A big thank you to those who joined us for our Webinar on the Evolution of Standards Consultation: How to get involved.
As discussed, no company will be certifying on the new standards before 2025, and we welcome feedback on the proposed standards from our community.
Resources:
- Complete the online survey, to help shape the future of B Corp Certification
- Survey is now open until 26 March 2024
- Watch the webinar back, and share it with you teams via this link
- Register to be part of a focus group via this form — the sessions available are:
- February 22: B Corps with virtual or leased offices and/or service with minor footprint companies
- February 29: Companies aspiring to be B Corps
- March 14: Persons owning or leading a B Corp or aspiring B Corp who identify as: a Person of Color, a person with a disability, a First Nations or Indigenous person,
Some of the Q+As from the event:
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Q: When will the new standards start to be applied for the new aspiring B Corps?
- A: No company will be certifying or recertifying on the new standards before 2025. Our current focus is setting clear expectations and creating support structures to help B Corps meet and certify on the new standards. We acknowledge that all companies have unique needs and requirements, so we are creating specific information tailored to each company’s pathway ready to share in early 2025. While each company may have individual concerns, we are working on an overall approach that will help the entire community transition once the standards are finalised and updated in the platform.
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Q: Will companies with existing B Corp accreditation be “reassessed” based on the new criteria?
- A: No company will be certifying or recertifying on the new standards before 2025. B Corps will receive tailored information in 2025 in regards to the transition period. Until you are advised otherwise, continue using the current BIA, which you will be assessed on. You will not need to be “reassessed” under the new criteria until your next certification cycle occurs.
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Q: Do companies need to meet all criteria or is there a scale? How do companies communicate this?
- A: This is what the current draft standards survey seeks feedback on — how companies are assessed, and whether the proposed standards are attainable for different companies and industries.
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Q: Is there a physical framework we can work within?
- A: We are redesigning the B Impact experience to house the new standard - we will share more details of this as part of the transition approach. In the meantime, companies can continue to use the current BIA (especially for areas where there is overlap) and engage with the standards through the microsite.
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Q: Is B Lab planning any training for B Leaders / B Consultants?
- A: We can’t share any specific training details right now. From now and throughout this year, we would encourage companies to engage with the standards (through this consultation and after) and build on the work they’re already doing as part of their B Corp journeys. For example, companies could begin exploring where they would already meet the new standards and where they have opportunities to improve.
If you have any questions, please reach out to us at community@bcorporation.com.au.
If you want to learn more about the standards, we invite you to join us next week at Assembly, for the session on Evolving the B Corp Movement, hosted by Clay Brown (B Lab Global).
We look forward to having you all share your feedback to help shape the future of our certification standards! 