If you're a small or mid-sized business working through your EcoVadis assessment and wondering how your carbon footprint fits in – this guide is for you.

We’ll explain how carbon emissions factor into your EcoVadis score, what kind of documentation you need, and how to approach this if you’re a growing company without a full sustainability team.

What Is EcoVadis?

EcoVadis is one of the world’s leading sustainability rating platforms. It’s used by large organisations to assess the environmental and social performance of their suppliers across four key themes:

1. Environment
2. Labour & Human Rights
3. Ethics
4. Sustainable Procurement

When your business completes the assessment, you receive a score between 0-100, and depending on your performance, a medal rating (Bronze, Silver, Gold, or Platinum).

A higher score can significantly improve your ability to win tenders or renew contracts – particularly with corporates under pressure to decarbonise their supply chains.

Where Does Carbon Fit In?

Carbon data is part of the Environment section of the EcoVadis assessment. You could be asked:

• Have you measured your greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions?
• Have you followed a recognised methodology (e.g. the GHG Protocol)?
• Has your data been verified or supported by a third party?
• Do you publish your carbon data?
• Have you set targets or built a decarbonisation plan?

Here's a screenshot of an example EcoVadis assessment for a 200 person professional services firm:

📌 In short: EcoVadis looks for more than just a “yes.” It wants credible, documented evidence.

If you say you’ve measured emissions – upload the report. If you say it’s third-party supported – evidence that third-party assurance. If you say it’s public – link to the published data.

Without documentation, you likely won’t get points, even if you’ve done the work.

How Carbon Footprint Evidence Affects Your Score

EcoVadis’ scoring system is not public, so we don’t know exactly how each question maps to your final score.

What we do know:

• Answers are weighted by industry and company size
• Scoring focuses on documentation quality, credibility, and relevance
• Actions carry more weight than policies

That’s why carbon data is such a smart area to focus on – it’s measurable, evidence-based, and increasingly expected.

If you submit a robust footprint aligned with the GHG Protocol, along with a plan to reduce emissions, you’re already covering multiple high-impact areas in the Environment section.

What is a Third-Party Verified Carbon Footprint for EcoVadis?

A third-party verified carbon footprint means your emissions have been measured using a recognised standard (like the GHG Protocol) and reviewed or supported by an organisation that is independent of your internal team.

This adds credibility to your data – showing that your numbers weren’t just pulled together internally, but followed best-practice methodology and were reviewed by experts.

How Seedling helps: At Seedling, we support SMEs by:

• Measuring emissions across Scope 1, 2, and relevant Scope 3 categories
• Using the GHG Protocol's methodology – the global gold standard for carbon accounting, and required by EcoVadis
• Producing full carbon footprint reports that include assumptions, exclusions, and data sources
• Providing documentation that’s ready to be uploaded to EcoVadis, and tools to help you share data publicly

We’re external to your business – and when you include a Seedling GHG inventory report in your EcoVadis submission, it shows that your data is backed by third-party support. That’s a clear advantage over DIY spreadsheets or unverified calculators.

What If You’re Just Getting Started?

Many SMEs we work with are:

• Submitting to EcoVadis for the first time
• Revisiting their score after an AFI (Area for Improvement)
• Doing this without an in-house sustainability lead

That’s where we come in. At Seedling, we help businesses to:

• Measure emissions across Scopes 1, 2, and 3
• Align with the GHG Protocol and best-practice standards
• Build actionable plans to reduce emissions
• Prepare strong, submission-ready documentation

Me make the process straightforward and affordable for SMEs (pricing here), using our software plus one-to-one support from an expert.

We also help you understand how to use this data across other compliance frameworks like public sector and NHS Net Zero reporting.

We'd love to chat, so book a call.

Quick fire FAQs

Q: What is the link between EcoVadis and carbon footprint?
A: Carbon data is assessed under the Environment theme and can bolster your score – especially if third-party supported.

Q: Do I need to verify my emissions data for EcoVadis?
A: You don’t need a formal audit, but EcoVadis asks for external assurance. That’s where Seedling can help.

Q: How can SMEs improve their EcoVadis rating?
A: Focus on measurable, documented actions – like a full-scope carbon footprint and credible plan to reduce emissions.