B Lab’s latest overhaul of its B Corp environmental, social and governance standards for businesses to meet has officially come into force.

From this week all certification submissions will move to B Corp V2 which requires applicants to meet performance standards across seven impact topics.

These are:

• Purpose & Stakeholder Governance: Act in accordance with a defined purpose and embed stakeholder governance in decision-making, creating governance structures to monitor purpose, social, and environmental performance.
• Climate Action: Develop an action plan to support limiting global warming to 1.5°C, and, for larger companies, include GHG emissions and validated science-based targets.
• Human Rights: Understand how their operations and value chain may involve negative human rights impacts and take action to prevent and mitigate negative impacts.
• Fair Work: Provide good quality jobs and have positive workplace cultures, implement fair wage practices, and incorporate worker feedback in decision-making.
• Environmental Stewardship & Circularity: Assess their environmental impacts and take meaningful action to minimize them in their operations and value chain.
• Justice, Equity, Diversity & Inclusion: Foster inclusive and diverse workplaces, and contribute meaningfully to just and equitable communities.
• Government Affairs & Collective Action: Engage in collective efforts to drive systemic change, advocate for policies that create positive social and environmental outcomes, and, for the largest companies, publicly share their country-by-country tax reports.

In announcing the standards last year B Lab chief executive Chris Turner said: “B Lab’s new standards serve as a roadmap for companies that want to lead.

“This isn’t merely an update; it sets a new bar for positive impact. So at a time of uncertainty, and with recent progress at risk, I’m excited about the potential for positive change that these standards unlock.”

Hack Scott, cofounder and CMO at B Corp organiastion DASH Water added: “We’re proud to belong to a collective movement of like-minded leaders who put words into action.

“These new standards mark a big leap forward and will inspire companies like ours to continue raising the bar of what good looks like and drive change at scale.”

B Lab Global director of standards Judy Rodrigues said that the updated standards have been developed over the last four years, involving two public consultations and 26,000 piece of feedback from businesses, the public and experts.

“We look forward to collaborating with our community as they embrace these new standards and create momentum for systems change,” she said.

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