EcoVadis jumped up the rankings to take third place for quality and first place for usefulness
NEW YORK, PARIS - 16 December 2025 - the ERM’s latest assessment of the ESG rating landscape finds that corporates continue to favor active raters for the quality and usefulness of their ESG ratings. While S&P Global ESG and CDP rank first and second for quality, EcoVadis jumped up the rankings to take third place (up from fifth place in 2023) and first place for usefulness (up from seventh place in 2023). The report indicates that “EcoVadis’ advancement reflects the growing popularity of supply chain sustainability insights”.
Survey background and methodology
ERM’s Rate the Raters has been tracking and assessing sustainability ratings and rankings since 2010. Through a series of reports, the program was designed to better understand the ESG rating landscape and provide perspectives to help companies, investors, and other stakeholders make sense of and derive more value from ESG ratings.
The 2025 findings are based on a survey fielded between May and July 2025, which generated responses from 386 corporate sustainability professionals from 39 countries across a wide range of industries. The survey insights were further informed by in-depth interviews and feedback gathered on the consultation draft during Climate Week NYC in September 2025.
Key insights
ERM’s Sustainability Institute finds that most (84 percent) companies plan to continue engagement with ESG ratings and see them as an important part of their sustainability strategy. However, more than three-quarters (77 percent) also emphasize the need for closer ratings methodology alignment with leading mandatory and voluntary sustainability standards.
The EcoVadis methodology is designed for global interoperability, aligning its assessment criteria with major international sustainability standards like the UN Global Compact, ISO 26000, and GRI, and demonstrating strong alignment with regulatory frameworks such as the European ESRS. This alignment ensures that the data gathered for a single EcoVadis rating can be leveraged by companies to concurrently satisfy multiple global reporting and disclosure obligations - including those for customers, investors, and regulators - thereby promoting data consistency and significantly reducing reporting redundancy across international supply chains.
“The ERM report confirms that usefulness is the new measure of leadership in ESG ratings. Our jump to number one reflects the urgent market pivot to supply chain compliance. At a time when three-quarters of companies demand alignment with reporting frameworks, the EcoVadis Rating methodology delivers crucial interoperability. Our customers can use one trusted rating to manage risk, drive improvement, and satisfy the complex demands of global regulators, all while dramatically reducing redundant reporting effort” said Pierre-François Thaler, cofounder and co-CEO of EcoVadis.
Access the full report here: https://www.erm.com/insights/rate-the-raters-2025-esg-ratings-in-evolution-corporate-survey-results/
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About the ERM Sustainability Institute
The Sustainability Institute is ERM’s primary platform for thought leadership. The purpose of the Institute is to define, accelerate, and scale sustainability performance by developing actionable insight for business. We provide an independent and authoritative voice to decode complexities. The Institute identifies innovative solutions to global sustainability challenges built on ERM’s experience, expertise, and commitment to transformational change.
About ERM
Sustainability is our business.
As the world’s largest specialist sustainability consultancy, ERM partners with clients to operationalize sustainability at pace and scale, deploying a unique combination of strategic transformation and technical delivery capabilities. This approach helps clients to accelerate the integration of sustainability at every level of their business.
With more than 50 years of experience, ERM’s diverse team of 8000+ experts in 40 countries and territories helps clients create innovative solutions to their sustainability challenges, unlocking commercial opportunities that meet the needs of today while preserving opportunity for future generations. Learn more here.
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