EcoVadis Reporting Standards: What Your Business Needs to Know in 2025

1. Introduction

As environmental sustainability becomes a growing priority for businesses around the world, tools that help organizations track and communicate their progress are more important than ever. One of the most widely recognized platforms in this space is EcoVadis, a global leader in sustainability ratings. EcoVadis helps companies measure and improve their performance on key Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) criteria, making it easier to share their efforts in a clear and credible way with customers, investors, and other stakeholders.

This blog post is the second in our series on essential sustainability frameworks. In it, we explain what EcoVadis is, who it applies to, and how your business can prepare for the assessment process.

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2. What is EcoVadis?

Founded in 2007, EcoVadis is a mission-driven company based in France that provides ESG risk and compliance insights through globally recognized sustainability ratings. EcoVadis has screened 2.95 million companies, delivering independent and transparent ESG assessments. Built on international sustainability principles, EcoVadis covers more than 250 industry categories and operates across more than 185 countries worldwide.

The EcoVadis Sustainability Scorecard measures a company’s performance across 21 indicators, organized into four key themes:

• Environmental impact
• Labor and human rights
• Ethics
• Sustainable procurement practices

These indicators offer a clear roadmap for companies to improve their sustainability practices, while also serving as a benchmark for accountability and transparency. Regulators, investors, and other stakeholders use these ratings to evaluate how seriously a business commits to responsible and sustainable operations.

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3. Who Needs to Report?

While EcoVadis assessments are typically voluntary, they are increasingly expected, especially by large buyers focused on environmental responsibility. Even when not required, many small and midsize companies must complete them to maintain business-to-business relationships.

To support environmental claims, companies are also expected to provide verifiable documentation. EcoVadis offers a trusted benchmark for sustainability across industries such as chemicals, healthcare, consumer goods, and transportation. In sectors like manufacturing, retail, and logistics, where supply chain scrutiny is high, an EcoVadis score is a valuable asset for demonstrating a company’s commitment to sustainability.

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4. What Does EcoVadis Reporting Involve?

EcoVadis reporting follows four transparent stages:

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1. Register: The first step is to register by providing your company name and contact information. Once registered, you will be asked questions to help customize the questionnaire. These questions include:

• Legal entity name of the company or site being assessed
• Scope of the assessment to determine which areas apply to your business
• Country where the company headquarters or site is located
• Company size
• Industry in which your company operates

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2. Report: After registration is processed and received by EcoVadis, you will receive a link to choose a subscription plan and begin the sustainability questionnaire. Pricing varies based on business size and plan benefits. For example, medium-sized businesses can expect prices starting at 1109 Euros per year for the basic plan, up to 6579 Euros for the highest Corporate tier.

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During the questionnaire, EcoVadis will request key supporting documentation that is essential for validating your company’s sustainability management.

For first-time users, the EcoVadis process can feel complex. However, services like Aclymate can simplify this by providing software that delivers accurate, audit-ready carbon reporting aligned with EcoVadis’s documentation requirements.

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3. Expert Analysis: After submitting the questionnaire, EcoVadis sustainability analysts review your responses along with publicly available information. The assessment is based on international standards, including:

• Global Reporting Initiative (GRI)
• ISO 26000
• UN Global Compact (UNGC)

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4. Results: When the evaluation is complete, your company’s Scorecard report will be available on the EcoVadis platform. Scorecards are valid for twelve months from the publication date and may be shared externally with a Premium or Corporate subscription.

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5. What’s new in 2025?

Key EcoVadis Updates for 2025:

• Detailed Scoring: Theme scores are now displayed as exact values (e.g., 68.3/100), rather than rounded to the nearest 10.
• Industry-Specific Weighting: Assessment themes are weighted differently based on a company’s industry and risk profile.
• Carbon Scorecard: A dedicated section now evaluates climate strategy, including Scope 1, 2, and 3 emissions reporting, targets, and actions.
• Expanded Social Criteria: Increased emphasis on human rights, labor conditions, and diversity—both within companies and across supply chains.
• Recognition Tiers: Medals are awarded to the top 35%, 15%, 5%, and 1% of companies, encouraging ongoing performance improvements.
• Stricter Documentation Requirements: Comprehensive, up-to-date documentation is essential. Public disclosure of KPIs is required for top scores. Support from partners like Aclymate can streamline this process.

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6. Why It Matters

Stakeholders increasingly demand transparency on environmental issues, especially in supply chains. EcoVadis reporting helps businesses build trust, identify risks, and access procurement opportunities. Skipping it can hurt your reputation and competitiveness.

Participating in sustainability reporting can also reduce business costs. According to EcoVadis, sound sustainability practices can lower the cost of capital by up to 90%. Additionally, engaging in sustainable supply chain practices can reduce supply chain costs by as much as 15%.

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7. CDP vs EcoVadis: Key Similarities vs Differences

Similarities:

• Voluntary but increasingly expected: Both CDP and EcoVadis are technically voluntary frameworks, but many large customers and investors now expect companies to participate, especially within supply chains.
• Stakeholder-focused: Both platforms help businesses communicate their sustainability efforts clearly to regulators, investors, and partners.
• Support documentation required: Both require credible and verifiable data to back up environmental claims.
• Framework alignment: Each draws on major global standards such as the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI), United Nations Global Compact (UNGC), and the Greenhouse Gas (GHG) Protocol.

Differences:

• Focus area: While CDP is focused primarily on climate-related issues, with detailed reporting on emissions (particularly Scope 3), water, and forests. EcoVadis takes a broader ESG approach, covering environment, labor and human rights, ethics, and procurement practices.
• Scoring system: CDP uses letter grades from A to D, while EcoVadis provides numerical scores and awards medal tiers.
• Process and pricing: CDP participation is free, but can be complex and data-intensive. EcoVadis requires a paid subscription and includes expert analyst evaluations.

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7. How to Prepare

Preparing for EcoVadis reporting starts with tracking and gathering the right environmental data for your company.

1. Map internal policies to the EcoVadis framework: Align existing company policies with EcoVadis criteria to ensure all areas are covered.
2. Assign roles for data collection and documentation: Assign team members to gather and submit the required documentation.

As mentioned earlier, Aclymate helps companies align with EcoVadis themes, particularly by providing audit-ready data for tracking environmental performance and emissions.

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8. Wrap-Up

EcoVadis is one of several key sustainability frameworks businesses must navigate in 2025. As ESG pressure grows, it helps companies show transparency and build credibility.

Next up: B Corp, how it differs from EcoVadis, what it measures, and how to boost your score.

Try Aclymate for easy, audit-ready emissions reporting, or try our free emissions calculator to see where you stand.