B Corp’s new responsible lobbying requirements: Explained

By Kelly Flatz, Senior Sustainability Consultant, Oxygen Consulting

Published August 2026

The revised B Corp Standards now require companies to have a publicly available policy on responsible lobbying. Larger companies must also publicly share their lobbying positions and any political contributions each year from Year 0 of their certification. Smaller companies must do the same from Year 3.

We’ve prepared this brief explainer on these new requirements.

Why have these requirements been added?

The purpose of these new requirements is to ensure the company takes a transparent, consistent, and responsible approach to its involvement in government affairs. Lobbying can sometimes be at odds with a company’s sustainability strategy and the wider public interest (both intentionally and unintentionally). Therefore, by sharing lobbying policies publicly, companies commit to lobbying for the public good and demonstrate leadership in this area.

What defines lobbying?

B Lab defines lobbying and advocacy interchangeably, which includes the following by or on behalf of an organised group.

• Communicating directly or indirectly with public officials, political decision-makers, or representatives to influence public decision-making.

• Attempting directly or indirectly to influence public opinion (beyond normal advertising and marketing) with the aim of impacting public decision-making.

What does the policy need to include?

The responsible lobbying policy must state the following. In the event the company does not engage in any lobbying activity, it can declare this publicly instead.

• That the company will lobby only to contribute to a positive impact on society or the environment;

• That its lobbying approach is based on either reliable or scientific data (or both);

• The company’s approach to financial and in-kind political contributions;

• The company’s approach to anti-corruption and bribery;

• The company’s approach to responsible lobbying and intermediary organisations, including controls that ensure consistency with the lobbying policy;

• How the policy is embedded within the company;

• How the company identifies, manages, and monitors risks of non-compliance;

• How the company evaluates compliance with the governance and control framework;

• How stakeholders can raise concerns about the company’s business conduct and lobbying practices, including reference to the company’s grievance procedure;

• Which governance body or executive-level position has accountability for the policy;

• Which governance body formally reviews and approves the policy, and how frequently.

What happens if a company lobbies for decision-making that is at odds with B Corp?

Importantly, the company cannot achieve or maintain its B Corp certification if it directly lobbies against its purpose of contributing to a positive impact on society or the environment. It can become eligible again once B Lab confirms it has either stopped lobbying or changed its lobbying approach to align with its purpose.

What about lobbying through intermediary organisations?

Companies should be aware that these requirements extend to any direct or indirect lobbying and advocacy activities, where the ultimate goal is to influence public decision-making. This explicitly includes indirect lobbying via intermediary organisations such as lobbyists, consultants, or trade organisations. For New Zealand businesses, memberships of industry organisations will be the most relevant example here.

B Lab recommends undertaking a process to determine whether a company is working with any intermediary organisations advocating or lobbying for decision-making relating to social and environmental topics. They recommend creating a list of all intermediary organisations the company engages with, the organisation’s stated objectives and positions relating to social and environmental topics, a statement from the company on how the positions of its intermediary organisations contribute to a positive impact on society or the environment, and a document or process map that shows the lobbying activities of all the company’s intermediary organisations.

This may take some time to do if the company is a member of multiple organisations with varying advocacy positions, both positive and negative, and perhaps at odds with each other. If a position is vague, it is worth reaching out to the organisation directly to understand its position further.

In the event the company works with an intermediary organisation with lobbying positions that undermine the company’s lobbying policy, then it must also publicly report the company’s position compared to the intermediary organisation’s position, an explanation of how the company is positively influencing the intermediary organisation’s position, and the company’s ‘red lines’, meaning the circumstances that would cause the company to stop engaging with the intermediary organisation.

What if a parent company holds a different position?

The approach is similar for parent companies. If a B Corp has a parent company that is out of scope of its certification that has lobbying positions that undermine the certifying company’s lobbying policy, then it must also include the company’s position compared to the parent company’s position and an explanation of how the company is positively influencing the parent company’s position, or how the parent company’s position does not affect the company’s social or environmental impacts.

What lobbying positions do I need to disclose?

When publicly sharing its lobbying position and political contributions (larger companies from Year 0 and smaller from Year 3 of certification), companies must report the value and recipient of financial and in-kind political contributions and a summary of the company’s material lobbying positions and the relevant recipients of intermediary organisations each year, unless the company is not engaged in any lobbying activity at all.

It’s important to recognise that these new responsible lobbying requirements extend to positions that both support and undermine social and environmental topics and therefore companies should ensure that their disclosures include all positions, not just those that are perceived as negative.

B Corps must publicly share lobbying positions if they relate to the B Lab Standard, relate to the company’s material topics as defined in its materiality assessment, or involve an intermediary organisation in which the company has a significant role (i.e., holds a position in the governance body, participates in projects or committees, provides major funding beyond membership dues, or views its membership strategically as a way to influence an intermediary organisation’s objectives related to its own activities). Where any positions are not related to these, the company does not have to disclose them.

There are potentially going to be grey areas, where positions may not be directly related to the B Lab Standard or its material topics, but may have an indirect influence on social and environmental topics. Where the position is unclear, the safer course is to disclose it, or seek clarification with the company’s auditor.