We don’t have all the answers – but we’re in the middle of it with clients right now, and this is what we’re learning.
If you’re a B Corp with a recertification date in 2026 – or you’re thinking about becoming one – you need to know that the world has changed. The new B Lab Standards (V2), published in April 2025, replace the old points-based model with something more rigorous, more structured, and honestly, more meaningful.
We’ve been working with clients through this process and spending serious time in B Lab’s V2 Recertification Toolkit and the example question sets. Here’s what we think every business approaching this needs to hear – without giving everything away.
The points system is gone – and that changes more than you think
Under the old Version 6 B Impact Assessment, you needed 80+ points across five broad impact areas. Strong in one area? It could compensate for weakness in another. That flexibility is gone.
V2 introduces seven non-negotiable Impact Topics: Purpose & Stakeholder Governance, Fair Work, Justice, Equity, Diversity & Inclusion (JEDI), Human Rights, Environmental Stewardship & Circularity, Climate Action, and Government Affairs & Collective Action. You must meet defined requirements across all seven. No offsetting. No workarounds.
For many businesses, this is where the first surprise lands – particularly around JEDI and Government Affairs, which weren’t structured requirements under the old model.
What the requirements actually ask – a taste
The detail in the new standards is significant. Without going into everything, here’s a sense of what’s involved across a few key areas:
- Purpose & Stakeholder Governance goes well beyond having a mission statement. You’ll need a public purpose statement approved by your highest governing body, documented stakeholder engagement mechanisms for workers, suppliers, customers, investors, community and environment, a formal grievance procedure for stakeholders, and an annual social and environmental impact report. Executive team members must have at least one annual target tied to social or environmental performance.
- Fair Work is more detailed than most expect. Wage scales must be accessible to employees. If you have 250+ employees in one country, you must calculate and publicly share your gender wage gap. Living wage requirements apply to all – either pay a living wage, pay a collectively-bargained wage, or calculate your gap and create a closure plan.
- JEDI is the area generating the most questions. You must choose and implement JEDI actions from Foundation, Within the Workplace, and Beyond the Workplace sets. At Year 0, a public JEDI commitment statement approved by leadership, plus at least one full day of JEDI training for key leadership groups, are among the most accessible starting points.
- Climate Action requires annual measurement of Scope 1 and Scope 2 emissions as a minimum, following the GHG Protocol. Year 3 and Year 5 requirements build from there – so your data infrastructure from Day 1 matters.
One thing we keep saying to clients: read the Year 3 and Year 5 requirements before you start. The decisions you make at Year 0 will either make the journey smoother or significantly harder further down the line.
Three things that catch businesses out
- Articles of association first. If you’re certifying for the first time, your articles must be updated to reflect stakeholder governance before you reach the certification stage – not as part of it. This is a legal change that takes time. Don’t leave it late.
- Evidence needs to be real and specific. Policies alone won’t satisfy most requirements under V2. Auditors want implementation evidence – meeting minutes, training records, signed contracts, data extracts, board papers. Build your evidence file as you go, not retrospectively.
- The self-assessment has a 12-month validity window. Once your Certification Setup is approved, your Certification Scope Summary is valid for 12 months. Your self-assessment must be submitted for audit within that period. Miss the window and you return to the start of the scoping process.
Our honest take
The new B Corp standard is harder. It requires more cross-functional involvement, more genuine implementation, and more honest self-assessment than what came before. Some businesses will find areas – particularly JEDI and Government Affairs – where they need to make real changes, not just document what they’re already doing.
But we genuinely believe this is the right direction. The businesses that come through V2 certification will have something that stands up to scrutiny – a mark that reflects actual commitment to doing business better. The B Corp community is stronger for this shift.
The key is starting early, being honest about your gaps, assigning the right internal owners, and getting proper support for the areas where you need it.
Want to go deeper? We’ve written the full guide.
We’ve turned everything we’re learning – including a full walkthrough of all eight recertification steps, real example questions from the V2 question sets across every Impact Topic, what good evidence looks like in practice, and how to plan for Year 3 and Year 5 from the start – into a detailed e-book for businesses navigating this process.
It’s the resource we wished existed when we started working through this with clients. Practical, honest, and grounded in what the requirements actually say – not what people assume they say.
Get in touch with us at Sustainable X and we’ll send you the full e-book, walk you through what we’re finding with clients right now, and talk through what your recertification journey might look like.
Reach us at www.sustainablex.co.uk – let’s make your B Corp journey as straightforward as it can be.