EcoVadis: preparing your evidence file step by step

Quick answer. To prepare an EcoVadis evidence file, you gather dated, formalised documents by pillar: a written policy, an action taken, a measured result. The score runs from 0 to 100 and covers four themes (environment, labour and human rights, ethics, sustainable procurement). A medal is awarded by percentile rank: bronze, silver, gold, platinum. The challenge is not to redo everything, but to prove what already exists.

Many companies approach EcoVadis like a surprise exam and lose points not for lack of actions, but for lack of evidence. The questionnaire does not score intentions: it assesses what the company can demonstrate, with documents. A policy applied but never written down, a real action never measured, earn nothing. Preparing your EcoVadis evidence file means, first of all, turning your practices into documents.

This guide offers an operational checklist, pillar by pillar, of the evidence to gather, explaining the scoring logic so you can target effort where it pays. The aim: gain points on the basis of what already exists, without rebuilding your entire CSR policy.

EcoVadis assesses a company's CSR performance across four themes:

• Environment: energy, emissions, waste, water, products.
• Labour and human rights: working conditions, health and safety, social dialogue, diversity.
• Ethics: anti-corruption, competition practices, data protection.
• Sustainable procurement: integration of social and environmental criteria with suppliers.

Each theme is scored on three dimensions: policies (written commitments), actions (concrete measures implemented) and results (indicators, certifications, reporting). The overall score runs from 0 to 100. For a medal to be conceivable, the company must generally reach a minimum of 30 on each of the four themes: one theme at zero drags down the whole.

This policies, actions, results logic is the reading grid to keep in mind for every piece of evidence provided.

Since 2024, EcoVadis medals are no longer based on fixed score thresholds but on the company's percentile rank, compared with all companies assessed over the last 12 months:

Because the scoring is relative, the exact score thresholds are not published and may change from year to year: the same score may yield a different medal depending on the general level. Non-medalled companies can obtain badges recognising an engaged approach. The practical consequence: aim for steady, documented score progress rather than a fixed threshold.

For each theme, the reflex is to gather three levels of evidence: a written policy, an action taken, a measured result.

Environment

• Written environmental policy, dated and signed by management.
• Evidence of actions: carbon footprint or consumption tracking, waste sorting, reduction plan.
• Results: energy or emissions indicators, certifications (for example ISO 14001), reporting.

Labour and human rights

• Social policy, occupational risk assessment document, internal agreements or charters.
• Actions: health and safety training, social dialogue mechanism, diversity measures.
• Results: accident frequency rate, training indicators, equality monitoring.

Ethics

• Code of conduct or ethics charter, anti-corruption policy, whistleblowing mechanism.
• Actions: team awareness, contract clauses, data protection policy.
• Results: monitoring of reports, internal audits, compliance indicators.

Sustainable procurement

• Sustainable procurement policy, supplier code of conduct.
• Actions: supplier assessment or questionnaire, CSR clauses in contracts.
• Results: share of assessed suppliers, monitoring of improvement plans.

On this last pillar, the evidence connects directly with the work described in our article on supplier clauses in sustainable procurement.

1. Dated and formalised. An undated or never-validated document counts for little. A policy is worth its date, signature and circulation.
2. Specific, not generic. A template copied without adaptation convinces less than a document, however short, that describes the reality on the ground.
3. Tied to a result. An action without an indicator remains an intention. Quantifying, even modestly, moves a theme from policy level to result level.

The classic trap is to try to produce everything the day before the assessment. EcoVadis rewards consistency: existing documents, dated across the year, beat a burst of policies all created on the same day. We advise building a living evidence file, fed continuously, rather than a binder assembled in a rush.

The other conviction: many SMEs underestimate what they already do. Waste sorting, the risk assessment document, annual reviews, supplier contracts often exist, but are not tied to a written policy or an indicator. The work is less about doing more than about formalising and measuring what exists. That is exactly the ground of ESG and reporting support, which knows how to link management data to the expected evidence.

A manufacturing SME receives an EcoVadis assessment request from a large client. In 3 weeks, it gathers what exists: an environmental policy it finally puts in writing, an up-to-date risk assessment document, an ethics charter, and a supplier list with CSR clauses. The environment theme moves from policy level to result level because it attaches its 12-month consumption tracking. The ethics theme remains weaker, lacking a formalised whistleblowing mechanism, and becomes the following year's improvement focus. Result: a decent first score, a clear roadmap, and an evidence file now fed continuously.