A customer asked for EcoVadis.
Here is what it looks at.
EcoVadis is a rating platform, not a law. It reaches suppliers when a customer asks. The assessment covers four themes and the documents you can show for each.
Team service. EcoVadis preparation is a service from our team. ESGen is not part of EcoVadis and does not score anyone.
EcoVadis at a glance
Team service- What it is
- A sustainability rating run by EcoVadis and used by buyers in procurement
- Themes
- Environment, labour and human rights, ethics, sustainable procurement
- How it reaches you
- A customer sends you a request
- Weighting
- Depends on your sector, size and country
- Size
- EcoVadis says more than 150,000 companies are on its platform
Source: EcoVadis, suppliers page (ecovadis.com/suppliers).
Who gets asked, and what they are asked for
Ratings arrive through the supply chain, most often from customers in automotive, aerospace and rail.
Who gets asked
- Suppliers to large buyers that use EcoVadis to check their supply chain.
- Alstom works with EcoVadis: 97% of its supplier sites were covered by a CSR assessment in 2025/26, through screening, an EcoVadis rating or an onsite audit.
- Any size of company can be asked, including firms with 10 to 249 staff.
Source: Alstom, sustainable procurement page (31 March 2026).
What it asks for
- An online questionnaire, with documents to back up each answer.
- Evidence across four themes: environment, labour and human rights, ethics, sustainable procurement.
- For each theme: your policies, the actions you took, and results in figures.
Source: EcoVadis.
The numbers behind the requests
Companies on EcoVadis
Published
EcoVadis's own count of companies on its platform.
Source: EcoVadis, suppliers page
Of Alstom's supplier sites
Published
Covered by a CSR assessment in 2025/26, such as screening, an EcoVadis rating or an onsite audit.
Source: Alstom, sustainable procurement, 31 Mar 2026
Birmingham manufacturers with a rating
ESGen research
None of the 50 Birmingham manufacturers with 10 to 249 staff that ESGen studied publishes an EcoVadis rating.
Source: ESGen research, 27 Sep 2026
What evidence looks like, theme by theme
Typical documents for each theme, and who prepares them. These are examples, not EcoVadis rules.
Policy
What you commit to
Environmental policy signed by a director
Our team
Action
What you did about it
Energy saving work, such as lighting or compressed-air leak repairs
YouA Carbon Reduction Plan with a net zero date
Our team
Result
What changed, in figures
Scope 1 and 2 footprint with the bill behind every figure
PlatformEnergy use year on year, by site
Platform
ESGen is not affiliated with EcoVadis. EcoVadis carries out the assessment and issues the scorecard.
Buyers use ratings and questionnaires to choose suppliers
A rating or questionnaire score can decide whether you stay on a supplier list.
Rail
Alstom covers almost all supplier sites
97% of Alstom's supplier sites were covered by a CSR assessment in 2025/26, and 99% of its spend by its signed Ethics and Sustainable Development Charter.
Source: Alstom, sustainable procurement, 31 Mar 2026
Automotive
Questionnaires work the same way
JLR requires every direct supplier to hold a Sustainability Assessment Questionnaire score before a sourcing nomination.
Source: JLR Slavery and Human Trafficking Statement, May 2026
Research
Local firms have not started
None of the 50 Birmingham manufacturers ESGen studied publishes an EcoVadis rating.
Source: ESGen research, 27 Sep 2026
How our team helps you prepare
Read the request
We check which customer asked, by when, and what they need to see.
Gather what you have
We list the policies, records and figures you already hold, theme by theme.
Fill the gaps
We draft missing policy documents and build your carbon figures in the platform.
Answer the questionnaire
We help you answer each question with the right document attached. You submit it.
Reuse the evidence
The same policies and figures answer other customer questionnaires.
What ESGen does for EcoVadis
EcoVadis preparation is a team service. The platform supplies your carbon figures.
In the platform
Your carbon figures
Live in the platform, for the environment theme.
- Scope 1 and 2 from UK electricity, gas, diesel, petrol and staff-car miles
- The upstream energy share of Scope 3, added automatically
- Evidence library, so each figure keeps its bill
- Readiness and evidence-coverage scores
Readiness
Reporting period 2025/26
- Data readiness88%
- Evidence coverage96%
- Plant B gas, JuneNo reading enteredCheck
With our team
EcoVadis preparation
Scoped with you as a service.
- Questionnaire answers, each with its document
- Policy documents for each theme
- Checks of the wording of any claims you make
- A Carbon Reduction Plan from your figures
Outside what we do
What we do not do
EcoVadis runs the assessment.
- Score or rate your company
- Act for or on behalf of EcoVadis
- Guarantee a score or a medal
- Collect data from your suppliers through the platform
Learn more about supplier ratings
EcoVadis questions, answered
Could not find your answer? Talk to our team or email contactus@esgen.co.uk.
Sources
Rules change. We checked these sources in September 2026. Confirm your own position with your advisers before you rely on them.
- 1.EcoVadis, suppliers page
- 2.Alstom, sustainable procurement (31 Mar 2026)
- 3.JLR, Slavery and Human Trafficking Statement 2026
- 4.ESGen research, Birmingham manufacturing market analysis (27 Sep 2026)
Answer your customer's EcoVadis request with evidence
Send us the request and we will show you what you already have, and what is missing.