Welcome to your roundup – a monthly selection of news hand-picked to keep you up to date with what’s going on for businesses wanting to create positive impact.
In this roundup you can find out what’s new in the B Corp, social enterprise, and impact investing spaces, amongst others, collated under helpful headings. We’ll also share links to resources and information that our expert lawyers have selected as being useful to you and your networks.
The roundup will be taking a break over the holidays, so we look forward to sharing more news and updates in the next mailing in January.
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Corporate purpose
The future of leadership: a paradigm shift. Sarah Gillard, CEO of purposeful business charity a Blueprint for Better Business, has authored a longer read to share her view of the current, short-termist economic paradigm and our collective need for a different type of economy. Gillard then explores the type of leadership that may be required to make systems change, the pressures leaders currently face, and the value available to us if we can remake our economy.
What Trump 2.0 means for the global impact community. Pioneers Post considers perspectives from the global impact community on what the upcoming change of Government in the US could mean at home and abroad. The article notes some anticipated challenges and an uncertain policy agenda, but also significant levels of resilience and independence among social businesses, as well as calls for the impact sector to build bridges to counter division and stay focused on mission.
How corporate foundations can help give life to a purpose-driven business’ impact goals. Bates Wells’ Louise Harman and colleagues consider how setting up a corporate foundation can enable businesses to drive positive impact that goes beyond the business itself, including looking at aspects such as sharing resources and appointing trustees, charitable purposes, and maintaining the foundation’s independence.
B Corps
B Lab UK has released a new training offering, Beyond the Basics: A Deep Dive into the B Corp Movement, which includes 2.5 hours of video content, practical exercises, case studies and stories from B Corps and consultants in the community (press release). The new course follows on from ‘Behind the B: An introduction to the B Corp movement’, a short course that B Lab UK launched last year. The new course is free for B Corps, and other businesses need to pay a fee that is priced according to business size.
The only way is forward on sustainability. B Lab has commented on the EU’s recently announced plan to review certain sustainability-related legislation, including the CSDDD and CSRD. Noting concerns that sustainability regulation could be watered down during a review process, B Lab outlines the benefits of corporate sustainability management and the need for a consistent and stable regulatory landscape for business, and calls on governments to stand firm on measures to create an economy that benefits people and planet. B Lab has also published a new framework to assess the negative impacts of certifying companies who have clients in controversial industries.
At this month’s G20 summit in Brazil, which focused on a range of global social and environmental issues, B Lab and B Corp businesses signed a recommendation letter urging world leaders to take bold action for a sustainable and equitable global economy. The recommendations include the creation of a Benefit Corporation model and the adoption of the B Impact Assessment as a global standard.
The case for OpenAI becoming a B Corp. Andrew Kassoy, co-founder of B Lab, talks to Fast Company about the B Corp model as a framework for governance in AI businesses to help balance the interests of investors with the interests of society, as the technology develops.
Climate & biodiversity
During COP29, three more countries, including the UK, joined the international Coalition on Phasing Out Fossil Fuel Incentives Including Subsidies (COFFIS). Launched at COP28, COFFIS aims to accelerate the phase out of domestic fossil fuel subsidies in accordance with previous commitments made by world governments, in light of global fossil fuel subsidies reaching $1.5 trillion in 2022. During COP29, the UK Government also pledged £239 million to help forest-rich nations fight climate change, and announced an ambitious new target to reduce the UK’s emissions by 81% by 2035.
The BBC reported on the closing of COP29, which ran into overtime as delegates struggled to reach agreement. The agreed Baku Finance Goal sets a new global target to raise $1.3tn by 2035 for developing countries to lower emissions and adapt to climate change. However, this includes a core finance goal of $300bn, with the rest to be raised through public and private sources. Some stakeholders were critical of the deal, and developing countries had been pushing for a greater core funding commitment; the article notes that, historically, poorer nations have contributed the least to climate change. For more on the COPs, James Cole, Chief Innovation Officer at the Cambridge Institute for Sustainability Leadership, looks back at this month’s COP16 global biodiversity conference. Cole notes that extended talks were suspended leaving key discussions unresolved, highlights recent initiatives to preserve or restore natural capital, and also calls for leadership among all key stakeholders to push for economic systems change.
CBA launch calls for transition to nature-first economy. King Charles hosted an event in London marking the UK launch of the Circular Bioeconomy Alliance (CBA), a charity that focuses on how communities and industries, such as fashion, food and pharma, can accelerate the transition to a nature-first, circular bioeconomy. The CBA announced two new ‘Living Labs’ initiatives, to demonstrate how to create regenerative landscapes and nature-positive supply chains in symbiosis with local communities and indigenous people.
Getting granular about our science-based target. Bates Wells’ Lawrence Simanowitz and colleagues highlight some of the challenges of measuring our environmental impact within the context of a professional services business, and how we’re focusing on cutting emissions by working with our suppliers and through the advice we provide, aiming to influence the wider ecosystem towards lower emissions.
The Hague Court of Appeal in the Netherlands published its judgment in Milieudefensie et al v Shell plc and another, overturning the decision of the lower court and dismissing Milieudefensie’s claims (English translation of the judgment). The court found that, under Dutch law, there is no obligation upon Shell to reduce its emissions by any particular amount and that there is no established sectoral standard based on scientific consensus for emissions reductions for the oil and gas industry. However, the court also said that “there can be no doubt that protection from dangerous climate change is a human right”, and that “companies, including Shell, may also have a responsibility to take measures to counter dangerous climate change”. For more, Joana Setzer, Associate Professor at the Grantham Research Institute on Climate Change and the Environment, commented that the judgment offers encouragement for future climate litigation, and that more than 20 other cases are “currently examining the human rights responsibilities of companies regarding climate change”.
Impact investing
Dealroom has published its State of Impact 2024 report, which assesses the “impact-oriented startup ecosystem, venture capital landscape, and climate tech trends”. Key findings include a global slowdown in impact venture capital funding – impact startups were estimated to have raised £33 billion in 2024, a projected 28% decrease on the previous year. The impact companies assessed were found to be worth $2.4 trillion, lower than a $2.7 trillion peak in 2021, although private value was found to be almost two-fold that of 2021.
Writing for Impact Europe, Ben Rosoman, Consultant, and Sarah Forster, CEO, at impact advisory firm The Good Economy, compare the UK’s Sustainability Disclosure Requirements (SDR) and the EU’s Sustainable Finance Disclosure Regulation. The article explores key features of both regimes, their current use, and the lessons that Rosoman and Forster have taken from working with fund managers on their SDR applications.
Transparency International UK announced that it is working with UCL’s Centre for Sustainable Business and IBLF Global, with funding from British International Investment, on new research to identify the relationship between business integrity and social and environmental impact outcomes and, therefore, what data impact investors need from investees in order to manage business integrity risks and protect impact goals.
Bates Wells’ Nirav Patel summarises some of the current key trends in impact investing and where they may lead in the future, including increasing funding for the energy transition and the use of AI as a possible means to improve impact measurement.
Responsible Finance and the Impact Investing Institute have announced a new programme to support the growth of the community development finance institutions (CDFI) sector, supported by £220,000 from Lloyds and £100,000 from the Department for Culture, Media and Sport. The Impact Investing Institute will deliver a programme aimed at engaging more institutional investors in the sector, lead a research project exploring innovation in establishing and financing new CDFIs, and convene a cross-sector forum to facilitate collaboration.
Social enterprise
Social Enterprise UK (SEUK) has published research into the current state of the social enterprise sector, marking Social Enterprise Day on 21 November. Key stats from the research include that there are 131,000 social enterprises across the country, representing almost one in forty-two of all UK businesses, with a total turnover of around £78 billion. Better Society Capital supported the research and reflected on its journey of incorporating social enterprises into its supply chain, commenting on its key learnings, challenges and future plans.
How social enterprise can support mission-driven procurement across UK Government. SEUK highlights the significance of the Government’s consultation (now closed) on procurement, which sought views on how a mission-driven approach to public procurement could support delivery of the Government’s goals alongside local priorities. SEUK emphasises that social enterprises have the potential to accelerate progress in making public sector procurement more collaborative and innovative, as well as increasing social value creation.
Chancellor of the Exchequer, Rachel Reeves, delivered a speech at Mansion House where she noted (among many other points) the Government’s support for the mutuals sector, with the launch of a call for evidence on the credit union common bond and a request for regulators to report on the mutuals and cooperatives landscape. Reeves welcomed the work of Nationwide, Co-operative Group, Arla and Royal London in establishing an industry-led ‘Mutuals Council’ to drive growth in the sector. Co-operatives UK commented on the speech, describing the aims of the Mutuals and Co-operatives Business Council.
Social Investment Business (SIB) has worked with Big Issue Invest, Charity Bank, Co-operative and Community Finance, GMCVO, Groundwork UK, Key Fund, Resonance, The Architectural Heritage Fund and The Ubele Initiative to launch the Energy Resilience Fund (press release). The £15 million fund aims to strengthen the energy resilience of eligible charities and social enterprises in England, which can apply for blended funding of between £25,000 and £250,000 to deploy energy saving measures or energy generation technology. This follows the publication of research by SIB showing a significant gap in energy efficiency performance and information in the third sector.
ESG
The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) has launched new guidance, the ISO ESG Implementation Principles, designed to help organizations navigate the environmental, social, and governance (ESG) landscape, including complying with disclosure requirements and measuring and reporting upon their activities (press release).
The Corporate Justice Coalition wrote an article for the Business & Human Rights Resource Centre about its campaign for a UK-specific Business, Human Rights and Environment Act (BHREA), describing what could be learned from the EU’s Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive to make a UK BHREA more effective in preventing human rights and environmental harms in businesses’ value chains.
HM Treasury has opened a consultation on the value case for a UK Green Taxonomy, which would define what constitutes sustainable economic activities. The government intends to explore how a green taxonomy could contribute to facilitating an increase in sustainable investment and reducing greenwashing. The consultation document notes that around 20 jurisdictions already have a government-endorsed taxonomy, with around 30 more considering developing one.
The IFRS Foundation has published new guidance intended to help companies identify and disclose information about material sustainability-related risks and opportunities. The guidance is designed to help stakeholders understand the ISSB’s inaugural standards, on the disclosure of sustainability-related financial information and climate-related disclosures. For more, the IFRS has also published a report on the progress of companies disclosing against the Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures (TCFD) recommendations, finding that 82% of the companies assessed have disclosed information in line with at least one TCFD recommendation, although fewer than 3% are reporting against all 11 recommendations. The IFRS is also tracking adoption of the ISSB standards by jurisdiction and has published its findings in a separate paper.
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