ALIGNING SUSTAINABILITY GOALS

Sustainability has become increasingly critical for organisations to remain relevant and competitive in today’s world. Much like digital transformation, driving sustainability requires organisations to transform every division of their business. Today, sustainability should be an integral part of developing a corporate strategy. More and more companies are under immense pressure to improve their transparency and sustainability practices, and this includes the sustainability of their trading partners.

• 91% of companies take sustainability criteria into account in purchasing decisions (source: HEC Sustainable Procurement Benchmark).

• 85% of consumers are more likely to buy from a company with a reputation for sustainability than from a neutral company (source: Sustainable Brands).

• 10/10 – proportion of last decade wherein a major new supply chain sustainability regulation was introduced (source: World Economic Forum: ‘Beyond Supply Chains’).

Like any successful business relationship, wholesalers will want to work with those suppliers whose sustainability credentials are aligned with their own. The ability of organisations to demonstrate their sustainability activities and achievements will play a factor in determining which businesses they partner up with. Utilising a credible provider of business sustainability ratings will ensure companies are best able to achieve their goals.

EcoVadis is the world’s most trusted provider of business sustainability ratings, intelligence, and collaborative performance improvement tools for global supply chains. Backed by a powerful technology platform and a global team of domain experts, EcoVadis’ easy-to-use and actionable sustainability scorecards provide detailed insight into environmental, social and ethical risks across 190 purchasing categories and 150 countries. EcoVadis awards medals to the companies participating in its programme worldwide from bronze to platinum, based on achievements.

More than 90,000 companies have undergone EcoVadis’ assessment, and they will have been scored across four key appraisal areas – Environment, Labour and Human Rights, Ethics, and Sustainable Procurement. The EcoVadis overall score (0-100) reflects the quality of the individual company’s sustainability management system at the time of the assessment. The EcoVadis sustainability recognition levels are based on the percentile rank of a company’s

EcoVadis score and a minimum theme score. The medals’ criteria are reviewed periodically and are currently based on the following:

• Platinum – top 1% (overall score between 78 and 100)

• Gold – top 5% (overall score between 70 and 77)

• Silver – top 25% (overall score between 59 and 69)

• Bronze – top 50% (overall score between 50 and 58)

The objective of the EcoVadis Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) rating methodology is to measure the quality of a company’s CSR management system through its policies, actions and results. The EcoVadis CSR rating methodology is based on seven founding principles:

• Evidence Based – the burden of the proof is on the company assessed. CSR management systems leave traces (e.g. policies, certificates, reporting). Supporting documents are a must. Company declarations are credited only if evidence is provided.

• Industry, Location and Size Matter

– the CSR management system is assessed taking into account material industry issues, presence in risk countries, and the size and geographical span of the company.

• Diversification of Sources – the rating is based not only on supporting documents provided by the company but also on standpoints published by NGOs, trade unions, international organisations, local authorities, or other third party organisations (e.g. auditors, CDP, Dow Jones Risk Compliance Database).

Wholesalers will want to work with those suppliers whose sustainability credentials are aligned with their own

• Technology is a Must – a rating system can only become reliable and robust if it is supported by technology. Technology facilitates industrialisation, which enables fast learning, growth and scalability.

• Assessment by International CSR Experts – the supporting documents are analysed by a team of CSR experts from around the globe who keep track of the latest best practices in CSR.

• Traceability and Transparency – every document used in the rating process is stored securely and can be traced back. Companies assessed have access, if needed, to the most detailed results and to each scoring decision.

• Excellence Through Continuous Improvement – a professional rating methodology is open to quality controls, continuous improvement, and to stakeholders’ feedback. EcoVadis has implemented a company-wide quality management system supported by a client advisory board and a scientific committee.

Scolmore was awarded an EcoVadis bronze medal last year in recognition of its sustainability achievements. The company earned this status in its first-ever submission, which is testimony to the commitment and efforts of all the teams to embed corporate sustainability into the culture, strategy and day-to-day operation across the Scolmore Group of companies. This achievement also signals to Scolmore’s customers that they are the right partner to support their own sustainability drive.

Scolmore, scolmore.com