{"id":7236,"date":"2023-08-30T10:46:38","date_gmt":"2023-08-30T08:46:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/r4sgroup.com\/?p=7236"},"modified":"2023-09-06T17:56:07","modified_gmt":"2023-09-06T15:56:07","slug":"hacia-una-nueva-etapa-de-la-certificacion-b-corp-parte-i-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/r4sgroup.com\/en\/hacia-una-nueva-etapa-de-la-certificacion-b-corp-parte-i-2\/","title":{"rendered":"Towards a new stage of B Corp certification (Part II)"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

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Did you miss the first article in which we analyse the new stage of B Corp certification? Find it out here<\/a><\/span><\/mark>.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

What was the stakeholder consultation like?<\/a><\/span><\/em> <\/a> | What are the views of stakeholders?<\/a><\/span><\/em> <\/a> | What changes are being considered in the second version?<\/a><\/span><\/em> | What comes next?<\/a><\/span><\/em> <\/a><\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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As part of the process of transforming B Corp certification, B Lab has consulted stakeholders on the initial version of the new standards to ensure they meet their expectations and needs. The results of the consultation have helped us to understand the direction of the second version of the new standards, which will be published in September 2023.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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What was the stakeholder consultation like?<\/strong> 1,051 people gave their views on the impact, attainability, and clarity of the new standards.<\/strong><\/mark><\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

\u00abThe results of the consultation help us to understand where the second version of the new standards, to be published later this month, is heading.\u00bb<\/em><\/mark><\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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In September 2022, the first draft of the new B Corp standards was released for preliminary consultation. This consultation sought the views of stakeholders through surveys, virtual focus groups and expert interviews with a total of 1,051 participants from B Corp companies and the general public<\/mark> (researchers, academics, consultancies and other experts).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The consultation focused on gathering stakeholder feedback on three variables of the standards (impact, attainability, and clarity<\/mark>), both at a general level of the new standard and at a specific level for each of the 10 performance themes.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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Source:<\/strong> Own elaboration based on B Lab’s Preliminary Consultation Summary Report.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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What are the views of stakeholders? The main results of the consultation show a positive view on the approach of the new standards, although there is considerable concern about the increased requirements.<\/mark><\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Conclusions of the stakeholder consultation are:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Confirmation of the ambition and impact of the new standards<\/strong><\/mark><\/strong>. Overall, most respondents (+85%) indicated that the new standards represent a high level of social and environmental performance and will help make significant progress on the most pressing challenges.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Greater clarity, but with hesitation<\/mark><\/strong>. More than 70% of respondents agree or strongly agree that the new standards bring greater clarity to what it means to be a B Corp and could help reduce the risk of greenwashing, although 15% are still hesitant (for reasons such as too open-ended, complex vocabulary…). It is worth highlighting that the level of disagreement is higher among already B Corp certified companies (11%) than among non-certified ones (5%).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u00abConcerns arise around the possibility that the new standards – given their difficulty and the additional resource intensity and documentation burden they require – will leave smaller companies<\/em><\/mark><\/em> out of the loop \u00bb<\/mark><\/em> <\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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Varying levels of attainability, especially according to size, region and whether the company is already B Corp certified<\/strong>.<\/mark><\/strong> Although most people think that the new standards are attainable for companies, there is concern about the factual possibilities of meeting the level of requirements. 28% of the companies already certified as B Corp consider that they may not be able to comply with the new standards or do not know; and 44% of non-certified companies disagree, strongly disagree, or do not know whether they will be able to comply with this new version of the standards.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Concerns arise around the possibility that the new standards – given their difficulty and the additional resource intensity and documentation burden they require – will leave out of the loop smaller companies (those with zero employees, self-employed or very small companies), service companies, companies in developing countries (“Global South”) or very early-stage companies on their way to impact whose motivation is continuous improvement.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Maintaining the scorecard<\/strong><\/mark><\/strong>. Companies believe that the scorecard should be maintained as it is valuable in differentiating levels of performance between companies, motivating continuous improvement and linking incentives and recognition.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Need to evolve how Impact Business Models (IBMs) are reflected<\/strong><\/strong><\/mark>. <\/strong>45% of people do not agree or do not know their opinion on how “Impact Business Models” are reflected in the first version of the standard. The main reasons are that without this distinctive and recognisable element, the new B Corp certification can be seen as too operationalised (like a checklist) and with less impact on the core business of companies.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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What changes are being considered in the second version?<\/strong> Most of the mandatory compliance topics will contain contextualisation adjustments and more clarity on the actions to be implemented.<\/mark><\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Based on the concerns shown, the areas of improvement identified for the evolution of the new B Corp standards point towards:<\/p>\n\n\n\n