A new EcoVadis Sustainability Ratings Index has found that 80% of companies globally have no documented process for identifying or managing sustainability risks within their supply chains — a striking gap given how central supply chain sustainability has become to net zero and ESG commitments (Sustainability Magazine, SCI.AI). The index draws on nearly 200,000 scorecards issued to more than 100,000 companies rated globally between 2021 and 2025, making it one of the largest datasets available on real-world supply chain ESG performance — as opposed to stated intentions.
The scale of the data gap goes well beyond the headline number. According to the index, 77% of firms lack downstream tracking of Scope 3 emissions, and 73% report no upstream Scope 3 emissions data at all — meaning the vast majority of companies making net zero commitments cannot actually see the largest share of their own carbon footprint. On the human rights side, the picture is starker still: 98% of rated companies do not maintain an external grievance mechanism accessible to workers deeper in the supply chain, and only 2% operate one that workers can realistically use to flag violations.
The verification gap is arguably the most operationally significant finding. 42% of companies rely solely on unverified supplier questionnaires for sustainability assessments, only 46% require suppliers to sign a formal sustainability code of conduct, and just 20% conduct on-site audits. On carbon data specifically, only 30% of suppliers provide any carbon data at all, and of those, 26% supply only aggregated estimates rather than granular figures — explaining why less than 1% of rated companies can provide buyer organisations with genuinely decision-grade sustainability data.
There is a bright spot: AI adoption in sustainable procurement is accelerating fast, with 68% of corporate buyers reporting they have deployed AI tools in their sustainable procurement programs, and carbon data validation cited as the top use case by 62% of those buyers. Boston Consulting Group's separate research puts AI adoption in supply chain management more broadly at 44% of companies. But EcoVadis is clear that technology alone won't close the gap.
"Companies willing to treat supplier engagement as an ongoing process, rather than a one-time compliance exercise, close the distance between what they intend and what they can actually verify," said Sylvain Guyoton, Chief Rating Officer at EcoVadis. He added a pointed caveat for anyone hoping software alone will solve this: "Better software does not close that gap. The measurement problem lives in the supply base itself, and closing it requires sustained engagement over time: structured assessment, scored performance and documented follow-through."
For any organisation reporting under CSRD, preparing CBAM compliance documentation, or facing investor pressure on Scope 3 disclosure, this index is a useful reality check — public net zero commitments are only as credible as the supply chain visibility behind them, and right now, for 80% of companies, that visibility simply doesn't exist in documented form.
Sources: Sustainability Magazine, SCI.AI / yrules