B Impact Assessment
To become a B Corp, a company must undergo the B Corp Impact Assessment (BIA), a digital tool designed to evaluate the impact of business activities. The BIA helps companies measure, manage, and improve how their business model and operations affect various areas.
This assessment is structured into 5 macro areas defined as "Impact Areas": Governance, Workers, Community, Environment, and Customers. Each area is further broken down into specific impact topics based on the subject matter. The goal is to assess a company’s overall social and environmental impact using criteria developed by B Lab.
The Certified B Corporation seal is awarded only after completing this evaluation process, which takes approximately 12 months. To qualify, a company must achieve a minimum score of 80 points. Once certified, B Corps must undergo reassessment every three years to ensure continued commitment to the declared impact goals.
The criteria used in the BIA are approved by the B Lab Standards Advisory Council, which includes representatives from various stakeholder groups with proven expertise in responsible and sustainable business practices.
Claims and declarations
It is important to note that the BIA is independent of harmonised or international standards and is not specifically approved or authorised by any government or international authority. B Lab does not act as a "national accreditation body" and is not recognised as a "conformity assessment body" under EU Regulation No. 765/2008, as it has not obtained an accreditation certificate under Article 5 of this Regulation.
Similarly, B Lab is not recognised as a national, European, or international standardisation body under EU Regulation No. 1025/2012. As mentioned earlier, the criteria established by the BIA are not aligned with ISO standards or those set by other international accreditation bodies.
Therefore, companies using the Certified B Corporation label, as well as individuals engaging with these companies, should be aware that certification is based solely on the criteria defined by B Lab within the BIA. However, these criteria may not be officially recognised by governmental or international authorities.
Benefit Corporation Advantages
What are the Benefit Corporation
To obtain B Corporation certification, B Lab requires companies to meet specific legal requirements, which vary by country. In Italy, all companies seeking B Corp certification must adopt the Società Benefit legal status. The B Corp Impact Assessment (BIA) specifically asks whether a company has already obtained this status or is in the process of doing so at the time of assessment.
The Benefit Corporation is a legal status that a for-profit company decides to adopt, thereby integrating, common benefit objectives into its corporate purpose, creating a positive impact in various areas, including governance, the environment, and its stakeholders. Common benefit refers to the pursuit of one or more positive effects that Benefit Corporations commit to achieving in a responsible, sustainable, and transparent manner, thus balancing business interests with those of the community.
Benefit Corporations in Italy
Italy introduced the legal status of Benefit Corporation in 2016, becoming the first country after the United States to lay the foundation for the adoption of this status. This allowed companies to choose whether to pursue not only profit but also objectives that have a positive impact on the environment and society. At the European level, Italy is the only country to have introduced this legal status, with the exception of France, which adopted a similar model with slight differences but still comparable to the Benefit Corporation. More than 500 national businesses have decided to change their legal status by adopting the Benefit Corporation model and modifying their corporate purpose accordingly.
Impact Areas
The BIA covers several impact areas, specifically 5 macro-areas: Governance, Workers, Communities, Environment, and Customers.
- Governance assesses and evaluates the overall mission of a company, its commitment to social and environmental impact, as well as its ethics and transparency.
- The Workers area focuses on how the company contributes to various aspects of workers' lives, from financial and health security to employee engagement and satisfaction.
- The Community refers to the group of stakeholders the company impacts. Topics evaluated include: equity, inclusion, diversity, economic impact, social impact, civic engagement, charitable activities, and supply chain management.
- The Environment area evaluates the impact of business activities on air, climate, soil, water, and biodiversity, considering both the overall environmental impact and strategies to manage and mitigate this impact, both current and future.
- The Customers area is focused on analyzing topics related to product and service quality, ethical marketing, and the management of data privacy and security. Each of these areas is assessed through a series of specific and detailed questions, which together assign a score to the company’s performance.
Green Future Project is an Italian B Corp
Green Future Project joined the B Corp movement in 2022. While primarily focused on environmental impact, the company has also integrated governance and social impact into its business model, earning the Best for the World 2022 - Governance recognition from B Lab, alongside other B Corps. Over the years, Green Future Project has continuously improved its internal policies and business model, ensuring that stakeholder and environmental interests remain at the heart of every decision.
With its team of experts, Green Future Project offers tailored consultancy to support companies in completing the B Corp Impact Assessment (BIA).