ESG
they spend a lot of time going back and formalising their processes before they can certify , or may not score as highly as they hoped .”
Still , he maintains that achieving B Corp certification is an end worthy unto itself : “ The act of going through the certification process is hugely beneficial in itself . The assessment is essentially a benchmarking tool that has been crowdsourced from some of the leading responsible businesses over the last 15 years . It ’ s like selfguided consultancy . It gives you a pretty comprehensive picture of all the things that every responsible company should be thinking about , and then tells you how you are performing compared to others / best practice - this is hugely valuable .”
The process , though , is not without its drawbacks . Arowana is an Australia-based investment firm specialising in electric vehicles and sustainability that can boast B Corp certification . I asked Benn Lim , the group ’ s chief operating and impact officer , about the limitations with which certification might be fraught . He points to the fact it ’ s time and resource intensive as well as the bottlenecks that have become
“ [ B Corp ] is as much about evidencing the good work you have done as it is the good deeds themselves ”
RICHARD JOHNSON AUTHOR & CONSULTANT , ENTREPRENEURSHIP & SUSTAINABILITY
more common as certification has become increasingly popular .
Lim notes the limitations on operations : “ Undertaking the B Impact assessment requires a company to commit time and resources – the return on invested time is not immediately evident . Furthermore , attaining B Corp certification is a deep-rooted change
56 February 2023