One morning in August, as usual, I read the BBC. Strange habit you will say… I saw written in large: “Great Britain hits 40 degrees for the first time EVER”.
Another possible translation for this sentence: we are all grilling, cordially, Madam planet.
So, if you too were worried just a little by this story of 40 degrees for a month, you can learn some stuff (at the same time as me) about the Sustainable Development Goals , and see if Oé is a really committed company (because talking we know, but act... you'll see!)
What are the Sustainable Development Goals?
Known by its nickname “ODD” these objectives cover all the challenges of sustainable development.
If we want to add an epic (but truthful) dimension, we can say that it's 17 objectives to save the world (read this with the voice of James Bond).
These goals give us the path to follow if we want to achieve a “ better and sustainable future for all” (I am not saying it, the United Nations are).
The main themes are inequality, poverty, climate, environmental degradation, peace and justice. A busy schedule! These SDGs are part of the 2030 agenda which is a universal program for sustainable development.
The SDGs at Oé
Zero hunger
Wasting less food and supporting local agriculture? Well… that speaks to us at Oé. By being labeled B Corp , a company that wants “good”, we walk hand in hand with our winegrowers (isn't that cute?).
We work with 11 couples of winegrowers on French soil, with whom good relationships have been established. Whether it's visiting them and spending time with them, we aim to take care of them.
At Oé, we also financially help our winegrowers to go beyond organic thanks to our Oé program for Biodiversity and our actions with MiiMOSA, Biomede and EcoFarms.
Good health and well being
Empowering ourselves to live healthy lives and promoting well-being at all ages is essential for sustainable development.
At Oé, one of the values that we find at the center of our relationships is kindness. We take care of each of our colleagues, and of ourselves (as a famous brand would say: “because you're worth it”)!
We take care of our winegrowers, our partners, our customers, our plants, the planet and above all our coffee machine!
In concrete terms, we put in place a lot of actions, such as the parental challenge, which makes it possible to have working hours that do not exclude any employee, or by granting paid “sick child” days off.
Many things that make it possible to reconcile family and work. We also organize team sports, for instance, in June we went hiking for two days in the mountains. It was OÉmazing !
Decent work and economic growth
One of the SDGs is to promote sustained, shared and sustainable economic growth, full and productive employment and decent work for all.
To give you some figures, men earn on average 23% more than women. Without decisive action, it will take another 68 years to achieve equal pay. The activity rate of women in the labor market is 63% and that of men 94% . All is said. 94% versus 63%.
I can hear you say “this is not a company that can change everything”. Well yes! If 1 + 1 + 1 + 1 + …+ 1 change its behavior towards women, we would have a much smarter world*! (*woman's word).
At Oé, we adopted total transparency on salaries. Everyone knows what the other earns, which allows us to pay employees more fairly.
We can also say that “girl power” reigns, with 10 men for… 12 women!
Reducing inequalities within countries
Reducing inequalities is an integral part of efforts to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals. This is why we have put in place many things to promote inclusion, support the reintegration of women … If you want to see all of Oé's social commitments, we have written a great article.
We work with many associations such as Adapei, Zigzag, France Cancer, Cygogne… which gives a sens to each of our projects.
Sustainable cities and communities
To give you an idea, half of humanity (3.5 billion people) now live in cities. This figure is expected to reach 5 billion by 2030.
The general idea is to succeed in surviving without burning (we can thanks the global warming). For that we try to favor cycling, walking or public transport.
I found another interesting but scary piece of data… I don't know if you're ready to read it… well… let me start: 90% of urban residents breathe polluted air.
90%, do you realize? So personally, my favorite color is not black, so if my lungs could avoid being black I would be delighted. I really like the color green… not that you're interested, but ultimately having green lungs is fun, but black no… yellow is fine too… and yellow is pretty, isn't it?
At Oé we all decided to make an effort, so in the morning it's often a parade of bikes (electric for the less sporty? :P). It wakes us up, it puts us all in a good mood to start the day!
We also have our packages delivered to the region by cargo bike to avoid last-mile pollution. Last May, we had our wines delivered to Paris by barge. Delivery by barge is twenty-five times less emissive than delivery by truck, so we are delighted with this initiative.
Clean and affordable energy
Sustainable energy is an opportunity to transform lives, economies and the planet. So there are plenty of little ways to save this rare commodity.
If you were told that chocolate was going to be more and more expensive and rare, you would all turn into a little researcher to keep your chocolate as much as possible and save it. So act like energy is your best chocolate bar. Save it and get creative!
At Oé, we use Enercoop, a French electricity supplier from renewable sources. Every evening we unplug our chargers, we turn off the power strips, because even without devices at the end, all that consumes energy for nothing. And the energy, we prefer to keep it to be able to dance until the end of the night!
That's it, you're now half smarter. I promise I'll come back to you quickly to explain the other SDGs (admit it, you can't wait any longer!)
Signed: your dear and devoted Chloé of Oé (just because it's funny to say).
