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Lisa : Welcome to Unpacking the New Certified B Corporations standards what to expect in 2026… and Thank you for joining us today. As everyone is settling in we are going to begin with some housekeeping notes, we will be recording this webinar, we ask that you please mute yourself while watching today, please feel free to drop your questions into the chat. Today we will be covering the new B corporation standards certification as we know then to be on Wed Dec 18th, 2024. The information that we will be sharing has been publicly shared by B Lab Global, and/or B Lab US and Canada over the last several years. We have done our best to highlight in today’s webinar the key differences between Version 6.0 and the new proposed standards that will be finalized and shared in early 2025. Today we will be sharing a lot of information, and some of that information may be different then what is currently listed on the B Lab Overview of the standards for B Corp Certification page, as that page has not been updated with the finding from the second consultation of community feedback that was issued on Sept 24th, 2024. We will be sharing the slides post today’s webinar and on each slide we have embedded links that will provide more in-depth knowledge tied to the different topics that are covered. B Lab has released extensive articles, and provided resources on their global website as well as on the B Lab US and Canada sites tied to the new standards, in order to help those of us in the community be prepared for our next certification. As a disclaimer and a reminder the final standards have not been released, therefore all information shared today is based on our understanding of the proposed draft new standards.

Since we are covering a lot of material today, if you have questions about info covered please put your questions in the chat and we will strive to answer them during the Q&A section of the program.

Our panel of speakers today all have extensive experience working with certified b corporations. Each speaker will introduce themselves during their segment of the program.

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Welcome from Hosts

Lisa read: Welcome to our program, my name is Lisa Geason-Bauer (she/her) and I the President of Evolution Marketing a women-owned WI based Certified B Corporation, we have been providing sustainability consulting and ethical marketing communications services to the business community since 2007. We are located on the ancestral lands of the (Potawatomi), in a community name Nashotah (which means in the Potawatomi language “one of a pair of twins”) we believe this is referring to the lakes that make up our community.

I am also a co-founder of B Local WI and our current President. It is my pleasure to welcome all of you to our third B Corp webinar on behalf of myself and our other co-host Jeffrey Steward the Founder of Enharmonic Encounters.

Jeffrey and I are both founders of B Corps and involved in our B Local communities (i.e. in WI and Texas), we are people using business as a force for good. One of those tools that we have deep knowledge of is the B Impact Assessment. We actually met during the first cohort of B Lab US and Canada’s training program for Trained B Consultants back in spring of 2023.

This series of webinars was created because we get questions all he time from businesses in the movement about the standards, documentation and what are best practices for a business to employ if they are a B Corp.

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Michigan Wisconsin Texas Illinois

Today’s Speakers

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Thank you to our Promotional Partners

Jeffrey read:

We want to thank our promotional partners, who have helped us to promote these webinars and are striving on a daily basis to help businesses in our regions of Michigan, Texas and Wisconsin to operate in a socially and environmentally responsible manner. We also have representatives here today from each of these respective organizations… you can direct questions about B local WI or the WI Sustainable Business Council to Lisa or Leah. Questions about B Local Texas should be directed to Jeffrey and we are pleased to welcome Alice Jasper who is the program director for People First Economy, who manages the B Local Michigan program. We are happy to welcome Alice who also attended the B Consultant training with us last year, as our event MC today. Welcome Alice!

(You can learn more about each of these regional organizations by visiting their websites (Leah drop links to each of the 4 organizations websites into the chat)

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Alice Jasper (She/They)

Ojibwe, Odawa, Potawatomi contemporary and ancestral land. Also known as Grand Rapids, MI.

Program Director with People First Economy
Trained B Corp Consultant
B Local Michigan Committee Co-Chair
Creator/ Host/ Producer of “Color Out Here”

Your MC:

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What Is B Corp Certification?

Check out

B Corporation

B Corp Certified companies are a community of leaders, driving a global movement of people using business as a force for good. The combination of third-party validation, public transparency, and legal accountability help Certified B Corps build trust and value.

The B Corp Certification is administered by the non-profit B Lab

Check Out the First and Second Webinars in This Series to Learn More!

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New Standards

As the climate crisis intensifies and societal inequality grows, the need to bring about systemic change is clear. B Lab is working to advance the standards of B Corp Certification to meet the magnitude of the challenge ahead.

The new standards will provide clarity for companies, galvanizing the most impactful business actions and focusing on what really matters, meaningfully demonstrating the leadership role that B Corps and the B Corp movement play in the world.

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Pillars of the B Corp Movement

Stakeholder Governance:

People and the planet must be of equal, or higher, value than short-term profits. In this new paradigm, businesses that help all communities heal and thrive are rewarded. A stakeholder-centered economy is the triple bottom line in action, a system in which human and environmental well-being are essential.

Racial Equity:

True racial justice requires listening and learning. It means doing the work to dismantle unjust policies and practices and building more just business models and organizations. It means showing up as imperfect partners and embracing vulnerability with bravery, humility and compassion.

Climate Justice – There is No Planet B:

Humanity depends on our planet to survive, and the planet depends on humanity. Healing our home requires ending win/lose practices that provide wins for businesses and losses for the planet and its most vulnerable people.

B Lab’s Three Pillars of Change

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A Stakeholder Informed Process…

In December 2020 B Lab announces a review of performance requirements for B Corp Certification…

They gather feedback from over 1000 stakeholders…

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A Stakeholder Informed Process…

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A Stakeholder Informed Process…

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Stakeholder Feedback

86% of Respondents agree that the draft standards align with what they believe it means for a business to meet high standards of B Lab’s Three Pillars of Change
84% of Respondents indicated that the draft standards would clarify what it means to be a Certified B Corp
74% of Respondents indicated that the draft standards would help make meaningful progress in addressing the three pillars.
71% of B Corp Respondents indicated that they are either already meeting the standards or that they are possible to achieve

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Changes to Measuring Impact

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Changes to Measuring Impact

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Changes to Measuring Impact

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Changes to Measuring Impact

As B Lab moves away from an 80 point threshold in the current standards to specific requirements across Impact Topics, this latest draft of the standards shares a new model for your consideration:

1. Performance Requirements: How companies are performing against the sub-requirements in each Impact Topic and if they ‘Do Not Meet’, ‘Meet’ or ‘Exceed’ these requirements.

2. The second element relates to company performance across Impact Business Models (IBMs), being the way that a business is designed to create a specific positive benefit/outcome for one of its stakeholders. Companies possessing IBMs would receive public recognition, for example having their tier of performance published on their B Corp Public Profile, categorized as either “Developing”, “Advanced”, “Outstanding”, or “Leader”.

Allows for Impact Performance Across ALL B Lab Pillars!

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www.enharmonicenc.com

Jeffrey D. Stewart

Foundation Requirements

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FR1 The company fulfills the eligibility requirements for Certification
FR2 The company adopts the legal requirement and commits to support the community’s collective purpose.
FR3 The company completes the Risk Assessment.
FR4 The company completes the Impact Business Models assessment.

Overview

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The company completes the Disclosure Questionnaire and reviews the potential negative impacts that companies generate in their operations.

Controversial Industries: Charity Lotteries, Debt Collection (emerging markets), Nuclear Power or Radioactive Materials, Mining, Pharmaceuticals, Recreational Marijuana

Ineligible Industries: Fossil Fuel Producers, Gamling, Pornography, Prisons and Detention Centers, Tobacco, Weapons and Defense

FR3 The Company Completes the Risk Assessment

The B Impact Assessment was built to measure positive social and environmental impact. Still, there needs to be a way to gauge any possible negative impacts that the company is generating through its operations.

B Lab does it through the the Disclosure Questionnaire, Background Checks, filed complaints, and controversial industry reviews.

In the past, it was only through direct company operations. Now, it’s also about direct clients served that operate in flagged industries. B Lab spent all year updating their approach, and on November 18, 2024, B Lab finalized its updated approach. The list is considerably shorter than it was throughout the majority of this year (refer to list and distinguish between controversial and ineligible).

Ineligible industries act against B Lab’s Theory of Change, incubating a world where business is a force for good and transforms the global economy into an economy that is more inclusive, equitable, and regenerative.

Look at client portfolios and determine whether it applies.

PRO TIP: If you’re looking at taking on a new big contract with a client that may be associated, it may be best to check with B Lab first.

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FR3 Nature of Service

Let’s say you look at your client portfolio and it turns out you do serve clients in controversial or ineligible industries. What should you do?

Inform B Lab and they will conduct an investigation to determine one of three pathways. These pathways depend on how B Lab classifies the nature of a company’s interaction with these clients. B Lab has identified this interaction as either being associated, linked, or contributing to adverse impacts. How do we understand these different types of interaction?

Associated: providing basic or generic services that are generally available to all individuals (products; online retail company selling products to a company in CCI)
Linked: the company is not directly causing or contributing to harm but is connected to adverse impacts through its business relationship (service companies; bookkeeping for CCI or hiring agency for CCI)
Contributing: when a company’s actions or omissions facilitate or increase negative human rights or environmental impact when combined with those of other parties (selling/renting drilling equipment to fossil fuel, legal firm representing mining clients in litigation, marketing agency working with gambling clients)

The definitions for these different types of interactions will be further solidified through precedent and additional examples.

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B Lab has now determined three pathways when companies serve clients in any of the flagged industries

Pathway 1: Transparent disclosure

Pathway 2: Transparent disclosure PLUS grievance/complaints mechanism AND whistleblower protection policy

Pathway 3: Pathway 2 requirements AND 1% revenue threshold for clients in ineligible industries*

FR3 Pathways of Applicability

When B Lab combines this consideration with the clients served (controversial or ineligible), they generate a pathway.

Pathway 3

*the asterisk is for the grace period for companies contributing to adverse impacts of clients in ineligible industries. If they’ve submitted on or before February 18, 2025, you have a grace period and will not be rendered ineligible. You will meet Pathway 2 requirements alone and work toward getting under 1% for the next Certification cycle in three years.

PRO TIP: If you’re looking at taking on a new big contract with a client that may be associated, it may be best to check with B Lab first.

(If you’re wondering how to start on revisiting your supply chain and how to make changes or improvements, the Human Rights Impact Topic area of the new standards will be a great place to start as it guides you in assessing, preventing, and mitigating potential and actual negative human rights impacts, including in the supply chain.)

I’ll now pass it to Leah who will be going over the impact business model assessment and begin digging into some of the performance requirements.

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Leah Steinberg (She/Her)

Sustainability Consultant

www.GreenMkting.com

Foundation Requirements: Impact Business Models Assessment

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What Are Impact Business Models (IBMs)?

“Impact Business Models (IBMs) are the ways that a business is designed to create a specific positive benefit/outcome for one of its stakeholders. They may be based on their product, a particular process or activity, or the structure of the business.”

Key Characteristics:

Specific and Material: Focus on substantial and measurable impact.
Verifiable and Lasting: Impact is enduring and can be proven.
Aligned with Mission: Reflects the company’s core purpose and values.

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Statistics from B Lab:

86% of companies currently certified as B Corps have at least one IBM or industry addenda.

⅔ of all certified companies need IBMs in order to become a B Corp.

On average, IBM points make up 22% of a company's score.

Why are IBMs Important?

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What’s Changing?

Old Approach: Companies were assessed on their overall score in the B Impact Assessment (BIA), which combined operational practices and IBMs.
New Approach: The Impact Business Model Assessment falls under the Foundation Requirements (FR4)

Minimum performance thresholds are met across all impact topics.
Companies are not required to have an IBM

“Impact Business Model Assessment: This assessment, which entails completing the relevant Impact Business Model (IBM) modules and questions formulated on the existing B Impact Assessment, enables a company to learn how their business models can be designed to create specific positive social and/or environmental impacts and to recognize those companies that have an Impact Business Model.”

The Shift to the Impact Business Model Assessment

https://standards.bcorporation.net/en-us/draft/standards/how-is-performance-recognized

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Flexibility Mechanism

Understanding the Flexibility Mechanism:

B Corps with high-performing Impact Business Models (IBMs) may access a flexibility mechanism within the certification process.
This mechanism allows companies to meet certain performance requirements through their impactful business models.

How It Works:

Companies demonstrating significant positive impact through their IBMs will be ranked on a tiered system. Depending on the tier, companies are exempt from sub-requirements of the certification.

Recognition of the Impact Business Models

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Public Recognition

Recognition Framework:

B Corps with notable Impact Business Models (IBMs) receive public recognition, highlighting their leadership in creating measurable social and environmental outcomes.
This recognition distinguishes companies embedding impact into their core business strategies.

Visibility:

Companies may receive badges to showcase their achievements in specific IBM categories
These badges are intended to appear on a company’s B Corp Public Profile
Note: The specific criteria, design, and implementation of badges have not yet been finalized.

Recognition of the Impact Business Models

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Key global challenges addressed by the new standards:

Rising material costs due to resource scarcity.
Overwhelming levels of waste in landfills and the oceans.
Degradation of ecosystems and biodiversity loss.

Previous Standards:

Points awarded for general environmental initiatives, with flexibility to choose areas of focus (e.g., waste reduction, energy efficiency).
No specific requirements for circularity or biodiversity.

New Standards:

Mandatory Minimums: All B Corps must meet foundational requirements for environmental stewardship and circularity.
Emphasis on reducing negative impacts and contributing to positive environmental outcomes.

Example: Environmental Stewardship & Circularity

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New Requirements: What’s Expected of B Corps

Environmental Impact Assessments:

Conduct assessments to identify and mitigate harm across operations and supply chains.
Focus on critical areas like resource extraction, water use, and pollution.

Circular Economy Principles:

Products and services must prioritize durability, reparability, recyclability, and resource regeneration.
Eliminate waste at every stage of the life cycle.

Biodiversity and Positive Impact:

Companies must go beyond harm reduction to actively enhance biodiversity and ecosystem health.

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Why the Change?

From Impact Management Platform

The Impact Topic Performance Requirements represent a cross section of widely recognized actions of impact management which are characterized by the following core components: Governance: Establishing oversight and accountability for impact management

Strategy: Embedding impact management into strategy aligned with an organization’s purpose and goals

Identify: Understanding potential impacts associated with the company

Measure, Assess & Value: Understanding and value current practice and performance to inform prioritization of actions

Set targets and plan: Making decisions and get ready for implementation and delivery

Implement: Rolling out action plans to manage impacts, deliver on targets and fulfill the organizational purpose and accompanying strategies

Monitor: Tracking and evaluate implementation to learn, adapt, and support continuous improvement

Communicate: Publicly disclose practice and performance to stakeholders

Here is a summary of the latest draft B Corp Performance Requirement Impact Topics and overarching expectations of B Corps for each of them:

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Lisa Geason-Bauer (she/her) Sustainability Practitioner

www.GreenMkting.com

Performance Requirement Sections Overview

Hello Again, my name is Lisa Geason-Bauer and I am a practitioner of sustainability. What that means is that I am not going to ask you or your business to do anything that I have not already done with my business or with one of our clients. As of today, Evolution Marketing is currently going through our third certification process with B Lab. Many of the things that I am going to cover in this section of our program are directly tied to what I call global standards for demonstrating sustainability.

As you can see EM is proud to have a number of third party verified certifications. I am sharing this diverse list of certifications with you, so that you can understand that at the heart of the B Corp certification is the concept of continuous improvement which is also at the heart of many sustainability initiatives. What is nice about the new version of B Impact Assessment is that it takes other third party audited sustainability certifications and reporting schemes into account. Therefore

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Updates to the diagram:

• Complimentary Impact Topics category has been removed & worked into the overall Performance Requirements

• Fair Wages and Workplace Culture have been combined to be “Fair Work”

B Lab Press Release (9-24-2024)

Dec 2024 - 7 draft performance areas

Proposed Performance Requirements…..

The Performance Requirements for B Corp Certification define the performance that a company needs to manage and continuously improve upon to achieve and maintain B Corp Certification. They have been developed to improve the impactfulness of the standards, improve clarity around what it means to be a leading business, and incorporate feedback from various stakeholders over the past few years.

(Alice is talking about this - Lisa skip )In order to achieve these goals, the draft standards have departed from the current framework of standards for B Corp Certification where companies have flexibility in how to achieve a verified 80 point score to a framework where companies have to be verified to meet specific requirements across the standards’ Impact Topics.

(skip) While the content and components of the draft standards have been developed with the existing standards in mind, for example continuity in some topics, the draft standards have been updated to improve their impact, clarity and focus while ensuring that requirements reflect expected performance for companies across different Impact Topics.

This diagram shows the proposed categories, and I want to call your attention to two updates to these “topics” that is a result of the second consultation. Highlight the update on the slides.

https://standards.bcorporation.net/en-us/draft/standards/what-are-the-requirements-for-b-corp-certification#What-are-the-B-Corp-Performance-Requirements?-2

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Purpose & Stakeholder Governance (PSG): B Corps act in accordance with a defined purpose, contributing to an inclusive, equitable, and regenerative economic system for all people and the planet.

Fair Work (9/24): B Corps have positive workplace cultures with meaningful worker dialogue, living wage, wage equality among the workforce, labor themes such as contracts, overtime, shift, or zero-hour work.

Justice Equity Diversity & Inclusion (JEDI): B Corps have inclusive and diverse work environments and contribute meaningfully to just and equitable communities.

Human Rights (HR): B Corps treat people with dignity and respect their human rights.

Government Affairs and Collective Action (GACA): B Corps play a leadership role in fostering shared understanding, solutions, and implementation towards an equitable, inclusive, and regenerative economy, including contribution to the public infrastructure they utilize and rely upon for their success.

Social Performance Requirements…..

Lisa add notes about reviewing the questions and if it says options that means it is not a requirement

5 social

Purpose & Stakeholder Governance (PSG): B Corps act in accordance with a defined purpose, contributing to an inclusive, equitable, and regenerative economic system for all people and the planet.

Fair Work (9/24) {merged Workplace Culture (WC) & Fair Wages (FW)} B Corps have positive workplace cultures with meaningful worker dialogue, living wage, wage equality among the workforce, labor themes such as contracts, overtime, shift, or zero-hour work.

Justice Equity Diversity & Inclusion (JEDI): B Corps have inclusive and diverse work environments and contribute meaningfully to just and equitable communities.

Human Rights (HR): B Corps treat people with dignity and respect their human rights.

Government Affairs and Collective Action (GACA): B Corps play a leadership role in fostering shared understanding, solutions, and implementation towards an equitable, inclusive, and regenerative economy, including contribution to the public infrastructure they utilize and rely upon for their success.

https://www.bcorporation.net/en-us/standards/performance-requirements/

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Purpose & Stakeholder Governance (PSG): B Corps act in accordance with a defined p

https://standards.bcorporation.net/en-us/draft/topic/purpose-and-stakeholder-governance

Purpose

One of the core aspects of B Corp Certification, and its Theory of Change, is the B Corp legal requirement - a change in a company’s governance structure to require the consideration of stakeholders in its decision making. As that legal change is not available in all jurisdictions, and to ensure that each company is acting on the letter and spirit of that legal change whether available or not, aligning a company's corporate purpose with positive social and environmental goals, creating governance structures to fulfill those goals, considering impacts on stakeholders, and establishing responsible and transparent communications on its progress, is essential to what it means to be a B Corp, and to achieve an equitable, inclusive and regenerative economy.

Highlighting public disclosures of all the actions that your business is actually doing/ taking - having on your website verses and internal document.

https://www.bcorporation.net/en-us/standards/performance-requirements/

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Fair Work (9/2024) …..

https://standards.bcorporation.net/en-us/draft/overview

Purpose

Workers’ priorities and issues vary depending on the context, making it important they can advocate for their specific interests. This is what makes workplace dialogue so fundamental. Companies should actively seek worker feedback and consider it when making decisions. It is a vital ingredient for creating positive workplace cultures and an important part of the B Lab community's shared vision for stakeholder governance in the workplace.

Workplace culture refers to the attitudes, beliefs, and values within a workplace that influence many aspects of workers’ experiences, such as those related to workers’ sense of satisfaction, belonging, shared purpose, psychological safety, engagement, and happiness. A positive workplace culture exists when workers have positive experiences and there is ongoing dialogue. Positive workplace culture helps create a sense of shared purpose, which is vital for the success of purpose-driven companies. Therefore, the concepts of workplace culture, workplace dialogue, and shared purpose are intertwined.

Purpose

Affording a decent standard of living for oneself and a family is a human right. It is also an enabling right, meaning it helps fulfill other human rights, such as the rights to housing and education. Ensuring people can cover the cost of having a family is also a transformational tool to break the cycle of intergenerational poverty.

There are multiple paths to ensuring wages are sufficient: wages are negotiated by workers (collective bargaining) or wages are based on research on what a family needs (a living wage/income). The B Corp standards create space for both approaches, recognizing not only their individual value, but also their combined strength.

These approaches are necessary because government-set minimum wages are often not enough to afford a decent standard of living. This is the reality in the majority of the world.

In addition to setting a minimum threshold, Fair Wages is also about achieving equity between different groups of people. This requires accelerated action on wage transparency, and calculating and closing workplace wage gaps.

Fair Work (9/24) {merged Workplace Culture (WC) & Fair Wages (FW)} B Corps have positive workplace cultures with meaningful worker dialogue, living wage, wage equality among the workforce, labor themes such as contracts, overtime, shift, or zero-hour work.

https://www.bcorporation.net/en-us/standards/performance-requirements/

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Notes:

JEDI + Human Rights are connected.
Any company with fewer than ten workers is exempt from JEDI1 - The company carries out (disaggregated) data collection, analysis, and internal reporting for key people-related business actions. Any company with 0 workers is exempt because the requirement assumes a company has at least one worker. Any company with 1-9 workers is exempt because they likely have more informal ways of working, and data collection and reporting for so few workers would not only have limited positive impact but may result in unintended negative impacts.

https://standards.bcorporation.net/en-us/draft/topic/justice-equity-diversity-and-inclusion

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https://standards.bcorporation.net/en-us/draft/topic/human-rights

Purpose

Companies have the responsibility to respect human rights and they do this by practicing human rights due diligence and remediation. This starts with embedding a sense of ‘responsibility to respect’ within the company’s culture and ways of working. Crucially, the ‘responsibility to respect’ should be strengthened over time as a company implements and learns, so that eventually practicing human rights due diligence becomes second nature, much in the same way food safety or financial due diligence have become mainstream expectations of companies.

Effective due diligence requires that companies know where to focus their efforts, and this means understanding how they may be involved with negative impacts on people's human rights through their operations and value chain. This enables companies to take action to prevent and mitigate negative impacts, starting with the most severe impacts. Where companies cause or contribute to negative impacts, they either directly remediate them or contribute to their remediation. The objective is to achieve improved outcomes for people who are at risk of harm from human rights violations, or suffer actual harm, in connection with the company's operations, products or services.

In the B Corp Standards, companies are expected to pursue positive impacts on people, going beyond only ‘doing no harm’. These are captured under the other social standards topics and Impact Business Models.

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https://standards.bcorporation.net/en-us/draft/topic/government-affairs-and-collective-action

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Climate Action (CA): B Corps take action in accordance with science to combat climate change and its impacts.

Environmental Stewardship and Circularity (ESC): B Corps demonstrate environmental stewardship and contribute to the circular economy in their operations and value chain, minimizing any negative impact and pursuing positive impact.

Environmental Performance Requirements…..

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https://standards.bcorporation.net/en-us/draft/topic/climate-action

Purpose

Recent years have been the warmest on record. According to the latest scientific data the world is on the path to exceed global warming of 1.5°C as well as 2°C during the 21st century unless deep reductions in CO2 and other greenhouse gas emissions occur in the coming decades (IPCC Sixth Assessment Report). In order to limit global warming to 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels, global emissions must be cut to 45 per cent below 2010 levels by 2030 and the world would need to achieve net zero carbon dioxide emissions by 2050 (UN -SDGs). Although progress has been made towards these reductions, the scope and scale is not yet enough. The window of opportunity to limit global warming is closing–the world has already seen widespread adverse impacts to nature and communities from climate change, extreme weather events, and sea level rise, with vulnerable communities being disproportionately affected. Efforts must be stepped up as the planet cannot afford anymore delays or greenwashing.

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EXAMPLE: Overview of Changes to Climate Action Standards

Previous Standards:

Companies earned points for climate action initiatives but were not required to meet specific thresholds.
Climate goals were encouraged but not mandatory.

New Standards:

Mandatory Requirements: All B Corps must now meet science-aligned climate targets to certify or recertify.
Focus on measurable outcomes, not just intentions.

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Science-Based Targets: Align with 1.5°C goals and set measurable targets for reducing emissions across all scopes (Scope 3 now required).

Annual Reporting: Disclose progress and climate impact publicly for transparency.

Transition Planning:

Shift to renewable energy sources.
Decarbonize supply chains by working with suppliers.

Reduction Before Offsets:

Prioritize direct reductions over purchasing carbon offsets.

What This Means for Current B Corps:

Companies must audit their emissions across the value chain and establish robust systems for monitoring and reporting.
Supply chain collaboration will become a critical focus area.

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https://standards.bcorporation.net/en-us/draft/topic/environmental-stewardship-and-circularity

Purpose

Today the world faces several environmental crises, from climate change, to water scarcity to biodiversity loss. There is an urgent need to act by adopting circular and nature-positive business models. Only through this profound change is it possible to stabilize biodiversity in the decade to 2030 and allow for the full recovery of natural ecosystems by 2050 as agreed by world leaders under the Convention on Biological Diversity. Environmental stewardship is also critical to adhere to the Paris Climate Agreement.

Companies can demonstrate environmental stewardship by ensuring their impact stays within the environmental thresholds of our planet and by promoting resilient natural systems where resources are cycled, extraction of virgin resources is reduced to an absolute minimum considering the finite non-renewable resources the world depends on, and where businesses, people, and the environment can thrive without exploitation of natural ecosystems and marginalized communities.

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Finding Specific Requirements

The specific requirements for Climate Action and Environmental Stewardship & Circularity are customized based on your company’s size and industry.

To access detailed requirements:

Visit the B Lab Global Website.
Review the standards under the Climate Action and Environmental Stewardship & Circularity categories.
Use the tools provided to identify how these standards apply to your business.

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Additional Recertification Resources

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Thank You to Our Hosts!

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Next Steps: Help Build A Solidarity Economy!

Solidarity Economy (SE)

(noun)

An organizing framework for those who wish to create a systemic commitment to and practice of interdependence and collective liberation in the economic activities that meet our material needs.

Solidarity economy rests on our shared values: cooperation, democracy, social and racial justice, environmental sustainability, and mutualism.

Interdependence and Respect Are Central.

-Solidarity Economy Principles - solidarityeconomyprinciples.org

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Next Steps….

Join a B Local or B Corp Network Leaders Group - be in community
Engage civically at the local level - employers consider adding a benefit to your employee handbook, “employees are able to volunteer for 8 + hours a year with a local nonprofit )
Reach out to one of the presenters or check out B Consultants Directory if you’re looking certification support!
Not a business owner? B a Movement Champion! Support B Corp-owned companies! Consider ways you can help build a solidarity economy!

Next Steps: Help Build A Solidarity Economy!

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Lisa Geason-Bauer & Leah Steinberg Contact

Evolution Marketing: https://www.greenmkting.com/contact

Alice Jasper Contact

People First Economy: https://www.peoplefirsteconomy.org/contact/

Jeffrey D. Stewart Contact

(scan QR code)

Contact Us: