Havas' B Corp certification revoked over Shell deal

B Lab has revoked Havas' B Corp certification. 

In a LinkedIn statement, activist group Clean Creatives said that Havas London, Havas Lemz, Havas New York and Havas Immerse are no longer certified B Corps. 

"This decision follows pressure from 27 B Corps in the Clean Creatives network, as well as many other professionals and creatives advocating for urgent climate action across the advertising and PR industry," said Clean Creatives. 

"We want to thank B Lab for making the right call to protect their standards from agencies that want to use the certification as cover for greenwashing. We hope to see similar decisions made for other B Corp agencies that continue to work with fossil fuel polluters," it added. 

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According to Clean Creatives, B Lab thanked the complainants in this case for their role in the investigation and encouraged individuals with concerns about certified B Corps to continue using B Lab's public complaint process. 

When MARKETING-INTERACTIVE reached out, Havas said in a statement that it has "cooperated in good faith throughout B Lab’s investigation, while simultaneously preserving the integrity of confidential client information. Whilst the investigation recognises that our certified agencies (Havas London, New York, Lemz and Immerse) do not have a relationship with Shell, we accept the ruling and they will cease to be B Corp certified."

That said, Havas will be continuing its commitment towards sustainability.

"Our level of commitment towards sustainability remains unchanged, as evidenced by Havas’ receipt of the gold medal by EcoVadis - the world's most trusted provider of business sustainability ratings – earlier this month, the validation of our decarbonisation trajectory by the science-based targets initiative in March 2023, and the deployment of the Havas Carbon Impact Calculator across all our agencies to promote eco-designed solutions," said Havas in a statement.

"We are proud to support our clients in their transformation for the future and remain focused on progressing towards the highest levels of social and environmental performance, with more to come in the coming months and years," it added. 

Earlier in January, an investigation by B Lab into Havas was launched. 

In a LinkedIn post, Clean Creatives revealed that it requested a review of the advertising and public relations company's B Corp status three months prior when it signed new contracts with Shell. The request was supported by 26 other communications and advertising agencies. 

The main allegations and concerns that were investigated, according to an email seen by Clean Creatives, are whether the addition of new clients in controversial industries impacts Havas' compliance with limits on such clients and whether there are indications of possible inaccuracies or misrepresentations in the statements made by the company during the certification process.

Clean Creatives said that Havas' decision to make its B Corps a part of Shell's misleading marketing is a threat to the integrity and brand of the B Corp movement. 

"Havas' decision to make its B Corps a part of Shell's misleading marketing is a clear threat to the integrity and brand of the B Corp movement. B Corps should not be producing marketing and PR for the world's biggest polluters, and we are grateful to B Lab for continuing this investigation so that their many members who support serious climate action can be heard," said Clean Creatives executive director Duncan Meisel when MARKETING-INTERACTIVE reached out at the time. 

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