B Lab Climate Justice

The Vision

Businesses of all kinds from around the world link arms to recognize, articulate, and combat the social, political, and economic impacts of climate change on vulnerable communities. Climate justice prevails – our planet survives and all people thrive, including those who have borne the heaviest burdens to date from our habitual abuse of the planet.

The Challenges

In 2018, the fifty largest B Corps gathered to confront climate change. Competition is the norm in business, but collective action promised more impact. Organizing into working groups focused on areas like employee engagement, sustainable packaging, and advocacy was the easy part – the harder work came when we realized that B Corps leaders were not ready to adopt a climate justice lens.

Our Approach

Through training and stakeholder engagement, Provoc worked with the B Corps Climate Collective through a transition from a climate crisis to climate justice lens. Our team led the group through a deep dive into the meaning of the term “climate justice,”and helped everyone achieve a solid understanding of what it means to focus activism around the experience of marginalized communities.

We worked with B Lab, Oxford University, and Race to Zero campaign to document our process and learnings, resulting in the Climate Justice Playbook – the first-ever guide for businesses seeking to foreground justice in their climate activism.

Aerial view of wind turbines and agriculture field

Results so Far

The B Corps Climate Collective has grown to over 3,300 businesses worldwide, and over 1,700 of them have agreed to net zero emissions by 2030. Climate justice is now a pillar of B Lab’s approach to impact capitalism.

The B Corps Climate Collective encompasses over 30 collective action groups working globally in areas such as regenerative agriculture, sustainable internet practices, and government advocacy. The Climate Justice Playbook has been downloaded over 5,200 times since its launch in February 2021; through speaking engagements, trainings, keynote addresses, and other forms of thought leadership, we continue to equip businesses with the framework they need to meaningfully adopt the climate justice lens.

Rather than celebrate Earth Day this year, B Lab has named April 2022 as Climate Justice Month, and has doubled down on its efforts to engage B Corps of all sizes, shapes, and flavors in the work of climate justice learning, activism, and advocacy.