Environmental Stewardship & Circularity

Introduction

Outcome

B Corps demonstrate environmental stewardship and contribute to the circular economy in their operations and value chain, minimizing any negative impact to help stay within ecological thresholds and pursuing positive impact.

Purpose 

Today the world faces several environmental crises, from climate change, to water scarcity to biodiversity loss. There is an urgent need to act by adopting circular and nature-positive business models. Only through this profound change is it possible to stabilize biodiversity in the decade to 2030 and allow for the full recovery of natural ecosystems by 2050 as agreed by world leaders under the Convention on Biological Diversity. Environmental stewardship is also critical to adhere to the Paris Climate Agreement. 

Companies can demonstrate environmental stewardship by ensuring their impact stays within the environmental thresholds of our planet and by promoting resilient natural systems where resources are cycled, extraction of virgin resources is reduced to an absolute minimum considering the finite non-renewable resources the world depends on, and where businesses, people, and the environment can thrive without exploitation of natural ecosystems and marginalized communities.

Scope

Individuals, communities, species and aspects of the environment affected by the company’s own operations and value chain.

Notes

• Accountability for and reporting on this topic are covered in the Purpose & Stakeholder Governance topic, and any stakeholder engagement related criteria in this topic may overlap with the stakeholder governance requirements of the Purpose & Stakeholder Governance topic.

• This topic is strongly connected to the Climate Action (CA) topic. For instance enhancing biodiversity is also a critical action towards limiting global warming. In general, most actions under the topic Environmental Stewardship & Circularity could support the company’s climate transition plan. Some of the connections are also denoted in square brackets to the specific sub-requirement action.  

• ESC5 should be implemented alongside Human Rights (HR4), as procurement and supplier engagement have both social and environmental considerations.

Requirements

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