5 things you should know about the new B Corp standards

Not everyone has time to read a 1000+ page document to get familiar with the new standards. Especially not sustainability managers who have carbon accounting, supplier engagement, impact reporting and customer ESG questionnaires to get on with. Luckily for you I a) love it and b) have selected five headline changes to share with you.

Before that, a super quick recap of the key changes from Version 6 to Version 7 (recently renamed to v1.6 and v2.1 respectively):

• Bye-bye points system: The 80 points minimum threshold for certification has been replaced by a series of requirements. You need to meet all applicable requirements to certify as a B Corp (make sure to check what size you fall into now). It’s no longer good enough to focus on your strengths and ignore your weaknesses.

• Bigger human rights focus: Elements on human rights only really became significant for companies of 1000 employees or more in v1.6, human rights due diligence plays a massive role in the latest standards.

• Controversial industries: B Lab got themselves into a little bit of a quagmire trying to have an official position on all controversial industries. The new standards were meant to solve this problem and hopefully release some potential B Corps out of a long period in limbo while they waited to learn their fate.

• Continuous improvement: The points system we are all familiar with made it difficult to tell if a company had improved between certifications. The points gave an indication but didn’t tell a story.

So now we are up to speed. What else has changed?

1. Requirements are spread across three certification cycles

Though the requirements vary depending on the size and nature of the business (e.g. factories have more environmental requirements than small office-based service companies), all companies will have certain requirements to meet in their first certification on the new standards, additional ones to meet three years later and then a few more in the fifth year. That’s regardless of whether you are certifying for the first time or re-certifying! This means that the requirements can reflect progress over time.

2. Missing Pieces

There are two elements you won’t find in the hefty v2.1 standards documents: Impact Business Models (IBMs) and “Exceeds Requirements”. IBMs have long been a way to demonstrate what is exceptional about your business, what sets you apart from other B Corps. What part IBMs will play in the new standards is as yet unclear. You can take part in the next stakeholder consultation to let B Lab know what you think. In the draft version of the standards, it was said you could meet or exceed the minimum requirements. The exceeding part has now been scrapped. I think rightly so… the complexity of creating a second layer of standards on top of the ones they have finished would be a mammoth task.

3. B Lab is concerned about the Empowering Consumers for the Green Transition (ECGT) Directive

   
   

This directive has been passed by the EU and Member States must implement and enforce all regulations by September 27, 2026. It says that sustainability labels must be supported by credible, robust third-party verification to ensure they accurately reflect a product's environmental performance. At the moment, B Corp is not yet third-party verified (more like second-party). The new standards and verification approach will solve this. If you sell consumer goods with the B Corp logo to European customers you should make yourself known to your regional B Lab and get some legal advice. It might be that you need to re-certify earlier than expected.

4. You’ve got to do your homework

While the new standards are very comprehensive and build on best practice across a whole range of respected standards across each topic, they will not be spoon-feeding you on what exactly you need to act on. To meet the requirements you will need to do some detailed research into your social and environmental impacts and set your own goals to mitigate them.

5. Risky or controversial issues

If your company is one of the ones that has been waiting patiently (or impatiently) to be contacted about whether you are eligible to certify because of your industry or your clientele, then there is light at the end of the tunnel. But there are still a lot of unknowns. The explicit rules on which companies are ineligible to certify will be reduced under v2.1 but there is a new ‘Risk Profiling Tool’ which was released in August 2025 that lets you know what additional due diligence you will need to carry out to certify. That is not to say that battery chicken farms, for example, are now free and clear to certify. One of the minimum requirements lay out animal welfare practices that need to be in place, so it’s still possible to be technically eligible but fall at the first hurdle.

Interested in running an Introduction to the New Standards session with your team? Get in touch!