What is a B Corp and what does it take to B one?

B corp is a certification provided to companies that are for-profit (and proactively not evil). This certification is provided by a global non-profit called B Lab, stating that a company scores highly on social and environmental parameters and works like a social enterprise.
The four categories for testing the performance and some of the requirements are listed below -

1. Workers

- Are employees provided bonuses, stock options etc.?
- In the last fiscal year, did the employees receive a raise that at least met the inflation rate?
- What is the proportion of the highest paid employee to the lowest?
- How many paid days off are provided?
- Are there opportunities for career development?
- What is the ownership % of non-executives and non-founders?
- What % of employees have left the organization in the last fiscal year?

2. Community

- In the last year, did the company create jobs and serve clients in the local community?
- Are there any diversity and inclusion plans?
- What % of employees are women and from chronically underemployed communities?
- What % of revenue is donated to charity?

3. Environment

- Is the company operating in a green certified building?
- Are formal encouragements provided to reduce paper consumption, switching off lights etc.?
- Is water and energy use monitored and recorded?
- What % of the energy used comes from low-impact renewable sources?
- What is the source of electricity for operations?
- What % of the energy use comes from diesel generators, bio-fuels?
- Are environmental considerations vital during design of products/services?

4. Governance

- Is the financial performance of the company regularly shared with the employees?
- Is there a Code of Ethics policy?
- Is there an anti-corruption policy?
- Are bonuses tied to ESG performance?
- Are there independent members on the board and how often do they meet?

Upon answering all the questions and securing a score of 80 or more out of 200 (which is harder than it looks), a company is eligible to apply for the B Corp certification. After the verification of the supporting documents (and unless there is something sketchy), the B Corp label is provided. They have to pay an annual fee that can range from $500 to $50,000 to maintain the certification.
Fun fact: As of August 2018, there are about 2,600 certified B Corporations across 60 countries.

Source - https://bimpactassessment.net/

Surprising facts about the Sustainable Development Goals

The United Nations set out the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) in 2015 to save our planet (from us) and the future generation (from the present).

Some of the (surprising) facts of SGD are listed below –

1. No more extreme poverty by 2030:

The first SDG focuses on eradicating extreme poverty i.e. people living below $1.25 per day by 2030.What most people do not know is that proportion of people living in extreme poverty in the last 20 years has halved! 

That’s pretty incredible and makes this goal seem less unrealistic as one might initially think.

2.     Healthier and safer mankind:

The aim of the third SDG is to end the epidemic of AIDS, TB, and Malaria. If that sounds too ambitious, here's an encouraging fact - polio killed on an average half a million people in the 1940s and 1950s each year… however, in 2017 only 22 cases of polio were reported.

 The UN is banking on such trends and is also looking to halve all road accidents by 2020.

3.     Halving food wastage:

SDG 12 aims at halving the food wastage by 2030 at the retail and consumer levels. It doesn’t sound too ambitious but with the present scale of food wastage, it will be a resounding success if it can be achieved.

4.    The annual 100 Billion Dollar fund:

By 2020, the developed countries have a goal of raising 100 billion dollars each year to aid the developing world in combating climate change. 

As of May 2018 only USD 10.21 Billion has been announced and signed (it is reasonable to expect that the 100 Billion will fail to materialize).

5.    Data and debt management:

A commitment is made to support the availability of high quality, timely and reliable data to the developing countries (if you can’t measure it, you can’t control it).

Moreover, debt-relief and debt restructuring to poor countries is also high on the agenda.

6.    A meeting every four years:

To identify progress and the emerging challenges to take further actions, meetings are planned for every four years. The next meeting is to be held in 2019. However, none of these goals are (unfortunately) legally binding.

7. The current status:

Sweden is the country at the top and it is closest to achieving the SDG with other Scandinavian countries close behind. 

Central African republic comes in last while Canada is 20^th out of the 156 countries evaluated on the SDG Index.