Explore the latest draft standards for B Corp Certification
Familiarize yourself with the latest draft of B Lab’s standards, gaining a better understanding of how your company may be impacted by future changes and the criteria that your company will need to meet. Where is your company already having a positive impact? Or, perhaps there are areas to improve?
Thanks to those who participated in our recent consultation. This was a pivotal moment to share your feedback on this draft and help shape the future of B Corp Certification. We’re currently working to incorporate your stakeholder feedback into this latest draft and the content here will be updated in due course.
Why is B Lab evolving its standards?
The evolution of the standards for B Corp Certification is baked into B Lab’s DNA; we have revised the standards six times in the 17 years since B Corp Certification began.
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.
The new standards will provide clarity for companies, galvanizing the most impactful business actions and focusing on what really matters, meaningfully demonstrating the leadership role that B Corps and the B Corp movement play in the world.
Explore the latest draft standardsKey milestones
Transformation takes time and this work is no exception. We’re in the midst of the biggest change to the standards in B Lab’s history and this impacts many aspects of our business; the technology we use, the tools and products we build and the certification processes we create.
The standards development process is the first step on this journey, and itself is a rigorous, multi-year process. Inline with industry best practice, this includes reviewing feedback, developing drafts of specific changes and consulting with expert stakeholders. See below for a timeline of this work to date.
December 2020
B Lab announces a review of the performance requirements for B Corp Certification exploring a standards framework based on specific impact topics. We gather early community feedback from almost 1000 individuals.
September 2021
B Lab conducts a series of focus groups with stakeholders to further explore findings from the December 2020 survey.
December 2021
Extensive research and data analysis leads to a consultation with the B Corp community stakeholders and B Lab’s independent standard governing bodies. B Lab’s Standards Advisory Council agrees on a framework for the new standards.
September 2022
B Lab launches the preliminary consultation, sharing a draft of the new standards for B Corp Certification. Over 1,000 individuals share feedback.
May 2023
B Lab shares the Preliminary Consultation Summary Report, detailing the preliminary consultation results, and highlighting how prevalent feedback could be addressed in the next draft of the standards.
January 2024
The second consultation has launched! The latest iteration of the draft standards and accompanying survey are hosted via this new website. Share your feedback today.
March 2024 onwards
Input received during the second consultation will be considered for inclusion in the next version of the standards and will be shared with B Lab’s Standards Advisory Council and Board of Directors - independent bodies ensuring impartiality and credibility.
No company will certify or recertify on the new standards for B Corp Certification before 2025. Due to the iterative nature of this work, and the amount and type of feedback we receive during this consultation, a finalization timeline is hard to estimate. B Lab will provide ongoing updates regarding specific, phased timelines for implementation of the standard.
Explore the latest draft standards