Article
How do you move from the EcoVadis Committed badge to a Bronze medal?
In brief
Expert insight — François Dequenne: most companies in your situation already have the activities. They just haven't formalised them. That's the gap I see most often at this stage. The work isn't to do more — it's to document what exists as structured policies and measures and to ensure it meets EcoVadis standards. Three things consistently hold companies back from Bronze: Ethics and Sustainable Procurement scores sitting below 30 (a strong overall score doesn't protect you — every theme needs to clear that floor); informal processes that never made it into a policy (a Code of Conduct with employee acknowledgement can move the needle faster than most people expect); and not knowing where the actual gap is before the assessment window opens. As of May 2026, the Bronze threshold sits at approximately 64/100 — it has moved 2 points in under a year. Waiting doesn't hold your position.
How are EcoVadis medals awarded in 2026?
Since January 2024, EcoVadis awards medals based entirely on percentile ranking, not fixed score thresholds. Your overall score is compared against every company rated on the platform over the previous 12 months: Bronze goes to the top 35%, Silver to the top 15%, Gold to the top 5%, Platinum to the top 1%. Because the database keeps growing and companies keep improving, the approximate score required for each medal rises over time. The benchmarks in this article come from ESG Interim Management's internal client portfolio data, last updated May 2026 — directional indicators, not official EcoVadis targets.
Every company holding the Committed Badge is competing for Bronze against the same rising bar: approximately 64/100 as of May 2026, up from 62 in July 2025. Two points in under a year may not sound significant; across a global database of over 150,000 rated companies, it reflects a measurable shift in the average quality of sustainability management.
What does a 64/100 management system actually contain?
Bronze means your sustainability management system outperforms at least 65% of all companies rated globally over the previous 12 months. A company scoring in the Bronze range in 2026 typically has:
- Sustainability commitments and policies covering some key EcoVadis criteria, potentially with some quantitative targets
- Evidence of some initial measures introduced to reduce negative impact across some key criteria
- Reported metrics covering some key criteria, over multiple reporting cycles
- Clear internal ownership of the EcoVadis assessment process
- No outstanding 360° Watch findings
What a Bronze company might not yet have: structured management systems covering the majority of activated criteria, KPI reporting across all key criteria over multiple cycles, risk assessments, or third-party certifications — these are more frequently seen at Silver and above.
| Fast Mover / Committed | Bronze |
|---|---|
| Basic sustainability commitments and policies covering some key criteria; evidence of some initial measures; a basic reporting system with some reported metrics | Requirements for the badges, plus: policies covering some key criteria; management systems and measures covering some key criteria; reported metrics covering some key criteria, over multiple reporting cycles |
The gap between the Committed Badge and Bronze is often a formalisation gap. Most companies holding the badge (score 45 or above) already have sustainability activities under way. The work is to document those activities as formal policies and measures, then submit them to EcoVadis standards.
"Identifying which practices are formalised and which are still informal or undocumented is often where the real work begins. That diagnosis helps you see both your strengths and the areas that need more structure before you submit."
Which rule disqualifies the most Bronze candidates?
To qualify for any EcoVadis medal, a company must score at least 30 points in each of the four themes: Environment, Labour & Human Rights, Ethics, and Sustainable Procurement. A strong overall score provides no protection: a company scoring 66 overall but 28 in Ethics receives no medal.
The themes most consistently below 30 in ESGIM's client analyses are Ethics and Sustainable Procurement, where documentation tends to be weakest in companies without prior structured sustainability management. A Code of Conduct with employee acknowledgement, structured according to the EcoVadis methodology, can bring Ethics above the floor; a procurement policy referencing supplier sustainability can do the same for Sustainable Procurement. Both are achievable in weeks. Checking theme-level scores is the first diagnostic step before any other improvement work.
What do you have to build to reach Bronze?
These recommendations are drawn from patterns observed across ESGIM's client portfolio — common high-impact levers, not a universal checklist. Their relative weight varies with your size, industry and activated criteria. Use them as a starting point for diagnosis.
Environment. Publish a formal environmental policy naming the company's material impacts — signed by management, branded, current. Alongside it, track Scope 1 and 2 emissions data and the other environmental criteria EcoVadis deems material for you. A basic annual spreadsheet with energy consumption, GHG figures and other environmental metrics qualifies as evidence at this level, provided it is company-specific and submitted.
Labour and Human Rights. Policies covering the material topics, including commitments, roles and responsibilities, endorsed by management. For measures on Health & Safety, Discrimination & Harassment, and Child Labour / Forced Labour / Human Trafficking: training records, induction slides and signed attendance sheets all qualify. For results: KPIs tracking meaningful metrics on the material topics, ideally over multiple periods.
Ethics. A Code of Conduct covering anti-corruption and information security, combined with a record of employees acknowledging it, starts building the Policies indicator. A whistleblowing or grievance mechanism adds further credit, as does evidence of due diligence measures applied across the organisation.
Sustainable Procurement. A procurement policy naming sustainability requirements for suppliers is the entry point — two or three sentences in an existing purchasing policy will suffice initially. Adding sustainability clauses to supplier contracts improves the theme further.
What does this look like in practice?
A mid-size European logistics company (about 500 employees) engaged ESGIM when a key manufacturing client introduced a Bronze requirement for preferred supplier status. The company held the Committed Badge at 50. Gap analysis identified a single medal disqualifier: Ethics below 30 — no formal Code of Conduct, no documented grievance mechanism, despite clear informal expectations. Sustainable Procurement and Environment were also below the Bronze benchmark, largely because environmental KPIs were tracked internally but never submitted as structured evidence.
ESGIM prioritised Ethics first: a Code of Conduct covering anti-corruption and information security, a digital employee sign-off, a documented and communicated grievance channel. In parallel: a basic environmental policy, an annual KPI spreadsheet covering energy and GHG estimates, and supplier sustainability requirements added to the existing purchasing framework. Total preparation time: three months. No new sustainability practice was introduced. At reassessment the company scored 65 and earned Bronze in the top 35% globally — a 15-point improvement, entirely from structuring and submitting what it was already doing.
Across the portfolio, ESGIM clients improve by an average of 13.8 points — typically enough to clear Bronze from the Committed range in a single cycle.
What comes after Bronze?
"Each EcoVadis assessment becomes more about confirming your organisation's progress already underway. Your submission begins to tell a consistent and credible story: policies backed by action, action evidenced by data, and data used to refine priorities."
Bronze confirms your management system meets a defined, globally benchmarked standard, and for most supply chain relationships it clears the threshold for preferred supplier status. The path from Bronze to Silver requires a different kind of work — the subject of the next article in this series.
Key takeaways
- As of May 2026, the approximate Bronze score is 64/100, up from 62 in July 2025. The threshold rises as the database grows.
- At Bronze level: policies covering some key criteria, management systems and measures addressing some of them, and metrics reported over multiple cycles.
- A minimum of 30 points in each of the four themes is required for any medal. Ethics and Sustainable Procurement are the most common disqualifiers.
- The Committed-to-Bronze gap is often a formalisation gap: document and submit what already exists.
- Timing matters: waiting does not preserve your position — the peer group improves continuously.