Sustainability at a company is often enmeshed with the sustainability practices of its suppliers. To get a complete picture of its carbon footprint, the company must capture Scope 3 emissions from its supply chain partners. Both CDP and EcoVadis are sustainability assessment platforms that allow corporations to collect information from their suppliers in a standardized manner. If you are a supplier on the receiving end of the questionnaire, it is also better to be able to disclose in a standard platform like CDP or EcoVadis than respond to many custom questionnaires.
In this article, we take a deep dive into sustainability assessments from both platforms: CDP and EcoVadis.
CDP
CDP – previously known as the Carbon Disclosure Project, runs the global environmental disclosure system. In 2022, nearly 20,000 organizations disclosed through CDP, including 18,700+ companies. The questionnaire that provides guidance for disclosures can be accessed on the CDP website in January, the Online Reporting System (ORS) opens in April and companies must finish disclosing by August. CDP publishes the ratings in October. Fees for reporting can be found on the CDP website, as an example – the fee for companies in North America run from approximately $3000 for the foundational level and $7000 for an enhanced level disclosure.
CDP Assessment Questionnaire
CDP’s assessment is closely aligned with the TCFD framework. CDP’s Climate Change general questionnaire contains modules that cover the topics below:
- Governance: Company’s board and management responsibilities and oversight of sustainability and employee incentives to achieve the targets and goals of the sustainability program are addressed in the governance module.
- Business Strategy Modules: These modules cover risks and opportunities for the company, transition plans for the 1.5C goal, and scenario analysis. They also cover targets for emissions, energy and other initiatives like net-zero.
- Emissions and Metrics modules: These cover the methodology used to compute emissions and emission intensity, emission data for the company’s Scope 1, 2, and 3 categories, energy use, and data related to waste, land use, and other categories.
- Verification: Third-party verification and assurance status of the data disclosed are covered in the verification module.
- Additional Modules: These modules include carbon pricing regulations, any internal carbon pricing used in projects, participation in carbon emission trading systems, and the purchase of carbon credits or offsets. The engagement module capture collaboration with the value chain on climate-related issues. The biodiversity module captures any initiatives or commitments to biodiversity and board oversight of these goals and impacts of operations on biodiversity.
Additional questions are included for high-impact sectors like agriculture, energy, financial services, materials, and transportation.
CDP Score Levels
CDP scores traverse four levels, improving as the company moves from disclosing data to a leader in environmental stewardship.
Disclosure Level – Grade D/D-: This is at an early stage in a company’s disclosure process when the company is disclosing Scope 1 and Scope 2 data and has begun the task of identifying climate-related risks. The disclosure data at this stage tends to be incomplete and unverified.
Awareness Level – Grade C/C-: At the awareness level, a company is aware of how environmental issues intersect with business issues. Scope 1 and Scope 2 disclosures are complete, and emission targets are set with some progress toward the targets. Short-term risks and opportunities are identified, a management structure is in place and some engagement with the value chain is initiated.
Management Level – Grade B/B-: As a mature discloser, Scope 1 and Scope 2 are disclosed and verified. All 15 categories of Scope 3 have been evaluated and relevant categories are disclosed. The company has integrated sustainability into its business strategy, documented processes to identify climate risks and opportunities, and demonstrated emission reductions.
Leadership Level – Grade A/A-: As a leader in sustainability, a company has adopted environmental best practices. It has board-level oversight of climate-related issues and a strong business case. The company has set a Science Based Target, consumes more than 75% of its electricity from renewables, and works collaboratively with customers, suppliers, and other stakeholders on climate-related issues.
EcoVadis
EcoVadis is a leading provider of business sustainability ratings with over 75,000 companies reporting on the platform. EcoVadis assessment is aligned with the GRI standards and the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights. The pricing plans can be found on their website, for example, a medium-sized company in the US is around $1900 per year for a premium subscription, increasing to around $6000 for a select subscription.
EcoVadis Assessment Questionnaire
The questionnaire is generated based on a company’s size, location, and industry. EcoVadis assessments address social and governance issues in addition to environmental issues. The assessment reviews a company’s sustainability management system and requires documented support for all the answers. EcoVadis analysts review actions, policies, and results pertaining to environmental, social, and ethical issues. EcoVadis may use an independent auditor to conduct a site verification and for internal quality assurance to supplement the documents provided by the company.
Assessments are based on 21 sustainability criteria divided into four themes:
Environment (9 Criteria): The Environment category evaluates sustainability against a company’s operations and products.
- Operations: Energy Consumption & GHG, Water, Biodiversity, Pollution and Waste.
- Products: Use, End-of-Life, Customer health and safety and Environmental services and advocacy.
Labor and Human Rights (7 Criteria): This category evaluates company performance on human rights and human resources.
- Human Resources: Employee health and safety, Working conditions, Social Dialogue, Career Management and Training.
- Human Rights: Child and Forced labor and Human trafficking, and external stakeholder human rights.
Ethics (3 Criteria): This category evaluates business practices.
- Corruption, Anticompetitive practices, and Responsible information management.
Sustainable Procurement (2 Criteria): This category evaluates procurement functions.
- Supplier environmental policies and Supplier social policies.
EcoVadis criteria are customized based on your industry, size, and location
EcoVadis Score Levels
EcoVadis scores on a scale from 0 to 100 and issues a scorecard. The scorecard shows the sustainability baseline for a company and compares it to the industry’s performance. The scorecard is easy to follow, highlighting key strengths and improvement areas. It also provides actionable insights into improvements in sustainability.
Scoring is done using 7 different factors: Policies, Sustainability Initiatives, Measures/Actions, Certifications/Labels/Audits, Implementation Coverage, Reporting/KPIs and 360o Controversies/Awards. The score allows a company to see its place in the development of its sustainability program.
Insufficient – Score 0-24: No policies or tangible actions.
Partial – Score 25-44: Company has a few tangible policies and actions and has just started its sustainability program.
Good – Score 45-64: This score indicates a company that is more structured and proactive in sustainability with policies and tangible actions and reporting on actions and performance.
Advanced – Score 65-84: An advanced score shows significant performance for detailed implementation of the policies and actions.
Outstanding – Score 85-100: An outstanding company with a score higher than 85, has established innovative practices and earned external recognition for its comprehensive reporting on actions and performance.
EcoVadis provides medals based on the percentile rank of the company’s score. The medals can be used to display a company’s performance. To get a good score, it is essential to be: Authentic, Engage your team, and structure your approach with policies, procedures, documents and data that cab be used to report and improve over time.
The criteria for scorecards published from 1 January 2025 are as follows:
- Platinum – top 1%
- Gold – top 5%
- Silver – top 15%
- Bronze – top 35%
Foundations of the EcoVadis Scoring Methodology
Policy-based questions account for 25% of the score, Actions account for 40% and Results are the remaining 35%.
Tips for Policy documents
EcoVadis policy documents need to be relevant, complete, credible and include the following:
- Document needs to be official looking including company logo, signature, date.
- Qualitative objectives – relevant to each of the criterion.
- Quantitative targets for each criterion.
- Governance section – who is responsible for the policy.
- Scope – To whom is the policy applicable.
- Revision process – how and when is the policy reviewed and updated.
- Policies need to be in place at least 2 months prior to an EcoVadis submissions; EcoVadis will not accept policies created specifically for EcoVadis submissions. You can revise your policies to meet EcoVadis requirements.
Common policy documents are: Environmental Policy, Human Rights or Labor Policy, Code of Ethics Policy, and Sustainable Procurement Policy. Documents can be combined into one comprehensive sustainability policy document. Focus on the high-impact topics relevant to your industry to maximize your score.
EcoVadis Assessments Process:
There are four steps to the EcoVadis assessment process:
- Register Online: Create a company profile that specifies your industry, location, and size. This is used to optimize a questionnaire for your size, industry, and location.
- Answer Questionnaire: A secure, confidential questionnaire with a support team ready to help. Upload documents that support your answers and provide your policies and procedures.
- Expert Analysis: An independent document audit, assessment, and analysis from EcoVadis experts.
- Your Rating: Clear and actionable scorecards. Collaborate directly online with trading partners to improve performance.
EcoVadis analysts look for the following while reviewing your submission:
- Completeness – are all documents submitted and relevant, up-to-date, credible, and complete.
- Evidence of policies and actions – review of certifications, policy documents, and internal process documents.
- Results and KPIs – use the exact terminology as required by EcoVadis in your documents. To get the full score, you need to have 3 years of data for all your criteria. EcoVadis also reviews to see if results are only internal or also published externally.
- Consistency and alignment – consistency in your documentation and internal, external targets and results.
Analysts now use an AI tool in the first round, followed by a manual review. You can appeal your score if you disagree with the score.
Benefits of Sustainability Assessments
Responding to either questionnaire requires collecting data, setting targets, establishing processes and documentation, implementing actions, and reporting on the progress toward goals. At a leadership level on both platforms, a corporation has adopted best practices, incorporated sustainability throughout its business operations, and earned external recognition for its actions and performance.
Responding to sustainability assessments from CDP and EcoVadis offer several benefits:
- Allow corporations to build a deeper understanding of their sustainability program, identify gaps and provide actionable insights into improvements.
- Establish transparency and accountability of your sustainability program through third-party validation
- Emphasize collaboration with customers and suppliers
- Both platforms allow the ability to benchmark against your peers
- Both ratings are well recognized and allow external communications of your score with customers, investors, and other stakeholders
CDP focuses on environmental disclosures while EcoVadis also includes disclosures on Labor & Human Rights and Ethics. Whether you respond to a sustainability assessment from CDP or EcoVadis both platforms provide strong support for your sustainability journey and allow you to amplify your contributions by including your supply chain.
Responding to CDP or EcoVadis can be overwhelming and time-consuming. If you need help , Contact Us for a free guide and check out additional Sustainability Framework resources.
Checkout are resources on GHG emissions accounting
- GHG Emissions Accounting: Creating a GHG Inventory List
- GHG Emissions Accounting: Activity Data and Emission Factors
- Carbon Footprint 101: Answers to all your Scope 1 Questions
- Carbon Footprint 101: Scope 2 Emissions
- Scope 3 Emissions
- How to Set a Science-Based Target
Your Carbon Steps: Practical Paths to a Sustainable Future
