B Corp certification Scam: Trapping Small Businesses in the ESG Agenda

In the age of corporate virtue signalling, few initiatives have risen as rapidly in popularity—and controversy—as B Corp certification scam. On the surface, it seems innocent enough: businesses promising to be ethical, sustainable, and community-focused. Yet, scratching the glossy surface, the emerging picture is far less inspiring. For small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), the B Corp badge isn’t a symbol of empowerment but rather a costly, compliance-driven shackle designed to co-opt businesses into the broader ESG (Environmental, Social, Governance) agenda.

At its core, B Corp scam is less about transformation and more about conformity—conformity to a rigid framework designed by global elites with little regard for the realities faced by SMEs. What appears to be a voluntary scheme is, in reality, a strategic move to corral small businesses into the ESG fold, thereby extending Big Finance’s influence into every corner of the economy.

A Costly Badge of Virtue

B Corp certification scam is sold as a way for businesses to prove their commitment to doing good. Yet, the process is anything but altruistic. To earn this badge of supposed virtue, businesses must undergo an expensive, time-consuming evaluation process that measures their performance against a set of rigid, one-size-fits-all metrics. For an SME with limited resources, navigating B Corp’s labyrinthine requirements could be better spent growing the business or serving customers.

And that’s before you consider the ongoing costs. Certification must be renewed regularly, and the criteria often change, requiring businesses to update their operations to maintain compliance. This isn’t empowerment—it’s entrapment. The certification process becomes a subscription service to an ideological playbook, draining SMEs of resources they cannot afford to spare.

The ESG Trojan Horse

The push for B Corp certification scam is part of a larger movement to embed ESG principles into the global economy. While the concept of ESG may sound noble, its execution is anything but. At its worst, ESG is a mechanism for Big Finance to impose its priorities on businesses and, by extension, society at large. By tying investment decisions to ESG performance, financial institutions effectively dictate how businesses should operate, often prioritising abstract metrics over practical realities.

B Corp scam certification acts as the Trojan horse for this agenda, introducing ESG principles into businesses that might otherwise have resisted them. For SMEs, which typically operate on tight margins and depend on agility to survive, this is a recipe for disaster. They’re forced to play by rules set by distant, unaccountable actors—rules that are more about aligning with global capital’s vision than serving local communities or fostering innovation.

A Tool for Big Business

Perhaps the greatest irony of B Corp certification is how it benefits big corporations at the expense of small ones. Large companies with vast resources can afford to jump through the hoops required for certification, using it as a marketing tool to bolster their public image. For SMEs, however, the costs and complexities of certification are a far greater burden.

In practice, this creates an uneven playing field. Big businesses can trumpet their B Corp status while simultaneously engaging in practices that undermine the very principles the certification claims to uphold. SMEs, meanwhile, are left struggling to keep up, their limited resources stretched thin by the demands of compliance. The result is a system that favours the already-powerful, marginalising the very businesses it claims to support.

A False Promise of Innovation

Supporters of B Corp often argue that it fosters innovation by encouraging businesses to think differently about their impact. But the truth is that innovation thrives on flexibility and diversity, not rigid frameworks. By forcing businesses to conform to a predetermined set of ESG metrics, B Corp stifles the creativity and entrepreneurial spirit that drive real progress.

Rather than empowering businesses to find solutions that work for their unique circumstances, B Corp demands adherence to a standardised model. This isn’t innovation—it’s bureaucracy. And it’s a bureaucracy designed to benefit those who created it, not those who are subjected to it.

The Real Cost: Local Resilience

Perhaps the most insidious aspect of the B Corp scheme is its impact on local resilience. SMEs are the backbone of local economies, providing jobs, fostering innovation, and serving as hubs of community life. But by tying them into a global ESG framework, B Corp erodes their independence and flexibility.

When businesses are forced to prioritise ESG metrics over local needs, communities suffer. Jobs may be lost, services reduced, and prices increased—all in the name of meeting arbitrary standards set by entities that have no stake in the local economy. What’s being sold as a path to sustainability is, in reality, a road to dependency on a system that prioritises global capital over local well-being.

The Bigger Picture

The rise of B Corp certification scam is part of a broader trend towards centralising control over the global economy. By bringing SMEs into the ESG fold, Big Finance extends its influence, ensuring that businesses of all sizes operate according to its priorities. This isn’t about creating a better world; it’s about consolidating power.

For SMEs, the choice is stark: embrace the B Corp model and sacrifice your independence, or resist and risk being left behind in an economy increasingly dictated by ESG principles. It’s a lose-lose scenario, one that benefits the architects of the system at the expense of those forced to operate within it.

Conclusion: A Badge of Subservience

B Corp certification is marketed as a badge of honour for businesses committed to doing good. But for SMEs, it’s more often a badge of subservience—a sign that they’ve been co-opted into a system designed to serve the interests of global elites rather than local communities.

The real beneficiaries of B Corp certification aren’t the businesses that earn it or the communities they serve. They’re the financial institutions and corporate giants that use ESG as a tool for control, shaping the economy to suit their interests while paying lip service to sustainability and ethics.

For SMEs, the path to true sustainability lies not in conforming to a global playbook but in forging their own path—one that prioritises local resilience, genuine innovation, and the needs of the communities they serve. B Corp scams may offer the illusion of progress, but the price is far too high.

Who are the B Corp Funders

Take a closer look at the founders of these initiatives. It’s essentially a “welcome to Davos” from Klaus Schwab aimed at pulling small businesses into the ESG agenda. Here’s the evidence:

• Andrew Kassoy: Co-founder of B Corp. He spent 16 years in private equity on Wall Street, deeply entrenched in Big Finance. Watch him here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lhCO55P9maI.
• Jay Coen Gilbert: Founder of “White Men for Racial Justice,” a group promoting woke ideology. He talks like the WEF. For instance, in his work, he describes a “business-led cross-sector coalition to redesign the economic system for all stakeholders”—a direct quote from Klaus Schwab’s “Great Reset.” https://www.aspeninstitute.org/people/jay-coen-gilbert/
  Additionally, In this video, Jan Coen talks about how all white men are racist, how society is unfairly set up to favour white men, and how white people need to make up for being born with this privilege: https://youtube.com/watch?v=88qwQz6-w7M
• Bart Houlahan: Another co-founder tied to big finance. He’s a partner at Irrational Capital, which specialises in equity markets based on ESG principles, referring to this as the “Human Capital Factor.” https://www.linkedin.com/in/bart-houlahan-0a9728244/.

This isn’t about helping small businesses—it’s about controlling and enforcing the ESG framework.