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/
