Anyone Say B Corp?

A few months ago, skincare brand Aesop announced its B Corp certification. My first reaction was: That’s amazing! But on second thought I realised that I had no clue what a B Corp certification actually meant. Just like the Fairtrade and USDA certifications or the Leaping Bunny, it’s a symbol that you recognise on products. Certifications that ’feel’ positive. But what do they actually stand for?

According to the Certified B Corporations website, B Corps are “businesses that meet the highest standards of verified social and environmental performance, public transparency, and legal accountability to balance profit and purpose.” Anyone feel smarter? Yeah, me neither.

“It’s like the Fairtrade certification but for the whole business, not just a bag of coffee.” — Abel & Cole

Abi Barnes, author of a guide for entrepreneurs that aims to disentangle the world of ‘b-businesses’ (published by the Yale Center for Business and the Environment and Patagonia) says that the B Corporation certification is the “functional equivalent of Rainforest Alliance, LEED, or Fairtrade labels.”

In other words, in an era of misleading information, the B Corp label helps us to identify (trustworthy) companies that look beyond just shareholder value and take into account the importance of wider stakeholders; including the environment, community and workers (multi-stakeholder, triple-bottom line thinking).

Simply put, certified B Corporations give equal weight to people, planet and profit. Companies and business leaders that demonstrate a fundamentally different governance philosophy by redefining what success looks like; one that is more inclusive, sustainable and purpose-driven.

“B certifying firms believe the major crises of our time are a result of the way we conduct business. They became a B Corporation to join the movement of creating a new economy with a new set of rules and redefine the way people perceive success in the business world.” — Harvard Business Review

It is important to note though, that although certified B Corporations are (1) measured by their social and environmental performance, (2) pledge to consider the impact of their decisions on their workers, customers, suppliers, community, and the environment (The B Impact Assessment) and (3) commit to using ‘business as a force for good’… B Corp standards are not legally enforceable. What’s more, certified companies can walk away if they feel being a B Corp no longer suits their goals or strategy (e.g. short-term shareholder profitability).

So, what makes you a B Corp?

The B Impact Assessment measures and evaluates companies across 5 areas. A score of 80 points out of 200 are required to qualify for B Corp Certification.

1. Governance: mission and engagement; ethics and transparency
2. Workers: financial security; health, wellness and safety; career development; engagement and satisfaction
3. Community: diversity, equity and inclusion; economic impact; civic engagement and giving; supply chain management; supply chain poverty alleviation
4. Environment: environmental management; air and climate; water; land and life; resource conservation; land/wildlife conservation; toxin reduction
5. Customers: customer stewardship; arts, media and culture; serving in need populations

(See for example, Patagonia’s B Impact Report)

Back to Aesop

So what exactly are businesses like Aesop doing to earn the badge?

• As part of Aesop’s commitment to climate actions, the brand aims to reach net zero greenhouse gas emissions by no later than 2030.
• They have never tested its products or ingredients on animals, and they don’t use animal-derived ingredients such as beeswax, honey or lanolin in its formulations.
• Their Ethical Sourcing Programme aims to ensure that its suppliers use environmentally responsible processes, have safe working conditions, and treat workers with dignity.
• They have transitioned over 80% of its plastic bottles to a minimum 97% post-consumer recycled PET content.

Final thoughts

Do you need to be B Corp certified to be a good corporate citizen, to do good, to give back? No. But it does help people to make better, more conscious decisions, more easily. It’s a shortcut, a heuristic, to make better choices.

I wonder if the B Corp certification has the potential to radically change the way contemporary consumer culture and and our economy works? But why expect radical behaviour change if we are pushing in the right direction. Every bit helps the system evolve for the better.

Today, there are over 3,762 certified B Corps across 74 countries and 150 industries (B Corp Directory). Keep an eye out the next time you’re looking to #buylessbutbetter

What are your thoughts, perspectives and experiences with B Corps?