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When you try to build a kind of movement, there is an obvious incentive to make your membership standards quite accommodating. The flexible approach to the B Corp initiative towards sustainability references has enabled it to build a coalition approaching 10,000 global companies – while alienating some which fear that its accreditation does not count much.
Now he moves to tighten standards and consolidate his credibility. Will it work?
Sustainability standards
B Corp revising the certification standard to “raise the bar”
If you buy Nespresso coffee or Ben & Jerry ice cream, or open an account with the exclusive private bank, you support business power as a force for good.
This is, at least, the message you are supposed to obtain from certification B Corporation transported by these brands. Since the first Borum B was certified in 2007, the movement has become one of the most publicized businesses of the most publicized businesses in the world. More than 9,000 companies have received its approval stamp, which testifies to their “high social and environmental performance”.
But as the list of Bragified B Corps has developed, some members expressed strong concern concerning the skills titles of the company giants who joined their ranks and questioned the rigor of the certification system. “Share the same logo and the same messaging concerning the” profit “of the world with large multinationals … companies with history of serious ecological and work problems … is unacceptable for us,” said Dr. Bronner's, the American soap company, in February, because it has publicly published its B Corp status.
So a lot rolled on a Large overhaul of B Corp certification standardsWho was published yesterday by B Lab, the non -profit organization behind the system. The new standards should greatly contribute to complaints and repel the suggestions that the badge became a fig leaf for “greenwashing”.
One of the greatest weaknesses in existing B Corp system is the complexity of the mysteries of its membership requirements. The candidates submit answers to questions on various social and environmental aspects of their business, with points awarded accordingly. A large slug of bonus points can be awarded if B Lab considers a company to pursue an “impact commercial model”.
Companies can obtain B Corp certification if they achieve at least 80 points out of the 200 possible – which means that a B Corp could be authorized to operate terribly on certain measures, as long as it does well for others.
The new system – to be implemented from next year – will abandon this approach. Instead of a rating system, it will impose a large set of minimum requirements in seven key areas, from climate action to human rights. B BODY will no longer have the possibility of neglecting more difficult areas and of compensating outperformance in others. The new approach should be much easier to understand for consumers – and therefore much more useful for them.
In another departure, B body will have to demonstrate an improvement in standards over time – something that has so far been encouraged. In another departure, B body will have to demonstrate an improvement in standards over time – something that has so far been encouraged. Large companies will face more extensive requirements, especially around tax practices and social impacts in their supply chains.
The most significant change is undoubtedly the verification of third parties, which will be necessary for all certifications. This change was in fact constrained by new EU rules require such insurance around sustainability labels. In all cases, it should respond to general concerns that B LA simply does not have the endowment or resources to correctly check the complaints made by the potential B BODY.
Clay Brown, the acting co-directing B of B de B Lab Global, told me that the new standards would require that all bodies B “increase the bar” to be part of the initiative. “There may be some companies that choose not to comply with the new standards,” he added, although he stressed that the system had been designed not to put impossible charges on businesses.
Although the changes mark a significant improvement, they are not below what is necessary, argued David Bronner, managing director of the former Corp Dr Bronner's. Bronner called for more strict standards around the disclosure of the supply chain, as well as a greater rigor around animal welfare. “This is a fundamental thing where you have multinationals to enjoy the system,” he told me.
Brner is unlikely to be alone by wishing that the new standards have gone further. And we still have to see how strictly they are applied, with all the details of the future third -party verification requirements. However, yesterday's announcement marks an important and welcome change of approach.
The B Corp initiative has experienced impressive growth, the number of certified companies has more than doubled from 3,735 at the end of 2020 to 9,402 four years later. But, like other sustainable commercial coalitions, it has been faced with increasingly serious tension between the quantity of members and the quality of standards. By acting to strengthen the latter, he stimulated his chances of remaining relevant in the long term – even if it is done at the cost of a slower expansion.
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