Risk Standards and Controversial Issues
What is a risk standard? What is a controversial issue? And how are a company’s negative impacts assessed, both now and in the new standards?
This page provides an overview of risk standards and how negative impacts are determined in the existing and new standards. For specific information on how risk standards might impact your company, go to:
WHAT IS A RISK STANDARD?
B Lab’s risk standards and processes are additional minimum standards that companies in controversial industries, or those with potentially negative practices, must meet in order to be eligible for B Corp Certification. Risk standards are a necessary method to maintain credibility, manage risk, and achieve the impact B Lab seeks in the world. We publish B Lab’s risk standards and research on our website in order to provide transparency on eligibility for B Corp Certification and to encourage further constructive public discourse.
WHAT IS A CONTROVERSIAL ISSUE?
A controversial issue relates to a practice or industry where the company’s involvement could influence negative, adverse impacts. For further definitions of B Lab’s risk related terms, click here.
HOW IS RISK ASSESSED IN THE CURRENT B CORP CERTIFICATION PROCESS?
The current B Corp Certification assesses a company’s risk (potential negative impacts) separately from its positive impacts. While the current B Impact Assessment captures a company’s positive impacts, a company’s negative impacts are identified through the B Impact Assessment’s Disclosure Questionnaire, background checks, and the public Complaints Process.
A TRANSITIONAL MOMENT FOR B LAB’S RISK STANDARDS
As B Lab works to evolve the standards for B Corp Certification more broadly, we are using this moment to optimize and improve our risk processes. Today, B Lab’s risk standards and processes outline additional minimum standards that companies in controversial industries, or those with potentially negative practices, must meet in order to be eligible for B Corp Certification. As part of B Lab’s work to holistically evolve our standards, this is changing and many controversial issues will no longer require standalone requirements to be developed. Existing and pending Controversial Issue standards and Disclosure Questionnaire (DQ) risk topics will be addressed in the following ways:
Some Controversial Issue standards and DQ risk topics will be adequately covered by the Impact Topics in the new standards.
Some issues and risk topics will be integrated into ineligible industries as to be defined in the Foundational Requirements (1.2) of the new standard.
Some areas and risk topics will be addressed through an updated risk assessment process.
New assessment processes are already in place (for example, the new approach for Clients in Controversial Industries), bridging the gap between the current and new standards based on internationally recognised frameworks such as the UN’s Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights.
In addition, B Lab is building new risk processes into our digital products, allowing automatic evaluation of eligibility at the outset of a company's certification journey. This will ensure a more seamless experience at the start of the certification process. This is currently being tested in an opt-in pilot phase for new companies, and is anticipated to be released to all new and recertifying companies in 2025.
Please note, while we await the release of the new standard, or the development of a relevant assessment framework, a company’s certification status may remain paused. B Lab representatives will be in touch with companies when a pathway to certification or decision on ineligibility has been determined.
Learn more about the process to evolve the standards here. (Last updated Nov 2024)