Video - The B Team Declaration

The B Team Declaration from The B Team on Vimeo.

The B Team is a not-for-profit initiative that has been formed by a group of global business leaders to create a future where the purpose of business is to be a driving force for social, environmental and economic benefit.

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Video - The B Team Story

The B Team Story from The B Team on Vimeo.

The B Team's mission is to deliver a 'Plan B' that puts people and planet alongside profit.

Related Articles
Video - The B Team Declaration
Video - The Plan B Kick-Off Live Event
Benefit Corporation Legislation
B Corp Town Hall: The Power of Business as a Force for Good
The 10 Greatest Social Entrepreneurs of All Time
2012 in Retrospect: New Economy, Banking and Guns

Video - The Plan B Kick-Off Live Event

The B Team, a global non-profit founded by Sir Richard Branson and Jochen Zeitz, revealed its starting line-up of business leaders 13th June 2013. They will work together to deliver a new way of doing business that prioritises people and planet alongside profit -- a "Plan B" for businesses the world over.

Collaboration and Best Practices in Sustainability

Research suggests that collaborative approaches are often the best way to succeed in the development and implementation of a sustainable best practice campaign. Collaboration is key because although best practice is an increasingly popular buzzword, real-world development and implementation is no easy feat.

Canadian research by the Network for Business Sustainability reveals that collaborating on green issues is the key issue facing companies with a strong record of sustainability. The complex and diverse nature of developing and implementing best practice means that companies need to share best practices and solve these difficult problems.

Webinar - Why GRI G4 Will Trigger New Directions In Sustainability Reporting

The complimentary one hour webinar "Why GRI G4 Will Trigger New Directions In Sustainability Reporting" will take place on Thursday, May 30, 2013 at 4:00 pm GMT (11:00 am Eastern Daylight Time).  In May 2013, the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) launches the G4 guidance for voluntary sustainability reporting – the first full update in the framework used for seven years by more than 5,000 firms. At the same time stock exchanges around the world are implementing guidelines agreed at Rio+20, a handful of governments have imposed new mandatory GHG and LCA reporting rules, and the accounting profession continues to push the International Integrated Reporting Council (IIRC) as well as the more recently launched Sustainability Accounting Standards Board (SASB).

Faced with this flurry of activity, what are the new best practices for sustainability reporting? How should heads of sustainability link mandatory reporting, voluntary frameworks and financial reporting?

Event - Natural Products Expo West

This event will take place on March 7-10, at the Anaheim Convention Center. Natural Products Expo West is where new products turn into record profits, relationship building and ROI is always high and brand awareness builds momentum with each better business practice.

Join in an experience with over 3000 exhibits from over 1,800 different companies showcasing the newest products in natural and specialty foods, organic, health and beauty, natural living, supplements and pet products.

Webinar - Myths & Realities of Energy Purchasing

Energy Manager Today is offering a one-hour energy management webinar on Wednesday, February 13, 2013,11am PST/2:00 PM EST.  Titled "Myths & Realities of Energy Purchasing," this webinar will debunk common myths and show you how to engage with the best providers that offer flexible products and timely market insights to achieve the most for your energy spend.

Burgeoning Consumer Awareness Driving Corporate Sustainability

Consumers growing environmental awareness will continue to drive sustainability in 2013 and beyond. The American economy appears to be inching slowly in a positive direction and a spate of extreme weather events over the last couple of years is contributing to consumer's burgeoning environmental awareness. Increasingly consumers are looking beyond the barcode to help them make their purchasing decisions. Businesses need to respond to consumer demand to gain customers and avoid losing their market share. Here is a succinct summary of salient sustainability trends for 2013:

The World's First Carbon for Water Program

A new film by Evan Abramson and Carmen Elsa Lopez looks at the world's first carbon financed water scheme. Vestergaard Frandsen, a company that makes products to prevent disease in the developing world, shows how providing safe drinking water while cutting more than 2 million tons of carbon emissions a year is good business.

Video - Cradle to Cradle: Certifying Products to Create the Future We Want for Our Children

The Cradle to Cradle Products Innovation Institute was created to bring about a large scale transformation in the way things are made. Cradle to Cradle (C2C) provides third party certification of products, they are working to create a future of abundance for our children. In this video they ask the question "how soon will you join them" the answer must be "now." C2C endeavors to provide a new standard of quality around the world. It has five levels of certification that begins with Basic. The other levels are Bronze, Silver, Gold and Platinum.

Corporate Sustainability Report: 4 Ways to Transition from 2012 to 2013

In 2012 a solid majority of North American companies indicated that they had or were creating a sustainability plan. According to SCA's Tork Report, the 2012 sustainability data was much improved compared to the year before. Their study shows that 64 percent of US companies had a sustainability plan or were planning to draft one in 2012. This is almost twice the number of American companies who indicated that they were doing so in 2011.

The survey which is titled "The Sustainability Gap," indicates strong similarities in both the American and the Canadian data. A total of 31 percent of US firms and 30 percent of Canadian firms said their sustainability plans are having a positive impact on the bottom line. Only 12 percent of US companies and 10 percent of Canadian companies said their sustainability initiatives negatively impacted their bottom line. The rest (57 percent of US companies and 60 percent of Canadian companies) indicated they saw no impact on their bottom line.

2012 Review: Sustainable Supply Chains

This review of sustainable supply chains in 2012 was written by Julie Urlaub and published on Wednesday, December 26, 2012. 

When you toss a pebble into a pond, a series of concentric ripples propagate out extending far beyond the point of entry. With a number of business sustainability pebbles being tossed into the pond today, one can’t help but wonder what effects the resulting ripples might have on the supply chain. With legislative pressures and shifting consumer expectations positioned to effect business consumption, are the supply chains ready to respond? Will your business ride the high or low of the ‘green’ bullwhip in 2013?

Andrew Winston: Top 10 Sustainable Business Stories of 2012

Here is Andrew Winston's top 10 sustainable business stories of 2012. Andrew is the founder of Winston Eco-Strategies, he is the author of Green Recovery and co-author of Green to Gold, the international best-selling guide to what works - and what doesn't - when companies go green. Andrew is a globally recognized expert on green business, appearing regularly in major media such as The Wall Street Journal, Time, BusinessWeek, New York Times, and CNBC. Andrew is dedicated to helping companies both large and small use environmental strategy to grow, create enduring value, and build stronger relationships with employees, customers, and other stakeholders. His clients have included Bank of America, Bayer, Boeing, HP, IKEA, Johnson & Johnson, and Pepsi. Andrew also serves on the Sustainability Advisory Board of the Kimberly-Clark Corporation, the Executive Environmental Advisory Council for Hewlett-Packard (HP), and as a Sustainability Advisor to PwC.

Renewable Energy World: 10 Most Commented on Articles of 2012

2012 has been a year filled with controversial topics and interesting advancements from the trade case to the presidential election, and each development spurred heated conversation in those involved in the renewable industry. Check out the top 10 most commented articles on RenewableEnergyWorld.com in 2012.

Harvard Business Review Blog: Top 10 Sustainable Business Stories of 2012

It was an odd year for green business, and it began with some mixed signals about how far companies were coming on sustainability. A GreenBiz report indicated that progress had slowed or even regressed, but MIT and BCG also declared that sustainability had reached a "tipping point" with more companies putting sustainability "on the management agenda."

SkyTruth’s Top 10 Posts on Environmental Impacts of Large-Footprint Industrial Activities in 2012

SkyTruth provides up-to-date information on pollution incidents and reveals the truth about the environmental impacts of large-footprint industrial activities such as mining, drilling, commercial fishing, etc. They work to support scientifically credible research and policy decisions that will help us understand and manage our planet’s natural resources in the best way possible. Here are SkyTruth's “Top 10″ most viewed blog posts from 2012.

Top Companies in the 2012 Climate Leadership Awards

A total of twenty companies were named the winners of the inaugural Climate Leadership Awards by the EPA, the Association of Climate Change Officers (ACCO), the Center for Climate and Energy Solutions (C2ES) (formerly the Pew Center on Global Climate Change), and The Climate Registry (TCR). The awards were presented at the Climate Leadership Conference in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. These awards recognize corporate, organizational, and individual leaders for their efforts to address climate change and reduce carbon pollution.

The Most Sustainable Companies in the World

We are seeing an ever growing number of companies address the issue of sustainability with sincerity and depth that go far beyond the public relations ploys of yesteryear. This preoccupation with efficiency is an important bottom line issue. As water, land, minerals, and fossil fuels get more scarce and costly, sustainability is an unavoidable imperitive. Here are some examples of companies that are leading the way towards this resource constrained future.

Winners of the EPA's 2012 Energy Star Awards

Energy Star is a United States government program created in 1992 by the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). Originally it was conceived as an attempt to reduce energy consumption and greenhouse gas emission by power plants. What began as a voluntary labelling program has grown in to one of the largest efforts worldwide to promote energy efficient consumer products.

Energy Star labels are found on over 40 product categories and in the year 2005 alone is responsible for saving consumers over 12 billion dollars. On March 26th 2012, the EPA and DOE honored businesses and organizations for their outstanding contribution to reducing greenhouse gas emissions through energy efficiency at the 2012 ENERGY STAR Awards ceremony.

Top Green Energy Management Software Companies

A 2011 Verdantix report singled out some of the most responsible information technology companies in the energy management applications space. The market is evolving quickly and the report identifies 15 companies that are emerging as leaders. Verdantix forecasts the US market for energy software will be worth $558m in 2014 and will reach a 51% compound annual growth rate over the five years from 2010 to 2014. According to the report titled "Green Quadrant Energy Management Software" here are the four leading companies: