In February, François-Henri Pinault welcomed B Team companies to London for an agenda focused on how they will work together to reach Net-Zero GHG by 2050, and drive a Plan B for Business aimed at accelerating solutions to support sustainable development.

Known for boldly calling on governments and businesses alike to commit to sustainable business practices, The B Team continued their focus on “starting at home” by bringing together their corporate teams, rolling up their sleeves to advance key initiatives, including the recent focus on achieving a net-zero GHG emissions economy by 2050.

The inaugural B Team Companies’ Workshop, hosted by Kering CEO François-Henri Pinault, gathered C-Suite representatives from the largest companies represented by the business leaders on The B Team, for a day-long session in central London. Representatives were drawn from AOL, The Huffington Post, Natura, Unilever, Econet Wireless and Virgin, who had an opportunity to discuss how their respective businesses can foster cross-industry synergies and drive systemic change.

During the opening session, Pinault set the scene for collaboration, stating: “In joining The B Team, every CEO has committed to the fact that sustainability is not only a moral imperative in the face of global challenges, but it also makes good business sense. Although at Kering we are striving to be a catalyst for change, we know that ultimately success will only be achieved if we all work together to identify, prioritize and implement actions to reduce our impacts on the increasingly strained resources of our planet.”

To catalyze action in the business community that matches the ambition sought from the critical climate and sustainable development negotiations taking place this year, The B Team is scaling up development of a “Plan B for Business” and inviting other business leaders to join the movement.

In January, The B Team announced a "Plan B framework", with ten priority Challenges, which when applied to any given company, can encourage practices that better address climate change, shortages in natural resources, biodiversity loss and economic inequality. To extend action beyond their own companies, The B Team is also calling on individual business leaders to Join The B Team by committing to advance the challenges in their own companies.

These workshops will now build on the “Plan B framework” and allow “Plan B” to be translated into concrete decisions and operational actions, which companies can collectively or individually implement, leading by example while working together to scale large-scale solutions.

As Pinault went on to conclude, “To achieve the transformation our planet needs, it takes collaboration at every level. Using our diverse expertise at The B Team, we can raise awareness, build consensus, find solutions and inspire each other so that we achieve our collective ambition; a more inclusive, vibrant and sustainable world for all.”