It’s official: we’re raising the bar on better business. After four years of consultation and more than 26,000 pieces of feedback, B Lab has just launched the most significant evolution of the B Corp standards to date. The result: a bold new blueprint for what it means to be a business in 2025 and beyond, galvanising action on the world’s most pressing issues.
Are they ambitious? You bet. Impactful? Definitely. Necessary to meet the challenges of our time? Absolutely.
Coming into effect over a phased five-year implementation pathway, essentially, they’re bigger, bolder and ‘B Corp-ier’ than ever before. Yes, meeting them might feel like a stretch, but that’s the point. And we have a feeling you’re up for the challenge. Let’s unpack how the new standards raise the bar on business as we know it and how you can get started improving your impact.
Change is here, because standing still is not an option
Over 18+ years and six iterations, B Lab’s standards have significantly changed the behaviour and narrative around what it means to be a ‘good business’. But standing still is not an option, not in a world growing in complexity with every passing moment.
Climate crisis, social inequality, outdated systems teetering dangerously close to the edge of collapse—the new B Corp standards are more than a response to today’s challenges, they’re a roadmap for the future.
Building on the lessons learned, the tough conversations had, and the critiques we’ve taken seriously, they embody the belief that better is always possible, providing a powerful framework to amplify impact and drive change.
What’s not new is the ambition. The B Corp movement is, as it has always been, about clearing away outdated models of shareholder primacy and ‘short-termism’, in favour of a global economic system that prioritises people and planet alongside profit, and where accountability and transparency are currency.
What is new is the commitment to collective action, with a greater focus on circularity, consistency, and precision, as well as even more stringent accountability and risk mechanisms. They call on businesses to lead visibly and credibly, providing fresh clarity and insights on the kind of businesses the world needs now—bold, accountable, and prepared to do the work. Let’s take a closer look.
Did you know…
Right now, the B Corp community is on the cusp of a major milestone: a groundswell of 10,000 companies across 100+ countries, employing nearly 1 million workers, across 160+ industries. The best part? We are united by a common goal to transform the global economy to benefit all people, communities, and the planet. In fact, ‘benefit for all’ is what the ‘B’ stands for.
Find out more and get involved↗New set of minimum requirements to be a ‘B’
Capable of driving systems change even further, the new standards include a set of Foundation Requirements—clear, specific ‘must-haves’ for every B Corp. That means, for the first time, every B Corp—no matter their size, sector or geography—will need to meet the same minimum requirements to certify and maintain their certification.
Foundation Requirements that all B Corps must meet, include:
This is in addition to a series of minimum requirements and sub-requirements based on company size, sector and region across seven Impact Topics, as well as a range of equity mechanisms to ensure the standards remain relevant, accessible and actionable for businesses across industries and regions.
Guiding progress on the world’s most pressing issues: the 7 impact topics
Alongside the Foundation Requirements, B Lab’s updated standards now require B Corps to take galvanised and tangible action in the following seven areas:
Purpose & Stakeholder Governance: Ensuring businesses are accountable to all stakeholders, not just shareholders, with structures that reflect this.
Climate Action: Developing science-based targets and transition plans to keep global warming within 1.5°C, and GHG emissions for larger companies.
Human Rights: Understanding and addressing how your business may impact rights across the value chain, and taking action to mitigate impact.
Fair Work: Committing to fair wages, safe workplaces, feedback mechanisms, and inclusive employment practices.
Environmental Stewardship & Circularity: Moving beyond recycling to real resource responsibility, regenerative practices, and climate resilience.
Justice, Equity, Diversity & Inclusion: Embedding equity and anti-discrimination into business operations and creating equitable communities.
Government Affairs & Collective Action: Advocating for policy change, paying fair taxes, and working with others to shift systems towards greater social and environmental outcomes.
These stricter requirements are grounded in best practice and the lived realities of communities most impacted by business-as-usual. They are also designed to be interoperable with other global frameworks to simplify the data collection process and free up time to work on what truly matters.
Creating greater clarity on what being a B Corp represents
Moving away from cumulative points scoring towards minimum requirements for B Corps across all Impact Topics, we can create clarity on what the movement stands for, and what being a B Corp represents. It also reinforces the B Corp movement’s commitment to interdependence over individualism—meaning that the ‘B’ badge represents an even greater level of well-rounded, multi-dimensional impact.
With ways to still recognise excellence and incentivise improvement in the works, the new standards will elevate our collective efforts and pinpoint our action on the world’s most pressing issues.
Alongside new tools and frameworks that enable better risk management and higher accountability, the new standards send an even stronger signal to consumers that—when they choose a B Corp—they’re choosing a business committed to specific, measurable, and verifiable impact on what matters most.
What about Impact Business Models (IBMs)?
For those B Corps with a business designed to create a specific positive outcome for a stakeholder group, a redesign of B Lab’s IBMs is currently underway. While IBMs remain essential to our Theory of Change, we need to ensure they continue to be as impactful as possible. Due to emerging regulations, specifically the EU Empowering Consumer Directives, this work is ongoing. You can sign up to participate in the Impact Business Model development process.
A stronger framework for assessing risk and boosting independence
Embedded in the new standards are several new accountability mechanisms designed to guard against greenwashing, increase integrity, and raise the floor without losing sight of the ceiling.
These are not just tweaks. They’re structural shifts, and they represent what it looks like to evolve a movement without watering it down; to protect its integrity while deepening its impact.
To achieve B Corp status, a company must now:
And perhaps most significantly: certification decisions will now be made by independent third parties, not B Lab itself. This is to increase impartiality and bring an additional layer of independence, so that B Corp Certification continues to keep step with credible best practice and changes in the sustainability claims legislative landscape.
Enhanced requirements for larger companies
While the new standards raise the bar for all businesses, this is especially so for big business, recognising that while impact often scales with size—so too must responsibility.
Larger companies and multinationals will now face enhanced requirements, including:
These expectations reflect a deeper truth: systemic change will not come without the participation, and transformation, of the biggest players in the economy.
Want to see how the standards apply to your company? Login to the new B Impact platform and start the self-assessment.
Progress over perfection: continuous improvement now a ‘must-do’
B Corp Certification has never been about being perfect—it’s about progress. The new standards double down on that ethos, baking continuous improvement into the heart of the certification journey.
Businesses will now need to show progress over time, with milestone requirements at the three- and five-year mark to push company impact even further, and to stay on track toward our shared vision of a more inclusive, equitable, and regenerative economy. This is not to make life harder, but to make change stick.
With new tools and resources designed to help businesses measure and implement positive change in an increasingly uncertain time, they’re saying: you don’t need to have it all figured out—but you do need to be on the journey, transparently and consistently.
Introducing the all-in-one B Impact Platform
Home to the B Impact Assessment (old standards), the SDG Action Manager, as well as a ‘Self Assessment’ tool to explore the new standards, B Impact offers an improved user experience for companies from the outset of their journey. This is to ensure less time is spent navigating admin and reporting, and more time is spent driving meaningful change and action on addressing the world’s most pressing environmental and social issues.
Ready to give it a go? Login to the new and improved B Impact Platform↗
Now the real work begins
So there you have it: B Lab’s new standards are here, and while the standards may be new, the spirit behind them is not. The B Corp Declaration of Interdependence—signed by every one of the almost 10,000 global B Corps—still says it best: “We must be the change we seek in the world.” That was true in 2006. It’s even truer in 2025.
After nearly two decades building this movement, what we know is that, when B Corps take bold actions, they inspire others to follow, catalysing a ripple effect far greater than any one business.
To every B Corp, from the trailblazers to the fresh faces, this is your moment to continue leading. We know change can be scary, but we also couldn’t think of a group of people more up for the challenge. We will be there to support you every step of the way, as you wade into brave new waters of possibility, innovate, improve, and leave a better world for generations to come.
To every aspiring B Corp wondering if you can meet the mark: we’ll help you get there. We have more guidance materials, resources and tools available than ever before, because we need all hands on deck.
And to the sceptics: we’ve heard you and we’ve acted, building something better—not perfect, but better, so we can truly be a movement that benefits all.
Now is the time to roll up our sleeves, because the path to a more equitable, inclusive, and regenerative economy starts here, with better standards, and an even bigger appetite for change.
Want to take a closer look? Explore the new standards and see how they raise the bar. Or dive into the new B Impact platform and start a self-assessment based on the new standards.
Got questions? Bring them! B Lab is running regular Q&A sessions to walk you through the changes, and make sure no one’s left behind. Register now for an upcoming session ↗
