ustwo has been a B Corp certified organisation since December 2019, and we’re incredibly proud of it. For us, being a B Corp represents our commitment to running a sustainable business that has a positive impact on people and their communities, while having the least impact on the planet. It was the natural next step on our journey to build an ethical and evergreen business.
March is B Corp month, and the theme this year is #BehindTheB. It’s an opportunity for B Corp organisations to uncover what it actually means to be a B Corp. As a B Corp, we’re committed to meeting the highest social and environmental standards, so it’s important that we’re transparent about our progress and held accountable for our promises. We recently published our 2021 B Corp Impact report, which details our achievements last year and targets for 2022.
Being a B Corp is an ongoing process, so we’re constantly assessing how best we can operate in a sustainable way for the planet, look after the community we live in, and be a better employer.
A few months ago, we attended an event about the impact of pensions on the planet. We learned that many organisations aren’t aware that their pension funds could be invested in industries that are not aligned with their values.
Do you know where your pension is invested?
We’re all intentional about where we spend our money, whether that’s choosing to buy ethically sourced products or buying from companies that embrace the circular economy. Unfortunately, only a few of us apply the same scrutiny to our pensions. That’s why it was important for us to ensure that our pension funds contribute to a greener planet in line with the commitments we’ve made as a B Corp.
Our leadership team worked with our Pensions Advisor to find out how we could move all ustwobies to a more ethical default pension to guarantee our funds are not invested in industries we consider harmful, like fossil fuels, tobacco or arms. It was equally important that we switched to a new pension fund that was not only ethical, but financially safe. That’s why we chose Royal London as ustwo’s new pension provider.
Royal London is the only major pension provider to offer an ethical fund as a default — rather than an optional — investment option. The default fund is a socially responsible portfolio managed by Royal London themselves and a range of external investment management groups.
Building a healthy planet for a healthy retirement
Today we’re excited to share another step forward in supporting ethical pensions. We’ve signed Make My Money Matter’s Green Pensions Charter to match our pensions with our values and climate commitments. We’re proud to be one of twelve organisations to sign the world’s first green pensions charter, alongside businesses like Thoughtworks, Riverford Organic Farmers and Escape the City.
According to Make My Money Matter, switching to a green pension provider is 21x more effective in reducing your carbon footprint than giving up flying and going vegan combined.
Investing in socially responsible pension funds means we’re investing in our future in more ways than one. Now that we know we’re not investing our pensions in industries whose values we don’t agree with, we’re not only looking after ourselves in retirement, but we’re also making sure the planet is just as healthy as we are when the time comes.
Workplace pension schemes are an often overlooked part of building a sustainable world for us to retire in. We invite everyone in our industry to consider switching to a green pension provider and signing the Make My Money Matter charter, so we can build a greener economy together.
We'd like to give a huge shout out to the ustwobies who worked to make this change a reality.