In 2023, CAN reached out to the Business Design Centre to alert them to the fact their upcoming conference will be funnelling money into some of the world's worst companies for human and environmental abuses. We were resoundingly ignored. We held an action outside the Centre for 3 days in the freezing cold to speak with all the investors going in, but the Business Design Centre kept its head in the sand.

So, at the end of 2023, we contacted B Labs, the company behind the 'ethical' B Corp status. We followed B Labs' complaints process after it materialised that the Business Design Centre (conference centre in London) was using B Corp status to greenwash hosting Europe's largest investment conference for mining around the world. We felt that the Business Design Centre should have to choose between hosting exhibitors accused of human rights and environmental abuses, or enjoy B Corp status. We hoped, faced with this choice, Business Design Centre would drop the conference - helping reduce the UK's support for coal and mining around the world, a key aim of ours...

...But B Labs reply, after 6 months, disappointed us with no commitment to take action on what is clearly incompatible with the "high standards of social and environmental performance" that B Corp status promises customers. So we - or rather, our supports and the public - took action!

As B Labs doesn't seem bothered was the public says, we asked supporters to contact other B Corps - who are effectively B Labs customers. Almost 20,000 emails were sent to over 60 B Corp status companies, asking them to take a stand with us, and for what their B Corp status is meant to represent. Emailers politely asked these companies to contact B Labs and ask them to make the Business Development Centre stop greenwashing its promotion of mining with B Corp status. We had a great response with companies wanting to defend their investment in B Corp status and expressing dismay that B Labs would extend B Corp status to a company acting so clearly against the principles of environmental and social care.

"xxxx have raised your concerns with B Corp"

"I am frustrated about the event, but I am really angry at the greenwash and hiding of the even"

"I ask that B Labs take prompt action to protect the reputation of the B Corp trademark that we pay for and showcase on our website... last year some of the worst mining companies in the world gathered under the B Corp trademark. This is appalling and I hope you understand how important it is to put a stop to this."

The B Labs team finally responded to some of these B Corp status companies with:

"As of 18 November this year, companies looking to certify, or recertify, will be subject to a new framework that more closely considers the nature of the relationship between the certifying company and their client’s harmful practices. We’ll ensure the Business Design Centre is aware of this new framework."

We still think B Labs could - and should - do more to encourage the Business Design Centre to drop the annual 'Mines and Money Conference' - but this is, at least, a start. It was great to see supporters and more ethical companies join together to challenge greenwashing.

Stay tuned to hear what we plan in 2025 to turn up the heat even further on the Business Design Centre, and all the ways that the UK continue to support coal mining and use around the world.