Your quick guide to the most interesting news snippets about social enterprise, impact investment and mission-driven business around the world from the Pioneers Post team. This week the US ‘denounces’ the SDGs; UK B Corps boom; Tony’s Chocolonely left bitter by European Commission, and more.
Global: “The United States rejects and denounces the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the Sustainable Development Goals, and it will no longer reaffirm them as a matter of course.” These words were spoken by Edward Heartney, representing the US at a UN meeting on 4 March, voting against a resolution for an “International Day of Peaceful Coexistence”. He said the US was concerned that the resolution was a reaffirmation of Agenda 2030 and the SDGs. He added: “President Trump also set a clear and overdue course correction on gender and climate ideology, which pervade the SDGs.” (The resolution passed with 162 countries in favour.)
UK: There are now 2,400 B Corps in the UK with a combined turnover of £30bn. This is a quarter of the 9,500 B Corps that exist around the world, and a 40% increase on last year’s UK figures. The data was released by B Lab UK to mark the start of B Corp month in March. Between 2023 and 2024, small and medium-sized B Corps saw a 23% increase in turnover, compared with the national average of 17%. UK B Corps include mobile phone company Giffgaff, investments, energy and financial services business Octopus Group and paint and wallpaper brand, Farrow & Ball.
EU: Tony’s Chocolonely has been left with a bitter taste by the European Commission’s initiative to ‘simplify’ corporate sustainability reporting laws, announced last week. Tony’s responded to the proposed ‘omnibus’ package on LinkedIn, posting: “It’ll undo years of negotiations to get crucial laws over the line that protect both the planet and basic human rights.” The chocolate company, which has a legal structure it says safeguards its mission, called on the European Parliament and Council to reject the package and focus on delivering clear guidelines and tools businesses can use to comply with the sustainability laws as previously agreed.
Global: 57% of impact funds focused on infrastructure are targeting projects in Europe, according to new data from impact consultancy firm Phenix Capital. The researchers point out that the EU has been proactive in setting aside pools of assets for infrastructure projects that contribute to its 2050 net-zero objective, which creates opportunities for impact investors. About a quarter of infrastructure-focused impact funds are targeting North America, and fewer than one in five are targeting developing countries. The figures are based on Phenix’s impact database, which includes information from more than 2,700 funds that seek to create a measurable positive impact while targeting market-rate returns. The number of infrastructure impact funds is plateauing just above 400, after having experienced a steady period of growth over the past decade. They have raised €174bn to date, according to the data.
Canada: As the US’s trade tariffs on Canada came into force this week, Buy Social Canada urged government and big businesses to purchase from local social enterprises. The organisation, which aims to advance and grow social enterprise and social procurement, said the trade war risked disrupting supply chains, but that purchasing from Canadian social enterprises, SMEs, co-operatives and other social purpose businesses could keep more money circulating in local economies, de-risk supply chains and build community resilience. “This threat to our local economies is an opportunity to stand together and recentre our priorities to align with our local economic values,” said CEO Elizabeth Chick-Blount.
UK: After a decade of empowering LGBTQ+ children, young people & their families, social enterprise Think2Speak is closing down. Founder and former WISE100 winner Lizzie Jordan told Pioneers Post Think2Speak had faced increasing challenges in securing funding and found that organisations aren’t investing in LGBTQ+ inclusion training in the way they once were. Since it was founded in 2015, Think2Speak supported over 10,000 families, ensuring they had access to safe spaces, resources, and guidance, delivered LGBTQ+ inclusion training to over 3,500 schools, workplaces, and community organisations and reached over 25,000 young people through workshops and resources.
UK: UK: New Leaf Initiative, which supports people with criminal convictions to move away from crime and into work, is shutting down after 10 years of operations and 2,600 people supported. Founded in 2014 by Marie-Claire O’Brien, the Birmingham-based social enterprise developed rehabilitation pathways to help people turn their lives around by gaining qualifications and securing meaningful employment. In a statement, it said “funding challenges, contractual uncertainties, and economic pressures” were threatening the viability of the social enterprise and it wanted to end “on a high”. Mark Simms, CEO of P3 Charity, said on LinkedIn: “Marie-Claire – you did it. You made the change you set out to make. Now, it’s time to step into your next chapter”.
Figure of the week: £15m is the size of the loan secured by Harrogate Housing Association from Triodos bank to create 200 new affordable and sustainable homes in the Yorkshire town of Harrogate.
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Sebastian Rocca, founder and CEO of social enterprise Micro Rainbow, opens up to Tim West about what Pride Month means to him, growing up gay in Catholic Italy, and embracing vulnerability in leadership.
UK is now home to one-sixth of the world’s 6,000 certified B Corps – with 500 of them in London, more than in any other city worldwide.
Almost all Dutch social enterprises aim to influence other organisations to act more sustainably – and their work could help drive the shift to a healthier economy, suggests new research.
The Impact World This Week: 7 March 2025 – Pioneers Post
