This is the regular newsletter from Everloop where we share how not to get lost in sustainability. This month we look at how new greenwashing regulation in the EU is impacting B Corps, and what lessons this holds for all businesses.
The theme of this year’s B Corp Month,“A Simple Symbol, a Powerful Signal”, speaks to the potential and promise of a single letter to represent real change.
This is a seductive idea. Simplifying sustainability, not into three letters (ESG), but just one: B.
This theme’s significance is underscored by the current political climate: as the ‘simplification agenda’ in the EU rolls back many of the anticipated regulations, a significant one remains, ready for rollout come September:
Empowering Consumers for the Green Transition (ECGT) is a new greenwashing directive relevant for businesses marketing to EU consumers.
This law is about to make it a whole lot harder for certification schemes to sell their services, and for brands to make claims about people and the planet. But aligning people, planet and profit is the modus operandi of the B Corp movement.
So what should B Lab’s response signal to all consumer brands in 2026, regardless of B Corp status or whether they sell to the EU market?
1. Be proactive
B Lab has proactively overhauled its standards (a significant undertaking!) and urged relevant companies to recertify now, to be ready for the September 2026 deadline.
B Lab is also supporting B Corps to be on the front foot with how to represent the B Corp logo, by sharing a new Brand Book.
Your takeaways:
All brands should be auditing their sustainability messaging with the same rigor.
It’s time to review your well-meaning but ill-advised (or even illegal!) messaging and gather evidence, well ahead of printing your packaging or posting on socials.
Create systems that stop unsubstantiated claims before they leave the front door.
2. Be aware of the risks
Greenwashing can now rinse your bank account. Fines for non-compliance under the ECGT directive, to be determined by member states, could be as much as 4% of a company's annual turnover.
B Corps unable to recertify in time have been invited to sign a waiver (so if they get into legal difficulties, B Lab is not liable). The waiver is a powerful signal that the old B Corp standards are not up to scratch anymore. The message is simple: recertify or use the logo at your own risk.
Your takeaways:
Gone are the days when greenwashing was only about brand reputation.
Whether or not you sell in the EU, your communications can be a concrete financial and legal risk, as disputes increasingly play out in courts around the world.
Wherever you’re based, your business should seriously consider the risk of misleading consumers.
3. Transparency builds trust
Consumer trust needs to be earned. Third-party assurance is becoming the baseline. For any company marketing products or services to consumers in the EU, sustainability labels should be avoided, unless third-party assured.
To secure the credibility of its certification, B Lab will no longer be verifying businesses directly, and companies will undergo independent audits.
Your takeaways:
Even brands outside the B Corp ecosystem should take note: self-declared green credentials may miss the mark. Consumers are increasingly reluctant to take your word for it.
As a minimum, there should be transparency on what underpins every claim you make, and what it takes to earn any labels you display.
4. Be better (than last year)
To summarise ECGT in a pithy way, it symbolises a shift from promises to proof. Want to commit to net zero? Show us your climate action plan. Want to claim your product is better than others on the market? Show us your life cycle analysis.
The new B Corp standards reflect this, with the requirements for a business now ratcheting up over time to create a culture of ‘improve it or lose it’.
Tick boxes have been crossed out too. Previously, a B Corp could simply reach a threshold of points. For example, you could be a certified B Corp without counting your carbon emissions or considering conflict minerals. Now the new standards demand all B Corps reach a minimum threshold across all areas.
Your takeaways:
This is a good reminder for any business that before blowing your green trumpet, you should evidence action across the board.
Not only where it’s easier to collect and disclose the data but particularly where the data may show a more complex picture and points to more challenges.
5. Prioritise progress
Some question marks remain over what will become of key parts of the old B Corp Standards. Take the beloved Impact Business Models, which are being redesigned for a possible reintroduction at a later date. The new standards were released publicly before B Corps had clarity on the certification process - is this back to front? Or brilliant?
Perfection can be the enemy of progress. Remember, B Lab Global has over 10,000 businesses to bring on this journey, and have been drip-feeding information as and when it becomes available. It has been made clear that the new standards are subject to change, based on community feedback.
Your takeaways:
The new B Corp standards are not finished! This might sound shocking, but there is a lesson here for everyone.
Take the time to understand what’s critical for compliance and what chimes with your community, but don’t wait till you’ve crossed every T and dotted every I, or you’ll never get the word out and you’ll miss your moment.
How can you leverage the hard deadline of regulation to fast track change in your company?
6. Change your core, not just your comms
So, is becoming a B Corp in 2026 a good idea? There are many factors that go into this big decision, but here’s one consideration: B Corp certification is not about what you say, it’s what you do and how you act as a business.
B Corps must undergo a systemic shift in how they’re structured: greenwashing laws aside, certification continues to require a legal change in corporate governance structure, embedding stakeholder accountability and overriding shareholder primacy.
Therefore, any regulations on how to communicate should not deter you from taking the first step, even if it’s a silent one. After all, greenwashing regulations exist to help brands and consumers make better decisions.
As sustainability noise reduces in response to tighter regulation, brands who align with B Corp principles will be in a stronger position to share action with their audiences.
The current challenge with ECGT implementation is that The EU Green Claims Directive, essentially the instruction manual for ECGT, has entered the regulation graveyard. It did not survive the aforementioned simplification agenda.
Ironically, this makes it quite complex for companies to know how to express their social and environmental efforts. In this context, one letter can be worth a thousand words.
Your takeaways:
Wherever you operate it’s worth remembering: while the EU’s ECGT is likely to be highly influential, it’s not the only game in town. Many countries have relevant greenwashing legislation and guides.
There is the Green Claims Code in the UK with additional guides for specific marketing channels (e.g. the CMA and ASA).
There are also ISO and BSI standards, sectoral guidelines, reporting frameworks and other certifications that can help you navigate the new evidence landscape.
Whatever you choose to do, take heed from B Lab HQ and their response to this new regulation: be proactive and aware of the risks. Explore independent validation of your claims, make progress not promises, and embrace systems change, not just compliance evolution.
If you’re weighing up whether to certify or what to claim, we’re here to help.
Raining Cats and Dogs: Climate Risk from a Puppy’s Perspective
From our Senior Consultant Caitlin’s recent story of navigating a flooding event near her home: 🌧️ “I took my puppy to the vet during an extreme weather event and witnessed how a relatively small disruption to infrastructure can have significant consequences for businesses and local people.” 🌧️
We did a rough calculation of an estimated financial impact of the events Caitlin witnessed - just from what what was described in the story - and estimated that the costs ranged between £37k to £337k, and they were borne my multiple parties. And this does not include the full range of costs and cascading effect.
Read the full blog here.
Meme of the month
Recap of Good News this month
💫 That’s it for this month. We hope it sparks a change for you and your organisation - we’d love to hear what you’re doing differently. Let us know!
Is there an advice that has been very helpful to you, or insights you think others would find helpful too? Please share by emailing [email protected].
