In Costa Rica, companies make social and environmental commitments

An international business organization met Friday with its colleagues in Costa Rica in search of allies willing to adhere to the commitment to seek a social and environmental impact with their company.

The international organization “Sistema B” offers certifications to companies that want to adopt a business model that goes beyond financial success.

“It is a movement that measures the success of a company considering not only its financial success, but also the well-being of society, nature and people,” Brazilian Marcel Fukuyama, leader of Sistema B, told AFP.

The businessman met Friday in Costa Rica with investors and entrepreneurs to publicize the benefits of becoming “company B.”

He explained that these companies have the advantage of capturing the interest of investors who want to place their capital in initiatives with social and environmental commitment, and attract young professionals interested in that type of commitment.

Fukuyama added that in “markets with more maturity,” as in the United States and Brazil, there are more and more consumers looking for products from companies certified for their commitment to an inclusive and environmental agenda.

Fukuyama, a technology education entrepreneur in São Paulo, said that there are 3,000 companies certified as “B companies” worldwide — 600 of them in Latin America and eight in Costa Rica.

Before visiting San José, Fukuyama was in Guatemala, where the commercial company of household products Cemaco, one of the largest in Central America, is in the process of obtaining its certification of “company B.”