EcoVadis is the world’s largest sustainability ratings platform, scoring companies across the world based on their sustainability performance. Assessing across four pillars – Environment, Ethics, Labour & Human Rights, and Sustainable Procurement – EcoVadis enables companies to share these scores with existing and prospective clients, boosting transparency and reputation in an increasingly sustainability-conscious business environment.

EcoVadis is focused on understanding how well a company has integrated sustainability into its business and systems. From financial institutions to public service providers, across 175 countries, 100,000 companies have been rated by EcoVadis. As the only rating company that assesses across all three ESG areas, EcoVadis is considered the industry leader in this area.

EcoVadis claims that 91% of companies are taking sustainability criteria into account when making purchasing decisions. Are you one of the many companies already being asked by your customers to share your sustainability plans or data?

As sustainability becomes an increasingly important decision-making factor, understanding and improving the sustainability of your supply chain is vital. Being able to share a good EcoVadis score can distinguish you from others in the industry, improving your reputation and making yourself a more attractive option for securing investments, gaining customers, and hiring talent.

Companies can register with EcoVadis directly to complete an assessment, or can be invited by a trading partner. There is an annual subscription cost, which varies depending on the size of the business.

EcoVadis scorecards are valid for 12 months. After this period, companies can access their scorecards and scorecards of their suppliers, but results can no longer be shared via the EcoVadis platform. The EcoVadis subscription includes one annual reassessment. Companies can also apply for a re-evaluation within the year for an additional cost.

Three management pillars underpin EcoVadis’ rating methodology: Policies, Actions and Results. In turn, these are separated into seven indicators: Policies, Endorsements, Measures, Certifications, Coverage (deployment of actions), Reporting and 360° Watch Findings. Each of these elements carries a particular weight when evaluating a company’s performance on a given assessment theme; this is a brief insight into EcoVadis’ methodology.

Results across the pillars are merged into an overall score on a 1-100 scale; this forms the basis for EcoVadis’ medal categories. Companies are eligible for bronze, silver, gold or platinum medals depending on their score. The medals are an acknowledgement of achievement relative to other companies reporting to EcoVadis, meaning the scores required to gain each award can vary. It can be challenging to estimate your score ahead of the assessment and we have previously helped guide clients through the process of improving their score.

Check out the EcoVadis help centre for a full breakdown, but to summarise:

A standard campaign takes approximately 12–16 weeks to complete. The phases of a campaign are:

• Inviting your trading partners via the directory or self-registration landing page

• Registration of your trading partners on the platform

• Completion and submission of the questionnaire by your trading partners (Data Collection)

• Expert analysis of the questionnaire by our Analysts

• Publication of the scorecard (Results)