavour, antioxidant qualities and caffeine, but perhaps just as important, these compounds are what we 'taste' allowing us to differentiate between one tea from another.

When tea plants get really wet, they cease getting the normal ecological cues to make the metabolites in the usual way and those that are made are diluted as the plant becomes waterlogged. As we have read, global warming is causing excessive rainfall in many tea growing regions which are by default warmer parts of the world. The reason for the heavier rainfalls is because our atmosphere's limit to hold water increases by 4% for every 0.6C degree rise in temperature, so when a storm passes through a warmer atmosphere that is holding more water, there is a higher chance of extreme rainfalls.

Tea plants can only tolerate a certain level of rain and as we're seeing in all of these areas, plants are being pushed beyond their limits. In addition, tea plants are also growing in size because of the rain, but the tea leaves are of inferior quality leaving tea tasteless.

So, what's the solution?

Well, it's clear, climate change is happening and happening fast. Everyone of us is affected and unless things change, the future for our planet is not going to get any better.

Here in the UK we are starting to experience some of the effects, but it is acting on what we see and hear about climate change across our world, in the tea growing regions now that will make the difference.

We all know the message to reduce our emissions, but what does that mean to our business, or to yours? It's hard to find our way through all the detail sometimes, but every small step is a step further forward. As the Ethical Tea Partnership highlight in their response to the Christian Aid Report, "To reduce carbon emissions along the supply chain we all have a role to play. Businesses need to innovate and invest in more sustainable practices..... Building the resilience of tea farmers is paramount and this can only be achieved through partnerships and commitment from all stakeholders"

A few steps we've taken:

• Introduced a filtration system that cleans the air in our production facility to assist with COVID 19 protection but retains heat energy.
• Collaborating with supply chain partners to reduce carbon emission activities
• Invested in 100% compostable and biodegradable packaging materials across our range of plant-based pyramid teabags
• Replacing all lighting with LED bulbs
• Providing the option for customers to buy multi use, air tight tubs to store teas
• Offering a no cost return Recycling programme for all our packaging that cannot be kerbside recycled.
• Steps we plan to take:
• Introduce more readily recycled materials across our loose-leaf teas
• Continue to collaborate with supply chain partners to assist in reduction of carbon emissions
• Identify other areas we can make changes to improve.

Sources: 

Ethical Tea Partnership

Christian Aid Report May 2021 - Reading the tea leaves - Climate Change & the British Cuppa

Photo Credit: Alejandro Rugama