B Corporations: Good News for the Planet

Thanks in part to this initiative, sustainability has won visibility and defenders. Now, the need to treat our planet in a responsible manner has begun to permeate the business sector: there are already businesses for which sustainability is not complementary to their business objectives, but rather a fundamental piece of their operations.

In Latin America, this change in mentality is most clearly observed through B Corporations, a global movement created by B Lab in the United States, which is advancing with great strength throughout the region.

B Corporations harness market forces in order to create social and environmental value, while viewing businesses not only as a medium for generating profit for shareholders, but also as a tool for protecting the planet and improving the lives of all.

"The B Corporation movement represents a paradigm shift towards a more inclusive and humane economy," expressed Ana Mercedes Botero, who is in charge of Social Innovation at CAF-development bank of Latin America.

CAF is a strategic partner of B Lab -the creator of the B model and in charge of certifying B Corporations- as well as Sistema B, B Lab's sister organization responsible for consolidating an ecosystem that is favorable to the growth of triple-impact businesses throughout the region by means of creating an attractive value offer and the development of activities that impact public policy.

"We work hand-in-hand with B Corporations in order to reintroduce ethics into businesses and to look for sustainable, comprehensive development models," says Botero, who believes that these companies are an appropriate means for driving social innovation in the region.

The B Corporation movement is aligned with CAF's mission, whose goal is to promote sustainable development with social inclusion in Latin America, and further reflects CAF's idea that the private sector can be a key actor for social and environmental transformation.

"As a development bank, we're not just any bank. We want our investments to not only generate financial gains, but also generate social and environmental value with the aim of building sustainable societies," Botero explains.

Worldwide, there are currently over 1,700 B Corporations in 50 countries and 130 industries with one common goal: to redefine the concept of success in business and to expand the scope of Corporate Social Responsibility.

In Latin America, the phenomenon is in full expansion: it is present from Argentina to Mexico, and covers industries such as tourism, nutrition and reforestation. Forecasts indicate that this year B Corporations will continue their sustained growth. In the region, the case of the Brazilian company Natura Cosméticos stands out as it is considered to be the world's largest B Corporation.

"In three years, we have had 230 businesses certified as B. These are business people who are looking for a new way of doing business, to put themselves at the service of the society in which they live," says María Emilia Correa, a spokesperson for the movement in the region and creator of the B Corporation Triciclos.

In addition to generating profits, the motivation has to do with contributing to solving a social or environmental problem, thus redefining the concept of Corporate Social Responsibility by incorporating the objective of social impact, in a binding manner, to the company's mission. 

Correa, who worked for 25 years in large businesses trying to introduce social and environmental variables into the business model, is convinced that businesses must think long-term and stop thinking of profitability as the only metric of success.

"We're talking about building a new economy that considers success as the well-being of people and nature, not just profits, and for that we need businesses that can function with this philosophy," she states.