Environmental entrepreneur eyes Cork as a leader in B Corp certification

'If Ireland is creating a strategy for the future, B Corp companies have to be at heart of it,' said Marcello Palazzi, at the first BCorp Cork event. Picture: Alison Miles /OSM

Amsterdam-based environmental entrepreneur Marcello Palazzi urged Cork City to become a global leader in creating more sustainable companies.

Mr Palazzi made his comments at an event in the city focused on the creation of more so called ‘BCorp’ certified companies, which are firms that meet social and environmental performance, transparency, and accountability standards set out by an internationally recognised non-profit organisation called BLab.

“If Ireland is creating a strategy for the future, B Corp companies have to be at heart of it,” he said.

Mr Palazzi previously launched more than 30 ventures, including B Lab Europe, where he has grown B Corps in the area from zero to more than 600 to date.

BCorp certification is also increasingly being viewed as trial run for businesses to prepare themselves for new EU legislation coming down the tracks.

The EU's Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD), part of the European Green Deal, aims to make it compulsory for large firms to report their environmental, social and governance standards to show proof of viability to investors and customers.

Firms with an annual net turnover exceeding €50m, assets exceeding €25m or at least 250 employees on average throughout the year will be on the hook to comply with the directive.

“B Corp certification will help companies prepare for CSRD. More importantly, it will help them win new business, reduce costs, attract top talent and win investment,” said James McManus, director of BLab Ireland.

The event was hosted by three Cork-based B Corp certified businesses Change by Degrees, Otonomee and Climeaction, which collaborated with BLab Ireland to host the first BCorp conference in Cork.

“B Corp companies are on a pathway to continuous improvement and part of an international community of over 8,000 companies measuring and managing their impact on the global economy to benefit all people,” said Madeleine Murray, chief product officer and co-founder at Change by Degrees, a sustainability skills building company.

B Lab Ireland was founded in 2023 to oversee the growth of the B Corp movement in Ireland and is part of an international nonprofit network that creates economic systems change through standards, policies, tools, and programmes, and certifies companies.

Several Irish companies have gained Bcorp status in recent years, including Limerick-based fashion designer Aoife McNamara for her eponymous clothing business.

“I’ve worked for international brands all over the world and I really just wanted to make a change,” Ms McNamara said when she appeared on The ieBusiness Podcast, where she spoke about gaining BCorp certification.