Calling all B Corps - Turn 94 Pages of guidance into a one click Climate Action & Transition Plan

The new B Corp standards have landed and they set out clear plans for what is expected of current and aspiring B Corps in terms of climate transition.  That said, they are a hefty read, with 94 pages of guidance but the good news is that we have reviewed them, so you don’t have to. 

‍

The guidance is essentially spread over 4 different areas: 

• Setting targets
• Carbon accounting 
• Building a climate transition plan 
• Communicating about progress and challenges  

‍

As a B Corp ourselves at Unibloom, our view is that this is a big step forward from the previous standards which from our perspective weren’t clear enough on action, and that’s what we’re all here to do right? 

‍

In this blog we’ll take a look at the key headlines to note in the updated standards and how B Corps can build their climate transition plan in a simple, digitised and collaborative way, to deliver against targets, but more importantly future-proof your business. 

‍

1. Updated B Corp standard - The company has a publicly available climate transition plan. 

‍

To deliver an effective climate transition plan it needs to be:

‍

• Data driven: Because we are used to operating with scattered data in various systems, we are often left having to make decisions on gut feel, or where we receive internal traction on ideas. Instead we need to be driven by the data, from an emissions, land use, deforestation, waste, biodiversity, waste and costs perspective, and where we will see the greatest impact.

‍

• Sourced from across the business: Ideas and innovation needs to be driven by the teams that are working on the challenges day-to-day and not by expensive consultants pulling from a standardised playbook. 

‍

• Targeting key hotspots where you have the ability to influence: Working with, and understanding your suppliers willingness to work collaboratively on these challenges is key. Going to those suppliers with ideas on how to identify new solutions with accurate data and priorities  2 or 3 areas to drive efficient reduction, based on the data, will vastly improve the quality of discussion and propensity for action.

‍

• A roadmap, not a wishlist: A long list of initiatives is incredibly useful because there is a need to fill the funnel with ideas. But we need to build a roadmap for action, alongside ideation, and that involves ensuring that the roadmap is fully funded and aligned with targets in the short and long term.

‍

Without these factors in place you are left with either a nice looking static report that looks backwards every year, or at the other end a menu of great ideas with no ability to deliver against them.  The Unibloom platform does this differently by:

‍

• Integrating seamlessly with your current carbon accounting data, Life Cycle Analysis or recipe which then turns into a product carbon footprint.
• Bringing all of your projects and climate (SBTi & FLAG) targets & sub-targets into one unified view.
• Mapping all new initiatives and ideas against your targets, so you can see your ‘action gap’ in real time.
• Throughout the platform financials, emission & FLAG (Forest, land use and agriculture) reduction sit side-by-side, so that you can make effective decisions, and see the ROI on your plan.
• Using LCA methodologies, highlight key action areas within your hotspots to take forward with suppliers to ramp up your Scope 3 ambition
• Integrated accurate secondary emission, climate, cost & nutrition data from AgriFootPrint, EcoInvent and independently developed emission factors aligned with LCA methodology.

‍

2. Updated B Corp standard - The company updates its transition plan every three years.

The truth is that your plan will have changed several times before this 3 years is up.  Our experience at Unibloom is that you need to be reviewing it every 3 weeks, or at least every 3 months, as business context, budgets and pressures from various customers, consumers & journalists are increasing.  

‍

Within the B Corp guidance there’s a menu of ideas and potential actions to take but your action plan will only work by building it around the needs of your business and you can only do that by integrating accurate climate & nutrition data into business planning, collaborating with innovation, procurement & operational teams and building a fully funded roadmap.

‍

You need your climate transition plan to have the same agility as your business planning and that’s why scenario planning is absolutely key to arm your teams with the ability to assess the impact of new opportunities or ingredient changes on your carbon footprint.  The Unibloom platform puts this in your hands so that you can run hundreds or thousands of tests in collaboration with your operational teams.   

‍

The B Corp guidance acknowledges this, stating, 

‍

"If the company’s products use ingredients from all over the world, how can it lower the impact of transporting those raw materials? Could the company source more ingredients locally, or diversify to other products or revenue streams?"

‍

These are exactly the right questions we should be asking but we can’t hope to be able to do this without having the tools and the data in the hands of your teams that are delivering it, which Unibloom provides in real-time for a fraction of the cost compared to consultants or standalone databases.  This is particularly important during new product development which is often divorced from sustainability plans, resulting in progress being made on existing products and new products then eroding that progress.  Arming your innovation team with the ability to assess the impact of these NPDs and integrating that data into formulations transforms the way your teams approach decarbonisation. 

‍

3. Updated B Corp standard - The company has a climate transition plan to make a just contribution to the global goal of net zero emissions by 2050. 

‍

The key factor here is ensuring that you have the financial and team resources to deliver against your climate transition plan.  For too long we have siloed out sustainability teams from business and financial planning but we need to integrate the two.  

‍

The Unibloom platform places carbon and climate impact reduction alongside financial commitments and savings throughout the platform by seamlessly integrating with cost, nutrition and over 10 000 emissions factors, biodiversity, land-use & deforestation to test ideas and map different pathways to meet your targets, all whilst optimising investment choices with emissions reduction. For example, if you’re looking at ingredient shifts, you will be collaborating with suppliers. You need a data- backed view of what to transition first, where to prioritise efforts and a standardised framework to compare projects before reaching out to suppliers.

‍

To build a robust transition plan, with staged investments, you then need to do this across your entire business and build the funnel of actions over multiple years.  And then importantly have the ability to change and react when external or internal conditions change.  

‍

4. Updated B Corp standard - The company makes progress on its climate transition plan and evaluates its effectiveness. 

‍

For far too long we have been locked in a cycle of reporting.  As outlined above, what is exciting about the new standards is the focus on action planning and the critical point here on reporting is on ‘evaluating its effectiveness’.  Plans will change and being transparent about what has worked, what you’ve changed and what you’re doing differently is the next phase for business transparency.  But we have to make it simple, rather than locking sustainability teams in endless data chasing and cycles of spreadsheets and emails.  

‍

The Unibloom platform aligns the business with a clear plan to achieve common goals and empowers data driven collaboration across departments and suppliers. It brings all of your targets, sub-targets (both financial and carbon) into one easy to use platform to drive collaboration on your plan.  

‍

Check out our case study with B Corp GoodPop and see how they went from gaps and guesswork to data-driven collaboration on their climate transition plan - https://www.unibloom.world/success-stories/how-goodpop-aligned-teams-data-for-real-climate-reduction-business-growth-cost-effectively 

‍

Join our upcoming webinar exclusively for B corps on 28th April at 3pm BST - https://www.linkedin.com/events/7315013054419628032/comments/  

‍

Get in touch to hear more or to book in a demo - Anna.sandgren@unibloom.world or free trial: 

‍

Who we are & what we solve

Unibloom is a climate action and data modelling platform for mid- to large-sized food & agriculture companies. We help you identify, compare, and get a business case ready for a cost-effective climate transition plan & optimal initiatives that drive both decarbonisation, climate positive impact and business growth.

The problem we solve

Sustainability, procurement, and innovation teams often work in silos in spreadsheets, powerpoints and emails to plan out future initiatives. Climate targets like SBTi, FLAG, and waste goals rarely align with CAPEX, OPEX, and business growth priorities which make sourcing and innovation decisions a big risk, without knowing the future climate impact.

The solution

Unibloom connects teams and data in one place. We empower teams to be self-sufficient and digitised by model scenarios using accurate secondary data & automated calculations, so you can align climate goals and initiatives with investment and operational decisions—faster, smarter, and with confidence (and much more cost effective!)

‍