What is B Corp?

Let’s start with a quick overview of B Corp, its purpose, and the impact assessment process.

The B Corp badge signals that a business has successfully made it through B Corp’s assessment process, in doing so demonstrating a commitment to “using business as a force for good, balancing profit with purpose”. Certification is voluntary, and companies chiefly use it as a way to:

• Assess the social and environmental impact of their operations, spotting opportunities for improvement.
• Tap into a network of like-minded businesses to learn from and share best practice.
• Demonstrate ESG values to customers and candidates in a way that’s trusted.

Here’s an overview of the B Corp assessment process (as of August 2024 – read on to see how this looks set to change):

1. Complete the B Impact Assessment (BIA): businesses are evaluated across five categories: Governance, Workers, Community, Environment, and Customers.
2. Meet the ‘Performance Requirement’: companies have to achieve a minimum verified score on the BIA of 80 out of ~200 points.‍
3. Become legally accountable: a B Corp’s board of directors must commit to balance profit with social and environmental consideration.
4. Get verified: B Lab (a non-profit) reviews the application through interviews and by checking documentation.
5. Commit to transparency: certified B Corps must publish an annual ‘Impact Report’, sharing their performance and plans to improve across criteria assessed in the BIA.

B Corps are required to recertify every three years, completing the BIA again and undergoing further challenge and verification. The aim is for certified B Corporations to improve their score each time they recertify.

Do I need to measure a carbon footprint to become a B Corp?

No, not at the moment, but measuring your carbon footprint looks likely to become mandatory from 2026 under the new B Corp Impact Assessment (more on that later). For now, measuring your GHG emissions strongly supports your B Corp score: acing the ‘Environment’ section is hard without a solid emission measurement and reduction strategy in place.

So now you’re a B Corp boffin, lets head to the ‘Environment’ section of the BIA to take a look at how carbon emissions monitoring and management is relevant to you mastering your B Corp application.

The number of points available in the ‘Environment’ section varies depending on the sector that your business operates in, as well as the facilities you own and control, but for most there are ~45 points up for grabs here.

‘Environment’ is further subdivided into 4 scoring sections:

• Environmental Management
• Air & Climate
• Water
• Land & Life

Questions across these topics relate to your carbon footprint in one of two ways:

‍Direct questions about your carbon footprint.

The BIA rewards businesses that measure, reduce and offset their emissions according to best practice. It also credits businesses that are low in carbon intensity, measured as Scope 1 and 2 emissions per $m in revenue.

This means that a business that doesn’t measure its greenhouse gas emissions is guaranteed to miss out on 3.34 points.

All of the relevant questions are highlighted in green here:

Questions that are closely related to measure and reducing your footprint.

Almost all remaining points in the ‘Environment’ section are areas that overlap with best practice for emission measurement and reduction, so completing a full-scope carbon footprint will put your business in the best position possible to answer these questions in a way that optimises your score. Here are just some examples.

“Does your company monitor, record, or report its energy usage?”
(Points available: 0.67)

As part of measuring your footprint, you’ll ideally use data from your energy bills to calculate your emissions from using gas and electricity in the office. If you’ve started to regularly track this for your footprint, you’ll be able to input that data here too. (Of course, this can be tricky for businesses that don’t pay their energy bills, a common problem for those in co-working spaces).

“How does your company monitor and manage your waste production?”
(Points available: 1.00)

Similarly, part of your footprint includes emissions from the waste disposed of. Ideally, as part of your footprint you’ll be tracking data on the amount of waste your business produces, and the extent to which it is recycled. Recycling strategies will form an important part of your emissions reduction plan.

“Does your company have any programs or policies in place to reduce the environmental footprint caused by travel/commuting?”
(Points available: 0.67)

Travel and commuting form a large part of the carbon footprint of many businesses, so as part of any well-informed emissions reduction plan, you’ll already have a number of initiatives in place to tackle this impact, such as adopting the cycle to work scheme.

Conclusion: a well thought out emissions management strategy has the potential to make a chunky contribution toward the 80-point minimum.

Will a carbon footprint become mandatory for B Corp?

Yes, as part of an ongoing review of the B Corp Impact Assessment, it will soon become mandatory for businesses to measure a carbon footprint to certify as a B Corp.

The BIA is regularly updated by B Lab to ensure rigour and relevance, incorporate feedback, and maintain trust in the B Corp logo. The latest update, the 7th in B Corp history, is now available in draft form having undergone 2 rounds of consultation. The new BIA is expected to be introduced in 2026. You can check out anticipated timelines below published here in June 2024.

The draft standards have shifted from the current framework, where businesses have the flexibility to choose how they achieve the 80-point threshold, to a model where specific requirements must be met across new ‘Impact Topics’.

In terms of your carbon footprint, the new ‘Climate Action’ topic will mandate businesses of all sizes to:

1. Measure a full scope carbon footprint in line with the GHG Protocol.
   • Applies to both certifying and re-certifying businesses.
   • This must be verified by a third-party, like Seedling.
2. Set a Net Zero target aligned with the Science Based Targets Initiative.
   • Applies to certifying businesses only.
3. Create a 'climate transition plan.'
   • This encompasses a range of criteria, and whether they apply to certifying or re-certifying businesses varies.

Conclusion

The current state of play is that monitoring GHG emissions is fundamental to a strong performance in the environment section of the BIA, but not mandatory in order to certify as a B Corp.

However, this looks set to change. According to the latest draft of the revised BIA, B Lab will make measuring a comprehensive, third-party verified carbon footprint mandatory for newly certifying and re-certifying B Corps.

At Seedling, we’re experts in helping you to improve your environmental score now, and also to get more than prepared for these upcoming changes. Let’s chat!