August 1, 2023 – While we may already be halfway through 2023, today, B Lab Europe, the nonprofit behind the European B Corp movement, launches its first Annual Report to highlight how the organization made a positive impact in 2022, transforming the economic landscape in Europe.
B Lab, together with the B Corp movement, seeks to transform our economic system — and to do so, we have to change the rules of the game. B Lab creates standards, policies, tools, and programs that shift the behavior, culture, and structure of capitalism.
Changing the economic system starts with changing the way businesses behave and the impact they have on all their stakeholders.
B Lab is certifying companies as B Corps and supporting them on their journey of continuous improvement. In Europe, 2022 marked a year of transformative growth – both in numbers and impact. Compared to the previous year, the B Corp community in Europe grew by 63%, welcoming 471 new Certified B Corps. Together, we surpassed 1,000 B Corps in Europe and 6,000 B Corps globally. (See the latest numbers.) And with more than 100,000 B Corp employees across the European continent, the community created an unprecedented ripple effect that awakened the interest in a new way of doing business among companies of different sectors, different sizes, and across borders. Throughout the year, the first businesses from Slovenia, Slovakia, Bulgaria, Liechtenstein, and Iceland joined the B Corp community as pioneers of their countries. And also larger corporations achieved certification after years of going through the rigorous process and amending their governing documents. Without their credible participation, the B Corp movement will fail to realize its vision of transforming the global economy, while smaller, purpose-driven organizations will continue to be the backbone of the B Corp community. 75% of the B Corps in Europe are SMEs that employ less than 50 people.
What unites all Certified B Corporations, no matter their size or industry is their commitment to accountability, transparency, and continuous improvement. Having to recertify every three years, European B Corps increase their impact score on average by 8.3% while also growing their annual revenue (+19% between certification periods) and workforce (+12% on average annually). In addition, 30% of them introduce a new Impact Business Model.
Members of the B Lab Europe team that supports the B Corp movement in Europe, 2022
Beyond certifying B Corps, B Lab is equipping all companies with tools to measure, manage and improve their impact. Both the B Impact Assessment (BIA) and the SDG Action Manager serve as holistic frameworks for continuous improvement. As the demand for comprehensive, credible, comparable impact standards increases, B Lab has seen a surge of interest in both tools with now more than 241,000 BIA total users – almost a third of them in Europe – and over 28,000 SDG Action Manager registrations worldwide.
In addition to these tools, B Lab Europe is providing tailored programs that engage not only businesses but also various other stakeholders like nonprofit organizations, academia, cities, governments, and civil society, to accelerate the transition to a better economic system with tailored programs.
As the B Corp community continues to grow, so do opportunities for collaboration between individuals, businesses, and entire industries to address society’s most pressing issues. B Lab Europe is mobilizing businesses to join forces as a way to scale impact, resulting in more innovative ideas and greater impact. In 2022, countless partnerships between B Corps were formed, ranging from collaborations between Tiny Miracles and Rituals or ISDIN and Chiesi to larger groups of collective action like the B Corp Beauty Coalition, a union of leading beauty B Corps committed to improving social and environmental practices in the beauty industry.
Beyond promoting interdependence and collaboration, B Lab Europe is raising awareness for the B Corp movement through campaigns and events across Europe. One of 2022’s highlights was B Corp Month, the annual campaign to celebrate the community of Certified B Corporations around the world and to educate about their impact. In 2022, the B Corp Month campaign theme was Behind the B, inviting everyone to discover what makes a B Corp a better business.
As the demand and interest for new business models and practices increase, ‘B Corp’ has been mentioned by the press in Europe 20.3k times in 2022 (+46% compared to 2021).
“I am proud of the innovative leadership our B Corp community is showing in implementing best practices and seeking ways to continually improve and go beyond. They are the changemakers who are demonstrating leadership and drive to lead sustainable businesses."
It is impossible to transform the economic system without rethinking the legal frameworks and policies that structure businesses’ role in the economy. B Lab aims to drive structural change by raising the bar on what good business looks like. Currently, B Lab is evolving its standards and requirements for B Corp Certification through valuable community and stakeholder feedback. Read all the insights gained from the 2022 preliminary consultation that engaged over 1,000 individuals from B Corps, the broader business sector, academia, and the general public.
In addition, B Lab Europe and all local teams across Europe, aim to influence legislation both on a national level and in the European Union. In 2022, the Interdependence Coalition has actively engaged in the long process of the evolving proposed Directive for Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence (CSDDD). Having responded to the initial consultation process, it developed its formal response to the EU Commission on the Commission’s draft proposal. In Spain, efforts of Empresas con Propósito led to the legal recognition of Benefit Corporations being incorporated in the Create and Grow law (‘Ley Crea y Crece’).
Just like we expect Certified B Corporations to improve continually, B Lab Europe is constantly exploring how we need to evolve and adapt based on valuable stakeholder feedback, the rapidly changing business and political landscape, and the urgency of the social and environmental crises we are experiencing. From expanding the B Corp movement to new countries of Europe to advocating for EU legislation changes that embed stakeholder governance in the way business is done to continuing to evolve the standards for B Corp Certification. We will do so, in close collaboration with the European B Lab Network which is composed of various local teams that support the growth of the B Corp movement at a national level in different European countries.
Members of the European B Lab Network, 2022
About B Lab Europe: B Lab is transforming the global economy to benefit all people, communities, and the planet. A leader in economic systems change, our global network creates standards, policies, tools, and programs for business, and we certify companies—known as B Corps—who are leading the way. To date, our community includes over 7,000 B Corps in over 90 countries and more than 160 industries, and over 200,000 companies measure and manage their impact with the B Impact Assessment. See the latest numbers.
B Lab Europe was founded in 2013 and currently oversees the growth of the movement in Benelux, France, Switzerland, Spain, Germany, Benelux, Italy, Nordics, Poland, Portugal, and other countries across the continent. Find out more about our European Network.
B Lab Europe Media Contact: media@bcorporation.eu
Follow us on our Social Channels: LinkedIn | Instagram | Twitter | YouTube
