Navigating the Evolving B Corp Verification Standards

The B Corp certification process is known for its rigour, making it both a challenge and a meaningful achievement. B Lab’s recent consultation period has been an exciting development because it’s a critical step in refining the certification standards. This consultation involved gathering feedback from stakeholders worldwide, which helps ensure that the standards are both rigorous and relevant as social and environmental expectations evolve.

Through this, B Lab seems committed to aligning B Corp standards more closely with pressing issues like climate action, equity, and worker well-being. The ongoing evolution not only strengthens the credibility of the certification but also empowers businesses to make an impact while meeting the criteria in ways that are both practical and transformative. It's definitely an exciting time for companies working toward certification and for the broader movement!

We wanted to provide a high-level overview of the key changes from B Lab’s Second Consultation Summary Report, so here are the main points that businesses and stakeholders should be aware of:

1. Increased Focus on Impact Areas: The updated standards are designed to prioritise specific impact areas such as climate action, equity, and social governance. This emphasis reflects the growing global focus on environmental sustainability and equitable practices.

2. Strengthened Performance Requirements: The new criteria place greater demands on companies to demonstrate measurable, positive impacts in their operations. This includes quantifiable metrics to ensure companies not only commit to values but also deliver results.

3. Higher Transparency Standards: Businesses seeking B Corp certification will need to meet more stringent transparency requirements. This change aims to build trust and provide stakeholders with greater visibility into a company’s impact efforts and areas for improvement.

4. Streamlined Verification Process: While the verification process remains thorough, B Lab is introducing some streamlined elements to make it more efficient without compromising rigour. The adjustments are meant to support companies in meeting the standards with clarity and consistency.

5. Broader Inclusion Criteria: B Lab is updating its criteria to better accommodate businesses of different sizes and industries, allowing for a more diverse range of organisations to pursue certification while maintaining high standards across the board.

6. Enhanced Accountability Measures: New accountability frameworks are being introduced to ensure that certified B Corps maintain their commitment over time, providing ongoing assessment and alignment with best practices in social and environmental performance.

   
   

For those interested, the full details and nuances of these updates can be found in the Second Consultation Summary Report.

Our Key Takeaways

Here’s a preview of what we can expect from B Lab's new B Corp standards as early as 2025:

1. A need to balance company context and capabilities with ambition

   • Some stakeholders indicated that individual standards are attainable but become more difficult to achieve at an aggregate level. Therefore, B Lab is considering how they can further support sole proprietors and small companies with limited resources or operational barriers.

2. Standards should be action-oriented and output-oriented

   • B Lab is investigating the inclusion of more clearly defined guidance to support companies in understanding how they can meet requirements in practical terms, such as step-by-step guides.

3. B Lab must write the standards in clear and concise language

   • B Lab is committing resources to editing the standards. This includes simplifying complex language and concepts to improve understanding while maintaining technical accuracy. They’re also working to further improve clarity on how the requirements apply to recertifying B Corps, how requirements apply to companies of different sizes, and which are mandatory for all.

4. A transition approach that supports companies to meet the new standard 

   • B Lab is currently in the process of upskilling internal staff on the new standards and identifying how they will support the training of the B Corp community, B Consultants, and B Leaders.

   
   

   

   
   

Proposed Changes at Requirement Level

Foundation Requirements

• More clarity on ineligibility for B Corp Certification for companies:

  • in high-risk industries

  • related to legal and regulatory compliance

  • Responsible lobbying

• Review of Risk Standards:

  • To incorporate upfront evaluation and eligibility, understanding company risk from the start of the journey and making it clear which industries are ineligible to pursue B Corp Certification.

  • To embed the existing risk standards (such as Controversial Issues standards and the Disclosure Questionnaire) into the new standards to the highest degree possible.

  • To support B Corps and prospective B Corps in assessing and mitigating potential negative impacts of their business.

• Risk Review Outcomes:

  • the ineligibility requirements for high-risk industries will be further clarified and updated.

  • Several existing and pending Controversial Issue standards and Disclosure Questionnaire risk topics were identified as being adequately covered by the new Impact Topics (eg. animal welfare, deforestation)

  • Capturing the most important labour rights will be included under the Fair Work Impact Topic

  • Implementation of a new ‘due diligence’ approach to support companies in assessing their negative impacts

Performance Requirements

• Purpose & Stakeholder Governance

  • Purpose Statement: Less prescriptive

  • Setting Aspirational Goals: Reduced to 1 goal depending on company size

  • Grievance procedure: ensuring procedures are accessible to all stakeholder groups

  • Marketing Policy requirements: Splitting out marketing policy requirements, to cater for smaller companies without marketing departments

• Workplace Culture

  • Merging Culture & Fair Wages Topics

  • Bringing Labour themes into the topic to ensure it becomes verified data

• Fair Wages

  • Merging Fair Wages & Culture Topics

  • Addressing living wage requirements due to the lack of uniformity in living wage benchmarks globally (addressing instances where circumstances are  outside of a company’s control)

  • A less prescriptive approach to living wages/incomes in the supply chain

• Justice Equity Diversity & Inclusion (JEDI)

  • Minimal changes are required for this Impact Topic, with general alignment on the direction from stakeholders.

• Human Rights

  • Heightened due diligence in conflict-affected situations (operationally)

• Climate Action

  • Simpler, clearer Climate Action requirements (step by step expectations)

  • GHG measurement: Smaller companies highlighted challenges with GHG measurement (especially scope 3) due to a lack of expertise, resources, and infrastructure. B Lab will highlight ways for companies to start reporting on Scope 3 emissions through publicly available tools, focussing on relevant emissions while refining over time (including clarifications for remote-based companies).

  • Future target setting: Given climate impact is already low for some companies, B Lab will emphasise relevant Scope 3 categories that a company may not have considered (procurement, business travel).

  • Increasing flexibility in the requirements

  • A Just Climate Transition (emphasising elements of climate justice in the development of the just transition plan, outlining how this should be considered by larger companies).

• Environmental Stewardship & Circularity

  • Improving alignment with the waste hierarchy to make guidance clearer for companies

  • Recycling infrastructure in countries of sale

  • Moving away from circular material use rate as a singular metric

  • Coverage of pollution

• Government Affairs & Collective Action

  • New lobbying guidance

  • More guidance on In-kind contributions

  • Increased alignment with other initiatives on a responsible taxation approach

• Complementary Impact Topics

  • This will no longer be a standalone topic given the overall ambition of the standards

  • Implementing this topic presented challenges in product implementation and company verification, as it is based on the structure and questions of the current B Impact Assessment.

  • B Lab is removing CIT1 (to diligently measure impact against Complementary Impact Topics) and evolving CIT2 (to publicly commit and progress against improvement goals on the most material themes) into a requirement within the Purpose & Stakeholder Governance Impact Topic.

Recommendations for Overarching Themes

Performance Recognition

B Lab’s updated approach indeed signals a significant shift, moving away from the traditional 80-point threshold in favour of a more nuanced assessment model. This new model establishes specific requirements across key Impact Topics, such as environmental sustainability, employee welfare, governance, and community engagement.

• Performance Requirements, specifically how companies are performing against the sub-requirements in each Impact Topic and if they ‘Do not meet’, ‘Meet’ or ‘Exceed’ these requirements.

• Impact Business Models (IBMs) as a differentiator. IBMs are 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, categorised as either “Developing”, “Advanced”, “Outstanding”, or “Leader”.

  
  

“We are moving away from a narrative built around numeric points to one that is rooted in tangible impacts that B Corps are creating around the world.” - Luana Messena, Senior Manager on the Standards Management Team, B Lab

Impact Business Models

Companies that have Impact Business Models at a certain scale would be recognised through a tiers system and be eligible for:

• More flexibility through exemptions or more time to meet requirements.

• Option to demonstrate equivalency in compliance with requirements in some Impact Topics.

• Public recognition in the B Corp Public Profile and potentially other B Lab Programs.

Despite the above changes, Stakeholders still note the need for specific improvements and amendments. A future consultation focused on Impact Business Models will address this.

Equity Mechanism for countries/territories

B Corps in different countries/territories are subject to different societal dynamics, legal frameworks, geographical constraints, and availability of resources. Consequently, all aspiring and current B Corps are exposed to unequal pre-existing conditions in their locations, which affect their capacity to run a company and meet certain requirements of the standards. B Lab’s equity mechanism aims to address this.

The Results

B Lab’s outlined next steps to prepare for implementing the new standards reflect a thoughtful, structured approach aimed at a smooth transition. Here’s a quick breakdown of these steps:

1. Incorporating Feedback: B Lab will integrate the insights gathered during consultations, ensuring that the updated standards reflect the needs and realities of diverse stakeholders. This inclusive approach should make the standards more practical and widely applicable.

2. Applying Simplified Language: Simplifying the language in the standards helps make requirements clearer and more accessible, reducing misunderstandings and allowing companies to better understand what is required.

3. Improving Verification Guidelines: Updated verification guidelines will ensure that companies know exactly what evidence and documentation are required, which should make the verification process smoother and more transparent for all parties.

4. Transition Approach: B Lab is crafting a clear transition plan to help companies currently certified, or in the process of certification, adapt to the new standards. This plan will likely include timelines, resources, and support for transitioning to the new requirements.

5. Upskilling & Training B Lab Staff: Equipping B Lab staff with the skills and training they need to support companies in this new framework is essential for consistency and reliability. This step will enable B Lab teams to effectively guide businesses through the updated certification journey.

These changes represent B Lab’s commitment to evolving the B Corp standards to stay relevant and impactful. For those interested, the full details and nuances of these updates can be found in the Second Consultation Summary Report.

Disclaimer: This summary includes factual information sourced from B Lab's full report. While the facts themselves are publicly available, this summary is an interpretation to assist those who can’t dive into the deeper data. For complete and detailed information, please refer directly to the official report by B Lab.