Low Carbon’s B Corp Journey
Low Carbon is proud to be a certified B Corporation ®. Made up of over 3,200 businesses, spread across more than 70 countries this certification has one unifying ambition – to ensure its members balance profit and purpose.
It is a badge we have worked incredibly hard to secure and one we are very proud to wear. It sets the gold standard for good business and inspires a race to the top. But what does it actually mean to be part of this community?
What is a B Corp?
B Corporations (or B Corps) are a growing group of companies who are reinventing business, by legally committing to consider social and environmental impact as well as financial return. Rather than operating purely to generate profit and focus on their shareholders, B Corps are legally required to consider the impact of their decisions on society. Staff, suppliers, the environment, customers and the wider community all become part of the decision-making process.
This positive impact is supported by increased transparency, driven by accountability requirements, which are legally enforced. It is a new way of doing business – one that incorporates a sustainable approach into an organisation’s DNA and legal framework.
B Lab, the non-profit organisation that supports the community of B Corps, uses the online B Impact Assessment to score businesses. A minimum score of 80 must be met before certification is awarded and scores are openly published on the B Corp website. Low Carbon exceeded this required standard and scored 97.
The initial certification is just the start, companies must be recertified every three years, and if they fail to meet the set criteria, they lose their B Corp status. Not only that, but the criteria are dynamic, to ensure that B Corps are always advancing and keeping up with the cutting edge of ‘best practice’ in the current world.
The B Corp movement has grown rapidly since the first 19 B Corps were certified in 2007. Research published by B Lab in 2018 revealed that certified B Corps in the UK are growing 28 times faster than the national economic growth of 0.5 per cent. This growth has mainly been down to the increased demand for purpose-led brands from consumers, as well as employees looking for companies who are driven by purpose beyond profit.
Why is Low Carbon a B Corp?
B Corps represent a global movement of successful and sustainable companies using business as a force for good and positive change. Here at Low Carbon, we have been striving to create positive change through our business model since our inception in 2011. We are committed to making a positive and significant impact on the causes of climate change. Our vision has always been and continues to be a low-carbon future – a world powered by 100% renewable energy.
The phrase ‘B the Change’ is widely featured alongside B Corp’s communications and it’s embedded in the B Corp Declaration of Interdependence. This notion of leading by example is something that we at Low Carbon have always believed in and is demonstrated by our successful track record.
We have been doing things differently since 2011; expanding our investments into new markets in order to maximise our impact, increasing social awareness around the need to tackle climate change and transforming public perceptions of renewable energy. It was, therefore, an obvious step for Low Carbon to join the B Corp community.
Our new B Corp certification sends a clear message of our commitment to sustainability and will enable us to work with like-minded businesses that are genuinely committed to doing good. But it also represents an important challenge for us to continually strive to do better, recognising that B Corp’s vision of a global economy that uses business as a force for good, requires constant improvement and innovation from each member of the B Corp community. We are looking forward to this challenge and continuing to ensure that Low Carbon remains a force for good.