7,300 billion against nature. 220 to protect it. What the first global report on businesses and biodiversity tells us and what we do with it.

In February 2026, IPBES, the international scientific platform on biodiversity, the equivalent of the IPCC for living things, published its first global assessment on the relationship between businesses and biodiversity.

The headline figure is brutal: $7,300 billion in public and private financial flows supported activities harmful to nature in 2023. In contrast: 220 billion directed toward its protection. A ratio of 1 to 33.

We are not publishing this post to summarize the report. We are publishing it because it says things we have been trying to do in practice for a few years. And because it pushes us to go further.

Viticulture is the perfect example of the problem

Viticulture accounts for less than 4% of French agriculture. And more than 20% of the pesticides used. (Source: ADEME.)

We created Oé around this observation. Not because we wanted to "save the planet" but because we found it absurd. A product we drink. Which irrigates landscapes we love. And which alone concentrates a disproportionate share of chemical pressure on soils, insects, and groundwater.

What the IPBES report confirms is that this is not a problem unique to wine. It is a systemic logic: the global economy depends on ecosystems, but actively contributes to their degradation. And businesses (all businesses) are both responsible for and exposed to it.

What the report says, concretely

Three lessons we take away:

1. Less than 1% of companies that publish reports mention their impacts on biodiversity.

This is the most revealing figure. Not because it accuses, but because it shows how much the subject remains off the radar. Companies measure their carbon, their water consumption, their waste. Biodiversity, meanwhile, remains in the blind spot.

2. Dependencies and impacts are two sides of the same coin.

We do not damage biodiversity solely by producing. We also depend on it for pollinators, soil quality, and water regulation. For Oé, it is literal: without bees, without hedges, without microbial life in the soils, there are no grapes. No wine. No Oé.

3. The risks are economic, not just environmental.

Disruption of supply chains, regulatory constraints, investor pressure. Biodiversity loss translates into concrete risks for businesses. It is no longer just a CSR issue; it is a strategy issue.

What we are already doing (and what that represents)

We work with 100% organic winegrowers across our entire range. That is the foundation. No synthetic pesticides, no chemical herbicides. But the absence of what we avoid says little about the life we allow.

So for a few years now, we have been going further with partner estates.

At the Chapelle Saint-Pierre estate in the Drôme, we directly support 6 hectares on which we have planted 1,150 meters of hedges, 695 plants, 30 varieties. Cover crops between the rows, flower strips, a sheepfold to reintroduce animal traction and grazing. This is not window dressing; it is ecological restoration, meter by meter.

We also return 1% of our turnover every year to agroecological actions on partner estates. And we co-finance Ecofarms audits, tailor-made agroecological plans for each winegrower.

What we still want to do

The IPBES report says something we feel in our daily lives: individual actions are not enough. Reversing the trajectory requires coordination between businesses, financial actors, and public policies.

We are a wine brand. We are not going to claim to influence global financial flows.

But we can do two things:

Go further on partner estates. Our five-year ambition: 150,000 tons of sequestered CO₂, 60,000 meters of planted hedges, 200 winegrowers trained in regenerative practices. We are not there yet. We are working on it.

Make the invisible visible. Less than 1% of companies talk about their impact on biodiversity. We can be part of that 1%. Not to give ourselves a clear conscience, but so that the people who drink our wines know what is behind the bottle. Really.

What this changes for you

Nothing immediate. You do not need to read a 1,500-page report in English to buy a bottle of Oé.

But if you want what you put in your glass to be traced back to the soil, to the hedges, to the practices of the winegrower who made it, that is why we exist.

And if you are a buyer, restaurateur, or importer and you are wondering how to integrate biodiversity into your listing criteria, we have a few things to show you.

The full IPBES report is available at ipbes.net.