The second in a two-part series on the new face of Corporate Social Responsibility
As discussed in our previous post, Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) is a growing means of redefining corporations’ efforts to understand and take responsibility for their impact on our collective environmental and social welfare. These efforts very often dovetail with the companies’ commitment to, and investment in, their employees and the communities where their businesses are located.
Another way of measuring success in this area is B Corporation (aka “B Corp”) status. B Corporations are a relatively new trend in corporate governance, but with more than 1,600 companies around the globe having achieved B Corp certification, this new designation is changing the rulebook to enable companies to make sustainability an integral part of their growth plans from the boardroom to the bricks of mainstreet.
As described by B Lab, a nonprofit organization helping to build the global community of B Corporations, the B Corp designation is analogous to Fair Trade certification for coffee growers, or USDA Organic certification for milk producers. B Corps are for-profit companies certified to meet “rigorous standards of social and environmental performance, accountability, and transparency.”
Today, this burgeoning community stretches across 42 countries and 120+ industries. The roster of current B Corps includes some heavy-hitters, too: from Vermont-based ice cream producer Ben & Jerry’s, to online marketplace Etsy, there is a long and growing list of businesses working toward the goal of redefining success in business.
“The B Corp movement is one of the most important of our lifetime,” says Rose Marcario, CEO of outdoor clothing giant Patagonia. “Built on the simple fact that business impacts and serves more than just shareholders, it has an equal responsibility to the community and to the planet.”
Ben & Jerry’s offer ice cream and ale under their B Corporation moniker
Collectively, though, B Corps lead nothing short of a growing global movement of people using business as a force for goodTM. Through their collective power, B Corps work together to achieve a more shared and durable prosperity for all.
As we learned in our discussion of CSR, energy is a common area of innovation and investment for corporations interested in finding new ways to measure their impact–both in the marketplace and on the community. If your business is ready to make a positive impact, Sunvestment Energy Group provides an online platform designed to help you finance and measure the impact using solar energy will have on your business and the community around you.