B Corporation (certification)

Certified B Corporation logo. This logo can only be used by companies certified by B Lab.

In business, a company that uses the "Certified B Corporation" trademark (also B Corporation or B Corp) is a for-profit corporation certified for its governance practices and its environmental and social impact by B Lab, a private global non-profit organization.

To be granted a company must meet B Lab's latest standards that are operative since 2026. These standards include mandatory requirements across seven important topics : Purpose & Stakeholder Governance, Fair Work, Justice, Equity, Diversity & Inclusion, Human Rights, Climate Action, Environmental Stewardship & Circularity and Government Affairs & Collective Action. Companies must also meet legal requirements concerning stakeholder governance, pay an annual fee based on their revenue, and undergo independent third-party verification. Under these latest standards, to be maintain, a certified company must go through the five-year cycle, with additional requirements and assessments at years three and five.

As of November 2026, there are more than 11,000 Certified B Corporations across 163 industries in 104 countries.

Purpose

Example of a B Corp certification label

B Lab certification is a third-party standard requiring companies to meet social sustainability, environmental performance, and accountability standards. Certified firms must also remain transparent to the public regarding the score they receive on the assessment. This certification applies to the whole company across all product lines and issue areas.

One hurdle in pursuing certification is the administrative and legal costs a corporation faces when aligning its business model with B Lab's regulations. As a matter of law in Massachusetts, and other states that recognize the status, the certification itself carries no legal weight for shareholders, stakeholders, or employees. Instead, it serves as a branding tool. Academic research has analyzed B Corp certification as a signaling mechanism that may influence how investors and other stakeholders evaluate firms.

Benefits of certification

Certification introduces no additional legal liabilities to a C corporation or other for-profit business structures, provided their models adhere to B Lab's framework. Many C corporations seek B Corp certification to gain goodwill. Similar to other business associations, certified B Corporations and their employees have access to a number of discounts from outside entities and fellow members.

A study of 52 businesses in Spain revealed that the main motivations to get B Corp Certification are mostly internal. In fact, a company can see benefits in improving itself by following the B Corp standards and in differentiating itself from traditional profit oriented-businesses. The certification can become a real tool for businesses to continuously improve their practices and to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals. Some external motivations such as the visibility given to the company's commitment to social and environmental aspects are also desirable.

Challenges encoutered

B Lab certification has no legal status and is lacking in mandatory due diligence mechanisms. B Lab has been criticized for framing private sector led multi-stakeholder governance as a substitute for public sector regulation. In order to obtain and maintain a B Corporation certification, B Lab charges annual administrative and legal fees depending on the revenue generated by the respective companies which could result in a perverse incentive.

B Lab develops private, non-consensus standards rather than adhering to voluntary, consensus-based international standards. This has the potential for confusion and fragmentation in the marketplace for social responsibility. B Corporation has also been criticized for not being the "force for radical change" required to tackle the world's pressing problems. B Lab certification is not accredited. The European Commission proposed directive will require mandatory accreditation of verifiers. Private sector Multi-Stakeholder Initiatives (MSIs) may adopt weak or narrow standards that better serve corporate interests than rights holder interests.

History and development

The B Corp movement started in 2006, in the US, with the creation of B Lab by three college friends, Jay Coen Gilbert, Bart Houlahan and Andrew Kassoy. The initiative emerged from their shared goal to create public benefits beyond financial performance by using the power of private and for-profit businesses. They wanted to create a real movement and allow companies to make statements about their social and environmental impact, without legal necessity. The first companies were certified in 2007, and by the end of the year, 81 businesses were certified.

Well-known businesses like Patagonia in 2011, Kickstarter in 2013, and Ben & Jerry's in 2012 gradually became certified.

B Lab also supported the development of a new legal corporate structure known as the benefit corporation (BC). Unlike B Corp certification, BC status is established through legislation, and it refers to the aim to pursue public benefit and to give profits back to shareholders.

The B corp movement gradually expanded beyond the United States. In 2012, Sistema B was created in Latin America to promote the B Corp model and adapt its approach to regional economic and social contexts. It was the first B Lab global partner outside the US.

Distinction from benefit corporation

In the United States, a benefit corporation is a legal status conferred by state law in the US. Legislation for the passage of benefit corporation legal status has been passed in 35 states, including Delaware.

B Lab certification is privately issued by a non-profit organization run by people principally from the business community. It has no legislative framework, and is not needed to obtain benefit corporation status.

Certification process

Companies seeking B Corp certification must meet B Lab's Foundation Requirements, including elegibility criteria, a legal commitment to stakeholder governance, and a risk assessment. Since 2026, B Corp certification has been based on B Lab's updated standards (Version 2.2), which replaced the previous point-based assessment system. Within this new framework, rather than being required to earn a minimum score of 80 out of 200 points, a company needs to meet the Impact Topic Requirements, which cover social, environmental, and governance impact in seven key areas. These specific requirements are tailored to a company's size, industry and, sector.

Online assessment

To obtain a B Corporation certification, a company first completes an online self-assessment. Companies are required to provide supporting evidence and documentation through this assessment. This step tracks the number of requirements met and highlights areas for focused improvement.

The assessment covers the company's entire operation and measures the impact of the company in areas of :

  • Purpose and Stakeholder Governance
  • Climate Action
  • Justice, Equity, Diversity, & Inclusion
  • Government Affairs and Collective Action
  • Fair Work
  • Human Rights
  • Environmental Stewardship and Circularity

The requirements applicable to each company vary according to its size, secto, industry and geographical location. Company size is determined using both the number of workers and annual revenue. The standards indeed include differentiated requirements to account for variation in business activities and operating context. For instance, companies in manufacturing may face different environmental requirements than those in service industries, while larger companies are generally subject to more extensive requirements.

Verification and transparency requirements

After completing the self-assessment, companies submit their application for independent third-party verification. Approved assurance providers conduct audits to assess whether companies meet the applicable B Lab standards. Companies must address major nonconformities before certification can be granted.

The Impact Topic requirements are designed in a phased approach that encourages continuous improvement. Successful companies receive a B Corp certificate valid for five years. During this period, companies must meet additional requirements and undergo further audits at Years 3 and 5 to demonstrate continued compliance and improvement. To maintain certification, companies must continuously comply with all sub-requirements.

Standards governance and development

To maintain credibility, the B Corporation certification standard operates under principles that are independent, comprehensive, comparable, dynamic, and transparent. B Lab has an established standards advisory council that can independently make decisions with or without the support of B Lab. As of May 2014, 28 of 30 members were listed by their business affiliation. The council recommends improvements to the B Corp assessment on a biennial basis. There is a 30-day public consultation period before releasing a new version of the B Corporation assessment.

Certification requires companies to adopt the B Corp Legal Requirement, which involves embedding stakeholder governance principles into their governing documents. This requires companies to consider the interests of stakeholders in their decision making, including workers, communities, customers, suppliers, and the environment. This prevents companies from including mostly shareholders' interests in their decisions. The legal framework required to meet this obligation varies according to company's juridiction and corporate structure. In the United States, for example, adopting a benefit corporation legal structure is one possible way to meet this requirement, although it is not mandatory for all companies.

The fact that B Corp standards are not legally enforceable, and that none of a companies' governing bodies and leadership are liable for damages if a company fails to meet them has also been flagged as a problem.

Distinction between B Corp certification and the norm ISO-14001

B Corp certification can be compared with other sustainable standards and certifications, such as ISO-14001. While B Corp certification evaluates a company's overall social and environmental performance, including its governance and impact on stakeholders, ISO 14001 focuses on establishing and improving environmental management systems (EMS).

Both certifications have an important role in corporate responsibility through different approaches. ISO-14001 is essentially addressing environmental impact by evaluating regulatory compliance, resource efficiency, risk management, and continuous improvement. However, B Corp certification assesses a broader range of sustainability issues, integrating environmental performance, but also governance, workers, community, and customers.

Research based on 701 certified B Corps revealed that ISO-14001 certified B Corps have higher scores in the environmental dimension. Nevertheless, the findings for other assessement dimensions were less conclusive. The study suggests that these two certifications can contribute to sustainable development goals through different objectives and businesses models.

A corporation displaying signage in their workplace highlighting that they are B certified with a description of what that certification entails.

Criticism and controversy

In 2021, BrewDog, a Fully Certified B Corp, was accused by former staff as having a "rotten culture". BrewDog's B Corp status was subsequently rescinded. In 2024, Aqua, a B Corp-certified bottled water brand, was identified as the most common type of litter found in Indonesian rivers, according to an audit by the river-cleanup NGO Sungai Watch.

In 2022, 30 Certified B Corps joined together with certification watchdog Fair World Project to petition against Nespresso's Certification as a B Corp, considering only 28% of their aluminum capsules are recycled. B Lab's decision to certify corporations with single use products, effectively putting these companies into the category of good corporate citizens, has resulted in accusations of greenwashing. B-Corp was described as "capitalism through certification" by Stir to Action, a UK co-operative infrastructure body that focuses on strategic economic development projects, with calls for more fundamental reforms that prioritize shared prosperity, democracy in the workplace, and sustainability.

In July 2024, four Havas agencies lost their B Corp status over work for Shell plc.

After announcing the decision to drop their B Corp Certification in February 2025, Dr. Bronner's Magic Soaps company issued a statement in May 2025 outlining their critiques of B Lab's official revision V7 of the B Corp Standards, echoing concerns of other B Corp certified companies of the potential for "greenwashing" by companies that otherwise fall short of the original goals of B Corp certification. Claiming in their February 2025 press release to have had the "highest B Corp score globally to-date of 206.7, surpassing the previously stated score ceiling of 200", Dr. Bronner's asserts:

"Business for good" is more than a trendy and profitable marketing strategy. As a purpose-driven company, we do business to model a more just economy, and to demonstrate that a truly constructive multi-stakeholder approach to capitalism could be the norm. The integrity of the B Corp Certification has become compromised and remaining certified now contradicts our mission.

There is also evidence that B Corp certification may not lead to sustainability outcomes such as the United Nations' Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Academic literature has also highlighted the ambivalent nature of B Corp certification, noting both its potential to promote responsible business practices and ongoing debates about its effectiveness and governance.

International adoption

In November 2024, there were 9,187 Certified B Corporations across 161 industries in 106 countries, including Canada (1079 companies), Australia (1032 companies), France (1232 companies), United Kingdom (3144 companies), South Africa, and Afghanistan. The most active community outside of the United States is Sistema B. Recent research has examined how national institutional environments shape the global diffusion of B Corp certification across countries. Since 2012, Sistema B has been the adaptation of the B Corps movement in Latin America, including in Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Uruguay and Colombia. This non-profit adapts proprietary certifications and evaluation metrics and modifies both to the context of each country. B Lab also assists Sistema B in incorporating a benefit corporation distinction into local legal systems.

See also

References

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Further reading

Data related to B Corporation (certification) at Wikidata