What is the EcoVadis score?
A rating out of 100
The EcoVadis score is a rating between 0 and 100 that measures a company's level of maturity in Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR). Unlike a certification, it does not assess compliance with a fixed framework, but the quality and robustness of the company's sustainability management system.
What the EcoVadis score measures
The score evaluates your practices across four dimensions:
- Environment: energy management, GHG emissions, water, waste, biodiversity
- Social and human rights: working conditions, health and safety, human rights, diversity
- Ethics: anti-corruption, regulatory compliance, data protection
- Responsible purchasing: integration of CSR criteria in supplier selection and monitoring
Each theme is weighted differently according to your industry, company size and geographic location. EcoVadis activates the sub-themes relevant to your profile, known as sustainability issues. The more central an issue is to your sector, the greater its weight in the score.
EcoVadis score vs. medal: what is the difference?
The score and the medal are linked, but distinct. The score (0-100) measures your absolute performance. The medal (Bronze, Silver, Gold, Platinum) is awarded based on your percentile, meaning your relative position compared to all companies assessed during the same period.
This means that maintaining your score is not enough: every year, the bar rises as more companies are assessed and EcoVadis tightens its methodology. To keep your EcoVadis medal, you need to keep improving.
How is the EcoVadis score calculated?
The EcoVadis score is the result of a multi-criteria analysis conducted by CSR experts. It rests on four complementary pillars.
The CSR questionnaire
Everything starts with an online questionnaire, completed by the company on the EcoVadis platform. It covers all themes and sub-themes applicable to your profile. The questionnaire is structured around three dimensions for each theme:
- Policies: have you formalised your commitments in writing?
- Actions: have you put concrete initiatives in place?
- Results: do you have measurable indicators and data?
Each dimension groups sub-dimensions with precisely defined weights:
The larger your company, the more EcoVadis will expect memberships in recognised standards and external certifications to support your declarations.
Documents and evidence
The questionnaire alone is not enough. EcoVadis requires supporting documents to back up each response: CSR policies, charters, reports, certifications, quantitative data, action plans, etc.
The 360° Watch
In parallel with the questionnaire, EcoVadis conducts media and regulatory monitoring on your company. It analyses publicly available information (environmental incidents, social controversies, legal convictions, sector news) to complement the assessment and detect any inconsistencies with the declared responses.
An incident identified through the 360° Watch can significantly lower the score, regardless of the quality of the questionnaire.
Analysis by EcoVadis experts
All responses and documents are reviewed by CSR analysts trained by EcoVadis. This is not an automated scoring process: it is a human analysis that evaluates the consistency between declarations, evidence and the company's profile, and takes into account the relevance of commitments relative to the sector's actual issues.
The 4 themes of the EcoVadis score
Each theme is broken down into sub-themes, activated or not depending on your profile. EcoVadis covers a total of 21 sustainability sub-themes (Key Sustainability Issues), distributed across the 4 themes. Each theme is assigned a weight (1 to 4) based on the company's activity. Check the platform to see the importance of each theme for your specific profile.
Environment
The environment theme is generally the most heavily weighted, particularly for industrial companies or those with a large carbon footprint.
Energy and greenhouse gas emissions
Energy consumption, energy sources (renewable or otherwise), Scope 1 and 2 emissions, reduction targets, carbon reporting.
Water and resource management
Water consumption, discharge, circular economy, management of raw materials and natural resources.
Biodiversity and land use
Impact of operations on local ecosystems, particularly for companies located near sensitive areas.
Pollution and waste management
Management of hazardous and non-hazardous waste, air, water and soil pollution, flow traceability.
Social and human rights
This theme covers all conditions under which your company employs its staff, as well as respect for fundamental rights.
Health and safety at work
Workplace accidents, occupational diseases, frequency and severity rates, occupational health and safety management systems (ISO 45001, etc.).
Working conditions and social dialogue
Working hours, remuneration, collective agreements, freedom of association, employee representative bodies.
Human rights and child labour
Policies against forced labour and child labour, supply chain due diligence.
Diversity and inclusion
Gender equality, team diversity, non-discrimination, accessibility.
Ethics
Ethics covers the company's governance practices and behaviour towards competitors, regulators and stakeholders.
Anti-corruption and anti-money laundering
Anti-corruption policy, team training, whistleblowing mechanisms, regulatory compliance.
Anti-competitive practices
Compliance with competition law, prevention of cartels, compliance in public procurement.
Data protection and cybersecurity
Personal data protection policies, GDPR compliance, cyber risk management.
Responsible purchasing
This theme assesses the extent to which the company integrates CSR criteria into its supply chain management.
Supplier selection and assessment
CSR criteria in calls for tender, assessment of supplier practices, audits, supplier CSR questionnaires.
Supplier monitoring and development
Improvement plans, support for suppliers on sustainability issues, supply chain traceability.
How to read an EcoVadis scorecard
The EcoVadis scorecard is the summary document issued at the end of the assessment. Here is how to interpret it.
The overall score
The overall score (0-100) is the first piece of information visible. It reflects the company's overall CSR performance. Below 45, no medal is awarded. Above 45, the company enters the medal zone, with the exact threshold depending on the distribution of scores during the assessment period.
Scores by theme
The scorecard breaks down your score across each of the 4 themes. This breakdown is key: it pinpoints exactly which themes are performing well, and which are pulling the score down. A satisfactory overall score can mask a significant weakness on a specific theme, which may be precisely the one your corporate client monitors most closely.
Identified strengths
EcoVadis identifies your strengths in the scorecard report. These are the elements of your CSR system that analysts consider solid: formalised policies, recognised certifications, measurable data, broad coverage of sustainability issues.
Areas for improvement
Areas for improvement indicate what EcoVadis has identified as gaps in your assessment: uncovered issues, missing evidence, insufficient coverage, absent targets. These are the priority levers to activate in order to progress at the next assessment.
What is a good EcoVadis score?
Performance levels
Thresholds vary each year according to the distribution of scores, but here are the general benchmarks:
- < 45/100: no medal awarded
- 45-54/100: Bronze (Top 50%)
- 55-64/100: Silver (Top 25%)
- 65-74/100: Gold (Top 10%)
- ≥ 75/100: Platinum (Top 1%)
Sector comparison
EcoVadis allows you to benchmark against your sector and geographic area. A "good score" is therefore relative: 60/100 may represent above-average performance in some sectors and below-average in others. What matters is your relative positioning and the trajectory of improvement from one assessment to the next.
Score alone is not enough
A good EcoVadis score is a necessary condition, but rarely a sufficient one. Your corporate clients also look at:
- Scores on specific themes (e.g. environment for a buyer with Net Zero targets)
- The trend: score rising or falling from one year to the next
- Consistency between the score and actual practices observed in the field
What factors influence the EcoVadis score?
Four levers have a direct impact on your final rating.
The maturity of your CSR policies
The more formalised, structured and broad-reaching your policies are, the higher your score will be. EcoVadis expects written commitments, signed by management, with clearly defined governance: a CSR manager, steering committee and annual review process.
The quality and relevance of evidence
Documents provided must be consistent with declarations, up to date and representative of actual practices. A generic CSR policy with no indicators or concrete action plan will be undervalued. The larger your company, the more EcoVadis will expect recognised certifications (ISO 14001, ISO 45001, SA8000, etc.).
Coverage of your sustainability issues
EcoVadis assesses the scope of your actions: if your initiatives only concern one site or a marginal part of the business, they will have little impact on the score. To carry weight, your policies and actions must cover all or the majority of your organisation.
Incidents detected by the 360° Watch
A media incident (pollution, serious accident, legal conviction, social controversy) can significantly lower the score, even if the questionnaire is well completed. The 360° Watch is ongoing and can affect the score at any point in the assessment cycle.
How to improve your EcoVadis score
Improving your EcoVadis score does not happen by chance. Here are the five levers to activate, in order.
Structure your CSR policies
Formalise written policies for each of your activated sustainability issues. An effective policy for EcoVadis includes: a management-level commitment, a clear scope of application, SMART objectives (specific, measurable, achievable, realistic, time-bound) and identified governance.
If your company generates carbon emissions, it cannot avoid addressing this topic. The same applies to all sub-themes your profile is exposed to.
Formalise your procedures and actions
Policies alone are not enough. EcoVadis also assesses concrete actions in place: training plans, operational procedures, monitoring systems, internal audits, certifications. Each action must be documented and traceable.
Set up performance monitoring
Measurable indicators are a strong differentiating factor. Accident frequency rates, CO2 emissions, water consumption, training rates, proportion of suppliers assessed on CSR criteria: quantitative data, tracked over time, prove that your approach is managed, not just declared.
Integrate CSR criteria into supplier management
The "Responsible purchasing" theme is often underutilised. To progress: integrate CSR clauses into your supplier contracts, set up an assessment process for key suppliers, and document your responsible purchasing practices.
Prepare the assessment methodically
Plan your assessment at least 3 to 6 months in advance. Review your previous scorecard, identify the improvement areas flagged by EcoVadis, update your documents, and ensure all evidence is current, consistent and accessible.
Why the EcoVadis score is strategic
A key criterion for corporate clients
Large companies subject to the CSRD are required to demonstrate their CSR commitment, including throughout their supply chain. As a result, they are increasingly assessing their suppliers via EcoVadis and setting minimum score thresholds to maintain commercial relationships.
A good EcoVadis score is no longer a "nice to have": in many sectors, it is a condition of market access.
A differentiating factor in tenders
In calls for tender, the EcoVadis score is increasingly used as a selection criterion, sometimes explicitly (minimum score required) or implicitly (weighting in the offer scoring). Having a high score and a recognised medal is a direct competitive advantage.
DPD France demonstrated this by moving from 62 to 75/100 (Gold medal) through targeted actions: reducing carbon emissions, strengthening social policies and integrating ethical criteria into supplier relationships.
GA Smart Building achieved Platinum by moving from 70 to 85/100, by structuring and formalising all existing practices already in place within the company, with the support of Ditto.
Structuring your CSR approach in depth
Beyond the rating itself, the EcoVadis assessment is a CSR structuring tool. It compels the company to formalise its commitments, measure its performance and identify its gaps. It also helps identify weaknesses and improvement opportunities, leading to concrete actions that are beneficial in the long term.
Embedding a culture of continuous improvement
EcoVadis reassesses companies every 1 to 3 years. This regularity drives a logic of continuous improvement: set objectives, measure progress, adjust actions. The score becomes a CSR barometer, an internal management tool as much as an external signal sent to your partners and clients.
EcoVadis score: key takeaways
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