In an effort to track the progress of companies when it comes to their sustainability practices, EcoVadis looked at data from 9,000 companies that it rates. After exploring the data behind 125,000 sustainability ratings delivered between 2019 and 2023, it recently released Business Sustainability Performance Index.
A blog on the company's website provides an analysis of the report. In 2023, the United States led the EcoVadis network for the first time with nearly 5,000 ratings.
In those ratings, two-thirds of US companies are out of the high to medium risk range.
Companies outside the “good” or “advanced” performance ranges have taken minimal steps on sustainability management and have significant risks in their operations and value chain.
And one-third of small (under 100 employees) companies and medium-sized (100-999) peers fell into “insufficient” and “partial performance" levels in 2023. And this figure climbs to 48% for large companies.
Despite commitments to address sustainability, the analysis points out that leaders remain rare, with only 7% having achieved advanced performance in 2023. At this level, companies have a comprehensive sustainability management system.
Furthermore, more than 75% of companies are struggling to address social and environmental challenges throughout their value chain.
In the area of sustainable procurement, North America is the only region where this score has stagnated over the past year.
A global perspective
In 2023, the average score for the typical US company was 48.6, 0.8 points higher than in the year before and 3.1 more compared to 2019, placing the US 28th place globally among countries with 100+ ratings.
Only two other countries in the Americas made it into the top 30, Canada (51.2) and Colombia (50.2), with European and a handful of Asia-Pacific countries dominating the rankings.
