SUSTAINABILITY
But , he says , to reach their multinational supplier base , some tried to translate the SAQs , and then had to collate responses on spreadsheets . It led to a backlash from suppliers , says McClintock .
“ Assessments were generic and contained irrelevant questions , and it required a lot of work for suppliers to fill in a questionnaire for every customer or industry served — all with no feedback in return .”
Ecovadis founded on principle of reliable methodology It was on the back of this situation that EcoVadis was founded , its aim being to create sustainability ratings with benchmarks based on a reliable methodology .
“ And it ’ s all underpinned by diverse data sources , validated by experts and delivered in a scorecard with rich feedback and insight to help drive improvements and create value .”
As well as ventures such as EcoVadis , national standards-setting bodies are also helping embed sustainability practises in business .
The British Standards Institute ( BSI ) is the UK ’ s national standards body . As well as producing technical standards on a wide range of products and services , it also supplies certification and standards-related services to business , including on sustainability .
Like all national standards bodies , the BSI is a representative of the International Organisation for Standardisation ( ISO ). It ’ s the ISO that defines sustainability standards , and the BSI that facilitates their uptake .
These standards include ISO14000 ( a family of environmental management standards ) and ISO26000 ( social responsibility ).
104 March 2022