Global Policy & Advocacy
As the nonprofit network advancing the global B Corp movement, B Lab drives the creation and implementation of policy work pushing for meaningful legal change around corporate accountability and social and environmental impact.
In addition to promoting the passage of benefit corporation legislation in 50+ jurisdictions around the world, B Lab advocates for political and governmental action on economic systems change, and a global shift from shareholder primacy to stakeholder governance. Read on for more about our national and regional campaigns to change the behavior, culture, and structure of capitalism.
B Lab Australia & Aotearoa New Zealand is partnering with the New Zealand Trade & Enterprise government agency to develop the Business for Good: Good for Business program in Aotearoa New Zealand, an important aspect of which is implementing Te Ao Māori (Māori worldview) for NZ businesses and acknowledging the leadership of Māori businesses in sustainability. B Lab Australia & New Zealand are also contributing to the State Government of Victoria's Social Enterprise Strategy, City of Melbourne Economic Development Strategy, and the City of Sydney Economic Development Strategy, while exploring whether it is possible and advantageous for B Corps to be recognized in government procurement policies.
Responding to the European Commission's consultation on Sustainable Corporate Governance, B Lab Europe called on the European Commission to enact EU-level sustainable corporate governance legislation that goes beyond existing environmental sustainability requirements and shifts from voluntary to mandatory action. To continue this momentum, B Lab Europe has launched the Interdependence Coalition.
In Latin America, Sistema B has partnered with the International Development Research Centre to create the GITRE, the Latin American Summit of Public Leadership for the Triple Impact Economic Reactivation. This taskforce is focused on developing public policies and economic recovery packages to achieve the United Nations 2030 Agenda. In 2020 alone, GITRE mapped 40+ different public policies and publicly proposed three: Public Procurement of Triple Impact, Benefit Corporation Legislation, and Institutional Legal Framework for Impact Investing and Impact Businesses.
B Lab UK is mobilizing Britain’s private and public sector leaders through the recently launched the Better Business Act (BBA). This legislation seeks to amend Section 172 of the Companies Act 2006 so that businesses will be legally obligated to operate in a manner that benefits their stakeholders — including the environment, communities, customers, suppliers, and employees — while seeking to deliver profits for shareholders. The BBA will ensure that every company in the United Kingdom takes ownership of its social and environmental impact.
B Lab U.S. & Canada has joined with the U.S. Impact Investing Alliance and a coalition of 50 impact-oriented organizations in calling on the Biden-Harris administration to create a White House Initiative on Inclusive Economic Growth. The proposed initiative would support bold action on the compounded economic crises of COVID-19, a widening racial wealth gap, and climate change by advancing widespread shifts toward stakeholder governance and community investing.