EcoVadis
Find out more about the EcoVadis Sustainability Assessment and how Anthesis can support you.
Table of contents
- What is EcoVadis?
- How to Respond to EcoVadis
- First-Time Responders
- Reassessment Requests
- How Anthesis Can Help
- Contact us
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What is EcoVadis?
EcoVadis is an online questionnaire tool that corporations use to assess their supply chain partners. Typically, a corporation will request that a subset of its suppliers respond to the EcoVadis questionnaire within a specific timeframe.
The questionnaire, which covers themes including Environment, Labor & Human Rights, Ethics, Sustainable Procurement, and Carbon, contains 20-50 questions which require company-specific documents to be submitted as evidence. You may be expected to meet a specific scoring threshold to maintain a preferred vendor status, or else you may be expected to remediate a poor score or a specific gap in performance.
What to do if you have been asked to respond to EcoVadis
If a customer or other trading partner has requested that you respond to EcoVadis, consider the details of the request:
- Is there a specific timeframe by which you need to submit the questionnaire?
- Are you expected to achieve a certain score, and by when?
- What are the repercussions for not submitting (if any)?
Putting together an EcoVadis submission can be a significant undertaking, especially for first-time respondents. Budget 6-10 weeks for your response, which will include submitting company details to EcoVadis, receiving and reviewing the questionnaire, collecting documentation and other information from your organisation, and submitting the questionnaire.
How to respond to EcoVadis for the first time
First-time responders should consider both the timing and documentation required to submit an EcoVadis response.
Timing
You may have been assigned a deadline by a key trading partner, so it is important to ensure you have enough time prior to that deadline to collect and submit documentation. We recommend 6 weeks for first-time respondents, at a minimum. Unless you have a strict deadline from a trading partner, you should be able to easily request an extension through the EcoVadis website.
If you have a target score you must achieve, remain in dialogue with your trading partner. Assure them that you are working on your response and attempting to get the best score possible. If applicable, share with them that you are working with an external consultant with expertise in EcoVadis.
Documentation
Ensure your documents meet EcoVadis’ document requirements. This can be one of the most challenging elements of undergoing the assessment, as EcoVadis frequently rejects documentation for not meeting stringent requirements. Anthesis can help you review your documentation to ensure that it meets requirements and addresses the question criteria.
Identify documents that address multiple questions, but do not combine documents to do so. EcoVadis limits companies to 55 supporting documents per year, and this limit will be the most restrictive if it is your first time responding. Try to utilise documents that address multiple questions, such as an ESG Report, CDP Response, Employee Handbook, or Code of Conduct.
How to refresh and improve your response to a reassessment request
It’s important to leverage lessons learned from your previous response to streamline the reassessment process and to improve your overall evaluation.
Review your scorecard and score details
Review the Score Details available in the EcoVadis platform to understand which questions were not awarded points and where your largest gaps lie. This is not a very intuitive platform, however, and it can be confusing and challenging to identify next steps.
Identify documentation needs
Review the list of documentation submitted for your previous response. If any documents were rejected, they should be replaced with other documents that meet the criteria. If any documents are outdated, replace them with newer documents. Be especially careful with reporting outdated KPIs, as they expire within 2 years.
As a general rule, anything that is updated on an annual basis (ESG Reports, CDP Responses, KPIs, certifications) should be updated for the EcoVadis reassessment.
How Anthesis can help
If you plan to respond to the EcoVadis assessment, or if you have received a reassessment request, Anthesis can help you collect and review documentation, evaluate its applicability to each question, and upload and submit the questionnaire on your behalf. Once you receive your scorecard, Anthesis can then help you identify key gaps and areas for improvement and can support you with implementation.
Our EcoVadis services
We offer customised training and consulting for companies that want to gain in-depth knowledge of the EcoVadis methodology, prepare for a first assessment, or improve their results for a future reassessment.
The training combines theoretical and practical content to ensure a clear understanding of the evaluation criteria and effective preparation of the required documentation.
Recommended for companies with a low or medium level of sustainability maturity.
Our service includes:
- Access to an introductory e-learning module, allowing autonomous acquisition of the basics of the EcoVadis methodology.
- Online explanatory session on the EcoVadis methodology and requirements.
- Live, practical, and adaptable online sessions focused on resolvingconcrerns and personalised review by evaluated areas (environment, labor and human rights, ethics, and sustainable procurement).
Designed to identify the company’s level of alignment with EcoVadis criteria. Through a detailed review of policies, procedures, and available evidence, we detect gaps against sustainability standards.
This analysis allows for the definition of a clear and personalised action plan to improve the score on the platform and strengthen ESG management.
Recommended for companies with a low level of sustainability maturity.
Our service includes:
- Training session on the EcoVadis methodology and requirements.
- Analysis of the current sustainability management system in relation to EcoVadis criteria.
- Development of a tailored action plan.
We provide personalised consulting to organisations throughout the entire EcoVadis assessment process, with the goal of completing the questionnaire in accordance with its methodological principles and improving sustainability performance, ensuring a solid and coherent presentation of evidence, and facilitating continuous improvement of sustainability performance.
Recommended for companies with a medium or high level of sustainability maturity.
Our service includes:
- Training session on the EcoVadis methodology and requirements.
- Document analysis and GAP analysis against EcoVadis criteria.
- Identification and support in gathering evidence for the assessment.
- Review of the received scorecard to improve understanding of EcoVadis comments (optional service).
- Design of a personalised action plan based on the results obtained (optional service).
We offer personalised assistance for suppliers who wish to review and optimise their responses before submitting them to EcoVadis. The service complements the resources available on the platform, offering a detailed and tailored analysis for each case to ensure coherence, quality, and adequacy of the submitted documentation, aiming to maximise improvement opportunities in the assessment and avoid errors that could negatively affect the final score.
Service recommended for companies with the EcoVadis Select plan.
Our service includes:
- Training session on the EcoVadis methodology and requirements.
- Review of the pre-filled questionnaire by EcoVadis. We review the content automatically completed by EcoVadis based on public information or previous cycles, and help complete sections that have not been filled in, ensuring that the submitted information and documentation are coherent, relevant, and up to date.
- Identification and support in gathering new evidence required for the assessment.
- Review of the received scorecard to improve understanding of EcoVadis comments (optional service).
- Design of a personalised action plan based on the results obtained (optional service).
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