The B Corp certification process transformed our business for the better

But this optimism isn’t without its challenges. When it comes to sustainability, the live event industry has long held a reputation for throwaway culture compared to other channels, with months of work and material resources often resulting in a single-day event.

This raises the question: does an increased appetite for live events also mean increased damage to the planet and people? It’s our collective responsibility as an industry to show that it doesn’t. For Marble, the journey to becoming B Corp certified has empowered us to get our own house in order, hold ourselves, our clients, and our industry to account, and to embark on a journey that constantly challenges us to go further.

The core philosophy of B Corp is that business should be a force for good – not just for shareholders, but for all stakeholders. It’s a sentiment echoed at the core of our own identity as an agency. Consumer expectations are shifting, too. Some 76% of consumers say they would stop buying from companies that treat the environment, employees, or communities poorly.

It’s personal

Myself and three other co-founders created Marble with the belief that our shared backgrounds, rooted in the UK festival scene and luxury communications, could combine to build an agency that represents innovators across multiple sectors and drives positive impact and change.

In an industry with a waste problem, our ‘why’ has been clear since day one: to be part of the solution. Having all grown up in rural areas, we also shared, in all honesty, a sense of guilt in contributing to the problem. We found ourselves trapped between a need to work, earn, and create, while not wanting to leave things worse than we found them.

I believe it’s the responsibility of agencies like us to back businesses that have the power to influence positive change in the world. The entire B Corp certification process has helped us stay accountable – from the clients we work with to the suppliers we use. We ensure every decision is made with sustainability top of mind.

Walking the talk

The B Corp certification process is rigorous, assessing our entire business against an externally verified framework for measuring social and environmental impact. Pursuing these standards has transformed how we operate as a business. We’ve had to rethink processes, supply chains, and materials, as well as auditing our suppliers and venues.

We’re seeing real impact when it comes to reducing emissions on repeat projects, where we’re able to apply learnings and insights from one event to directly inform the next. A good example is our work with fintech platform Adyen. Across two conference events last year, we used data from the first to make targeted improvements across material use, travel, and more sustainable food choices. This resulted in a 41% reduction in emissions at the second event.

But there’s a long way to go, and not every event we produce is perfectly sustainable. We won’t pretend otherwise. We also recognize that many of our clients are under increasing pressure to meet their own sustainability targets. That’s why we aim to make the process feel empowering, by educating clients and demystifying the practical steps.

For every project, we produce impact reports that assess an event’s footprint, from energy and water use to materials, suppliers, transport, and location. These are all mapped against the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (UN SDGs).

Since June 2023, we’ve also offset CO2 emissions equivalent to charging 27 million smartphones, an investment that has since supported reforestation projects covering over 251,000 square metres of land. However, offsetting is a last resort. Our priority is always to use less wherever possible by designing smarter and sourcing more sustainably. It takes around 10-20 years for a tree to retain carbon; plant a tree today, and we won’t reap the carbon-capturing benefits until almost a decade after 2030 – the UN’s target year for achieving sustainable development goals.

Raising the bar

Marble’s B Corp certification comes at a time when the climate crisis and social inequality continue to challenge global economies. Particularly in the US, we’re seeing a retreat from climate commitments and DEI initiatives, a reflection of wider economic fears and political pushback. And while it’s true that during times of crisis, people prioritise survival over systemic change, this moment still demands hope and action.

This isn’t about being perfect, pious, or performative. It’s about not giving up on the idea that business can make things a little better, a little fairer, and that we all have a role to play in raising the bar and shaping a more sustainable future.