Navigating the New B Corp Standards: What Businesses Need to Know
Explore the key changes in the new B Corp requirements and how they’re setting a higher standard for businesses driving sustainability and social impact.
Achieving B Corp status is widely recognised as a powerful way to enhance brand credibility and build trust with customers who prioritise sustainability and social impact—a significant and ever-growing cohort.
As part of its commitment to continuous improvement and to safeguard the reputation of the standard and its certified B Corps, B Lab is on the cusp of deploying new B Corp standards that aim “to raise the bar for businesses as they help address global challenges.”
These new B Corp requirements, the biggest change to the standards in B Lab’s history, will cement certified B Corps as leaders in the ‘business as a force for good’ movement. In an online statement, B Lab explains, “As the climate crisis intensifies and societal inequality grows, the need to bring about systemic change is clear. We must advance the standards for B Corp Certification to meet the magnitude of the challenge ahead.”
Zevero supports this mission. We are committed to empowering organisations on their sustainability journey and helping them achieve or maintain B Corp status. This article outlines the key changes in the new B Corp standards and how they will impact both aspiring and existing B Corps, plus how Zevero can support organisations who want to meet the new B Corp requirements once they’re rolled out.
Download the full B Corp Guide: A comprehensive guide to help your business navigate the path to B Corp certification, enhance your impact, and join a global movement for good.
The New B Corp Standards: What’s Changed and Why It Matters
There are four key changes that aspiring or existing B Corps need to be aware of as we approach the official rollout of the new requirements (‘Version 7’):
- Changes to impact topics
- Changes to how scoring works
- The requirement for continuous improvement
- Changes to the categories that define which requirements your organisation must meet
Let’s break them down one by one…
New impact topics and clearer guidance
Previously, impact topics were broken down into Governance, Workers, Community, Environment and Customers. The new standard will see B Lab get more specific about its Performance Requirements, breaking them down by:
- Purpose & Stakeholder Governance
- Workplace Culture
- Fair Wages
- Justice, Equity, Diversity & Inclusion
- Human rights
- Climate Action
- Environmental Stewardship & Circularity
- Government Affairs & Collective Action
- Complementary Impact Topics
Specificity in the B Corp assessment is a really good thing. Feedback from the open consultation on Version 7 highlighted that organisations needed more clarity across the B Corp assessment. In response, under each requirement, there will now be clear compliance criteria, compliance guidance, evidence examples, and implementation resources. Less time will be spent working out what’s required, leaving more time to take action. This is a win!
Stricter scoring
Currently, B Lab allows flexibility in its scoring system. Organisations just need to achieve 80+ points across the impact areas, meaning they can score low in one if they score high in another.
The new B Corp Standards will move from ‘flexible’ to ‘fixed’ scoring. Organisations must meet specific thresholds within each topic; not meeting one means not meeting the standard. The assessment will be marked with ‘Does not meet’, ‘Meets’ or ‘Exceeds’, to recognise leaders in certain impact areas.
A requirement for continuous improvement
Another major feedback from the Version 7 consultation was that stakeholders consider “continuous improvement as a cornerstone of the B Corp Certification”. In response, B Lab has incorporated continuous improvement into the draft in the following ways:
- Where improvement or progress is inherent to a requirement (for example, setting a net zero target), the requirement will specifically outline how and when that progress will be tracked, e.g. at recertification.
- Within the ‘Complementary Impact Topics’ Performance Requirement, companies must set goals for other business impact areas outside of the core topics and will need to demonstrate progress against them to recertify.
Changes to the categories that define your ‘stream’
B Lab recognises that companies all have different starting points and resources. It adjusts its requirements based on business characteristics like size and location to accommodate this. For example, a Micro organisation will have a different set of requirements (typically fewer) than an XX-Large organisation.
In Version 7, one of the key changes to these categories is an update to the ‘size’ stream. Historically this was just based on the number of workers (FTEs), but the new draft also takes revenue into account.
How will these changes impact existing B Corps?
Existing B Corps mustn’t panic, there is plenty of time to prepare. At current, B Lab’s official statement is that any organisation with a recertification date in 2025 will do so on Version 6. Version 7 will only affect companies certifying or recertifying from 2026 onwards.
This distant deadline doesn’t mean time to relax, however. Existing B Corps that want to recertify will need to perform a gap analysis to see where (if anywhere) they fall short against the new criteria. They will then need to create an improvement plan that ensures they comply with the new standards before their next recertification date.
The new B Corp standards are meant to be more rigorous, and will likely be challenging for many organisations. For instance, while Version 6 didn’t mandate science-based net-zero targets, Version 7 does (and with an actionable climate transition plan to boot). This will be tough, even for seasoned sustainability teams.
Companies without dedicated teams face the choice of hiring, upskilling, or outsourcing. Even those with strong sustainability functions may need external support to track and manage data effectively.
This is where Zevero can help.
Zevero: a strategic partner for B Corp’s new climate action requirements
Zevero helps organisations spend less time measuring their carbon emissions and more time decarbonising. This makes us a strong partner for tackling B Lab’s climate and environmental requirements. Here are some specific examples of areas we can help:
- CA1: The company measures its Greenhouse Gas (GHG) emissions annually following the methodology of the GHG Protocol.
Our platform is GHG-protocol aligned, collects data in real-time through API integrations, uses AI and sustainability experts to match your data with the correct emissions factor and returns it as calculated emissions data that can be shared with B Lab. With the need to demonstrate ‘continuous improvement’, automated emissions tracking across scopes 1, 2 and 3 will save you time and stress at each recertification event. - CA2: The company sets a science-based target to keep global warming below 1.5 °C, and CA3: The company implements a climate transition plan
Set targets, track KPIs, and identify pathways to reduce your emissions, all in the Zervero platform. Advisory support and tools that streamline sustainability reporting and assist in target setting for decarbonisation are available every step of the way. - ESC1: The company knows its (potential) impacts on the environment
B Lab requests accurate data on a company’s energy consumption, water usage, and waste generation. Provided we’re hooked up to the right data sources, we’ll keep track of this data for you, ready to go straight over to B Lab when you need it.
- ESC1.7: The company conducts an assessment to identify actual and potential environmental impacts that are connected to their operations and value chain
Zevero identifies emissions hotspots across Scopes 1, 2 and 3, helping you manage potential negative impacts that are crucial for the ‘Version 7’ B Corp Certification Standard.
As B Lab raises the bar with its new B Corp standards, Zevero stands ready to support businesses through each step of the journey, helping you measure, manage, and meet evolving sustainability benchmarks. We’re committed to empowering organisations to thrive sustainably and maintain their B Corp certification with confidence.
To learn more about the path to B Corp certification and how Zevero can help, download our Becoming A B Corp Guide or reach out directly to learn more about what we do.
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