B Corp Climate Collective - September 2020 Update

B Corp Women Leading Business For Good

Dear B Corp Climate Leaders,

Sending you and your family health and centeredness in these challenging days.

It’s not news to you that our social and natural systems are broken, nor is it news that the global pandemic has widened these already deeply-rooted inequities. The world has never needed your leadership more. We must all do our part to rectify these inequities while also working to solve the climate emergency. These are fully interdependent challenges, just as we are each fully interdependent with one another and the natural world. Without working to solve both, we will never realize a truly sustainable future for all.

Both social justice and climate justice are front and center in global dialogues, gatherings and ambitions right now - and for good reason. Below is a summary of what’s happening on the climate front within the B Corp movement and beyond. Forewarning: this is a jam-packed email! Use the red “road signs” as your guide. Thanks for tuning in to all that’s happening.

As B Corps, you are demonstrating the power of business to create an inclusive, equitable, just and regenerative future for all. As leaders, you are the pace-setters on climate action and the #RacetoZero. Many of you have already made powerful commitments and are far along on this journey to a zero carbon future. Others are just beginning. All are needed. All are welcome!

Thank you for being the beacons of hope that you are. Saddle up, climate warriors! Let’s get to zero!

With gratitude,

Kim Coupounas & the B Lab team

P.S. Did you miss our June update email? Check it out here.

UPCOMING EVENTS

Let’s Get to Zero! A Global Update on the B Corp Net Zero by 2030 Ambitions and the #RacetoZero. Wednesday, 30 September 2020, 12:00 UTC (Coordinated Universal Time) featuring special guests, Gonzalo Muñoz, UN High Level Champion for Climate Action, B Lab Global Board Member, Co-Founder of Sistema B, and B Corp Champion ~ and ~ Paul Polman, Co-Founder of IMAGINE, Former CEO of Unilever, and B Corp Champion. REGISTER TODAY!

Join WeTheChange for “B Corps Vote!” Wednesday September 9, 1PM- 2PM ET featuring Beautycounter, Burton, and Badger. This conversation features three powerhouse women-led B Corps who are working to get out the vote and will focus on how your brand can engage your communities in voter turnout, utilizing both employee engagement and brand reach. REGISTER.

Join us for the U.S. & Canada State of the B: Activating Voters through the Power of Business. Sept 22 1pm-2pm ET.

As a B Corp, your business is not driven by profit alone. You consider your impact on the planet, your employees, and one another. Every day you create the world you want for future generations. Join B Lab, on U.S. National Voter Registration Day for our Q3 State of the B to learn more about why supporting the electoral process is so critical. You’ll hear from B Corps about what businesses can do to engage workers, customers, and communities to support voter turnout, and to see how you can leverage the power of the B to get out the vote. REGISTER.

TEDxBCorp Countdown Global Dialogues, October 12-16 2020.

Join fellow B Corps and B Corp Climate Collective leaders from around the world for a series of #TEDxBCorp Countdown Dialogues. Countdown is a global initiative in collaboration with TED and many other partners to champion and accelerate solutions to the climate crisis, turning ideas into action. The 10.10.2020 Countdown Global Launch, October 10, 11am- 4pm (ET) Eastern Daylight Time / 5-10pm Central European Time will combine TED's signature blend of actionable and research-backed ideas, cutting-edge science, and moments of wonder and inspiration. Attendees will be encouraged to use the amazing content from the Global Launch as inspiration for the Dialogues. Insights from the Dialogues will form the basis of collaborations and focused work in the months ahead on the path to Net Zero by 2030, including informing the content for the B Corp Global Climate Leaders’ Summit in March 2021. Plan to attend the Countdown Global Launch on 10.10.2020 and then attend one or more of #TEDxBCorp Countdown Dialogues the week of October 12-16. Stay tuned to the B Hive and your email for registration info and further details about:

B Corp Climate Collective UK
B Corp Climate Collective AU/NZ
B Corp Climate Collective Sistema B
B Corp Climate Collective EU
B Corp Climate Collective US/CAN

MARK YOUR CALENDARS!

The 75th session of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) kicks off virtually on September 15 and, runs through September 30, with programming that features the SDG Action Manager, our global network, and B Corps:
- September 18: Global Goals Week kicks off, which is an annual week of action, awareness, and accountability for the SDGs. B Lab is an official partner.
- September 19: Nations United SDG Global Broadcast will be first aired on a YouTube live stream, with more broadcasts over the following days through radio and online platforms everywhere, in a historical moment for the 2030 Agenda.
- September 21: Opening Day Ceremony for Climate Week NYC (more info below).
- September 23: Panel in the SDG Action Zone with B Corps from around the world and B Lab. Want to join this and other SDG Action Zone events? REGISTER.
- September 25: Global Goals Day of Factivism, on the anniversary of the Goals, to spotlight real-time data on progress and mobilize "factivists" around the world to do the same. Interested? REGISTER.
Climate Week NYC runs from September 21-27. UN High Level Climate Champion, Gonzalo Muñoz, will be speaking during the Opening Day Ceremony about COP26, the #RacetoZero & The Zero Carbon Growth Agenda. REGISTER.
Regeneration 2030, October 15-16 2020
SOCAP, October 19-23 2020
UNFCCC #RacetoZero November Dialogues
B CORP GLOBAL CLIMATE LEADERS’ SUMMIT, March 2021. Stay tuned for dates and details!
UN Climate Change Conference UK 2021 - COP26, Glasgow, Scotland, November 2021

TAKE CLIMATE ACTION TODAY!

Commit to Net Zero by 2030! Join over 800 of your fellow B Corps in this bold, unprecedented leadership commitment.
Use the SDG Action Manager to accelerate your carbon reduction trajectory.
Join the B Corp Climate Collective.
Share your emissions management challenges and barriers via this short SURVEY and/or sign up for a 1-on-1 coaching call with a fellow BCCC B Corp via the form LINKED HERE.

CLIMATE POLICY ADVOCACY AND VOTER ACTIVATION

November’s American election will have impacts far beyond U.S. borders. The single most important thing YOU can do as a citizen in the U.S. for climate this fall is to VOTE! The single most important thing you can do within your B Corp is to work to GET OUT THE VOTE. How can you get involved?

See two pivotal B Corp events above focused on voter activation! (WeTheChange for “B Corps Vote!” & U.S. & Canada State of the B: Activating Voters through the Power of Business.)
More than 600 companies have signed on to Time to Vote founded by Patagonia as a nonpartisan, business-led initiative to help ensure employees across America don't have to choose between voting and earning a paycheck.
ElectionDay.org has also seen 250 businesses sign on to make accommodations for their employees, and has laid out a set of voter-friendly policies they recommend for companies looking to do their part.
Our partners at the Climate Collaborative offered a powerful session on climate policy advocacy in August featuring high level climate leaders. You can see the recording here and see resources for a climate-smart recovery here.
The American Sustainable Business Council produced a fantastic resource toolkit on climate policy advocacy and hosted a jam-packed briefing session on Biden’s climate plan that featured Tom Steyer, B Corp leaders Eileen Fisher of EILEEN FISHER and Ashley Orgain of Seventh Generation. One thing they all agree on: corporations MUST do their part to build an equitable, just and regenerative economy. They must work individually and collectively to achieve a zero carbon future. They must combat the deeply rooted inequity in our society. They must put vulnerable and marginalized people first. And they must follow the lead of B Corps in their rigorous commitment to use business for good.

LET'S GET TO ZERO! GLOBAL CLIMATE AMBITIONS + NET ZERO BY 2030

As most of you know, at the UN’s COP25 in Madrid, 533 B Corps from 33 countries committed to Net Zero by 2030 for Scope 1, 2 and 3 emissions. It was the largest and most aggressive climate commitment to date by a group of businesses and 20 years ahead of Paris Agreement 2050 targets. So what’s next for Net Zero by 2030? Let’s get at least half (>1,600 B Corps) of the global B Corp community committed to Net Zero by 2030 before COP26 in November 2021 in Glasgow, Scotland! Let’s make sure the B Corp Climate Collective is a case study for how the business sector can live into the kind of radical, pre-competitive collaboration that’s necessary to stabilize the biosphere and build a just, equitable and regenerative economy. #LetsGetToZero!

Did you know that the global B Corp community is a member organization of both the UNFCCC Marrakech Partnership for Global Climate Action and the UN’s Climate Ambition Alliance. The focus of these alliances is to accelerate cross-sector climate action to address the climate emergency and meet (or exceed) the Paris Agreement targets. As you would imagine, the work of the Partnership and the Alliance has pivoted amidst the pandemic. Despite - and in some ways amplified by - the pandemic, the UNFCCC, the Marrakech Partnership, and the Climate Ambition Alliance remain committed to high ambitions and have doubled down on their commitment to achieve a zero carbon economy no later than the 2040s with their June launch of the Race to Zero campaign. All Net Zero by 2030 committed B Corps are considered a part of the #RaceToZero.

GLOBAL GROWTH OF THE B CORP CLIMATE COLLECTIVE

The B Corp Climate Collective (BCCC) is a global and local network of climate leaders (YOU!) and community of learning and practice. It is focused on equipping businesses for climate action, justice and advocacy to accelerate our community’s work to address the climate emergency.
The B Corp Climate Collective is alive and well! B Corp Climate Collective groups now exist in Australia and New Zealand, the UK, the European Union, and the original in the U.S. and Canada. B Lab and the Climate Task Force are actively working to inspire and catalyze BCCC groups in ALL major B Corp markets throughout the world. Each Collective has self-organized into issue and impact-focused working groups tackling specific climate challenges and opportunities.
Climate Justice: As many know, the global BCCC released a short statement that reaffirms that our work in the years ahead as a collective must be firmly rooted in justice. They also released a very basic climate justice landing page in the site navigation which provides more context and resources on the topic. The BCCC and the Global B Climate Task Force led by Charmian Love of B Lab UK will be working with the Oxford Skoll Center, B Corp leaders from Provoc, and outside climate justice experts in developing a robust Climate Justice Playbook this fall. Stay tuned for more information.
BCCC in the US and Canada:
- Action groups have been amazingly active these past few months. Please see here for a repository of (fairly) recent action group updates.
- SPOTLIGHT! The Climate Action Group of the U.S./Can BCCC is made up of your B Corp peers! They are working to curate resources to help all B Corps and beyond on the path to Net Zero! Their work is focused on estimating, reducing and offsetting emissions.
- For help estimating and reducing your emissions, they offer this Climate Action Guide for B Corps. Based on results from a SURVEY they will launch peer coaching calls to help everyone estimate emissions, and will continue to expand the list of simple, impactful steps you can take.
- For help offsetting your remaining emissions, stay tuned for new guidance this October! Please share your emissions management challenges and barriers via their short SURVEY HERE.

RESOURCES FOR YOUR PATH TO NET ZERO

Check out the B Corp Climate Collective resources your fellow B Corps have been creating and assembling to help you on your Net Zero journey.
Use the SDG Action Manager! In January 2020, B Lab and the UN Global Compact launched a solution to help you do your part to achieve the Global Goals. Module 13 on Climate Action will be particularly valuable to you on your journey to Net Zero. Check out this awesome demo video to get started, and these inspiring videos from B Corps Bodhi Surf & Yoga and Sprout Coffee. As a B Corp, you can pull answers from your B Impact Assessment automatically into the SDG Action Manager for questions that are the same in both tools. Check it out in three easy steps:

1. Load the SDG Action Manager through your BIA dashboard.
2. Complete the Baseline module to reflect on the Ten Principles of the UN Global Compact in areas of human rights, labor, environment, and anti-corruption.
3. Click into SDG 13 to get a clear view of how your operations, supply chain, and business model create positive impact, or pose risks, to climate action.

Ethical Corporation and Reuters hosted a Delivering Net Zero summit in August during which the B Corp Climate Collective was specifically called out by the UNFCCC High Level Champion and longtime B Corp leader, Gonzalo Munoz! Register to get access to the recording of this inspiring event and learnings here.
Struggling with your GHG Baseline Assessment? - or have other burning questions about your path to Net Zero? Get live help with your emissions measurement or management by signing up for a 1-on-1 coaching call with a fellow B Corp via the form LINKED HERE.

B INFORMED

Stakeholder Governance: A year after the Business Roundtable Announcement related to stakeholder governance, B Lab and B Corporations are continuing to raise awareness of shareholder primacy and its role as a ‘source code error’ in our economic system. In the coming month, B Lab will be releasing resources related to stakeholder governance detailing concrete steps all businesses can take to change the purpose of business. In the meantime:
- To learn more about the role of shareholder primacy, join this upcoming panel being hosted by B Lab at SOCAP.
- Access a stakeholder governance resource guide by entering your email address here.
B Lab is a founding member of Imperative 21, an exciting new coalition that has come together to advance economic systems change via a broad network of business organizations. On September 14th, Imperative 21 will launch a public campaign to advance our collective work to reset our economic system to support people and planet. Learn more about the campaign (including the full-page NYT ad and partnership with NASDAQ!) and how you can participate via this overview deck, and join an ‘Allies for Systems Change’ call on September 9th to get engaged!
Grow Together Social Media Campaign: Thank you to all the B Corps that have already participated in the Grow Together campaign. If you want to activate, there’s still time! See the full toolkit to learn more.
Tell your story on BtheChange: Our partners at B The Change are eager to tell more stories of local collaboration and action among B Corps this fall. If you have a powerful story to share, especially on climate action, advocacy and justice, email the editors at B The Change at bthechange@bcorporation.net.

Questions or comments? Email us at climate@bcorporation.net

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