Case study: Mobility and fleet leasing | GovEVA ESG Advisory
How a Saudi Mobility and Fleet Leasing Company Completed Its EcoVadis Assessment in 40 Days
When a customer asks a supplier for an EcoVadis assessment, the clock starts. EcoVadis is a sustainability rating that many large companies use to evaluate their suppliers, and it relies on documented evidence behind every answer. This large mobility and fleet leasing company in Saudi Arabia, which provides short-term rentals and long-term leases to individuals and businesses nationwide and also sells pre-owned vehicles, received exactly that request, with a deadline attached.
Its sustainability information was kept in spreadsheets and Word documents across departments. GovEVA's advisory team set out what EcoVadis would need, helped the company gather and organize the evidence, and prepared the data in the required format. The submission was completed in 40 days, ahead of the deadline, and the company now has a central repository of its ESG documents.
Basecamp: The Challenge
A customer request, a firm deadline and evidence spread across departments
The project began with a customer request: the company was asked to complete an EcoVadis assessment within a set timeframe. Its sustainability information was kept in spreadsheets and Word documents, maintained by different departments for their own purposes. Much of the data already existed, but bringing it together for an external assessment called for a more structured approach.
How do we bring the right evidence together for EcoVadis, in time for our customer?
The question that shaped the engagement from the start.
A customer-set deadline
The assessment was requested by a customer, so the timeline was fixed from the start.
Information held by many teams
Each department kept its own records, and sharing information between teams took coordination.
Time to retrieve existing data
Even data that had already been collected could take two to three days to locate and share.
Evidence behind every answer
EcoVadis looks for supporting documents behind each answer, so every response needed the right policy, record or report attached.
Ascent: The Solution
Expert guidance from requirements to submission
GovEVA ran the engagement as an advisory project, working alongside one core user at the company who coordinated with internal teams. The work followed three steps: define what the EcoVadis assessment would need, collect the evidence, and prepare a complete submission.
Define
A clear list of requirements.
A complete requirements checklist
GovEVA gave the company a full list of what the EcoVadis assessment would ask for, so every team knew what to provide.
Group-level scope
The assessment covered the company at group level, so one coordinated submission represented the whole business.
One point of coordination
A single core user at the company worked with GovEVA and reached into each department for data and documents.
Collect
Evidence, gathered and organized.
Hands-on data collection support
GovEVA's advisors helped gather the data and documents the assessment required from across departments.
Evidence compiled to a deadline
Collecting and compiling the required documents in a limited timeframe was the hardest part of the project. GovEVA's support kept this work moving so the evidence was ready when it was needed.
A central document repository
Documents were brought together in one place, creating a central repository of the company's ESG evidence.
Submit
Ready for the assessment.
Data in the required format
GovEVA processed the company's data into the format the EcoVadis assessment requires.
A complete submission
All required details were in place before the customer's deadline.
Closed in 40 days
The engagement went from kickoff to a completed submission in 40 days.
Why GovEVA. The company chose GovEVA for its commitment to quality and timely closure. Its project champion focused on four things throughout: quality, coverage, score and the deadline.
Summit: The Outcomes
An EcoVadis submission completed ahead of the deadline
- The company completed its EcoVadis assessment in 40 days, with all required details submitted ahead of the customer's deadline.
- It met a customer sustainability request within the timeframe the customer set.
- A central repository of ESG documents now holds evidence that was previously spread across spreadsheets, Word files and departments.
- The sustainability evidence behind each answer is organized and ready to update for the next assessment.
- The work gives the company a foundation for ESG data management across departments in future reporting cycles.
- EcoVadis and CDP reporting are planned with GovEVA for the next cycle, building on the same evidence base.
Why evidence matters in an EcoVadis assessment
When a customer asks for a sustainability rating, the evidence has to be ready before the deadline is.
EcoVadis assesses companies on four themes: environment, labor and human rights, ethics, and sustainable procurement. Large buyers use these ratings to understand the sustainability performance of their suppliers, and a request can arrive with a fixed deadline. Because the assessment looks for documents that support each answer, much of the effort lies in finding and organizing the evidence, not only in answering the questionnaire.
For a company whose sustainability information sits across departments, a clear list of requirements and hands-on help with collection can make the difference between a rushed response and a complete one. Once the evidence sits in one place, each new request, whether another EcoVadis cycle or a CDP disclosure, starts from a stronger base.
Frequently asked questions
What is EcoVadis?
EcoVadis is a business sustainability rating. It assesses companies on four themes: environment, labor and human rights, ethics, and sustainable procurement. Many large companies use it to evaluate their suppliers.
Why do customers ask suppliers for an EcoVadis assessment?
Customers use EcoVadis results to understand sustainability performance and risk in their supply chain. In this engagement, a customer request was what started the project.
What is CDP?
CDP is a global disclosure system through which companies report on environmental topics such as climate change. The company in this case study plans to report through CDP, alongside EcoVadis, in its next cycle.
Facing an EcoVadis request from a customer?
Talk to GovEVA's advisory team about getting your evidence and your submission ready, on time.
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