Guide · Answering named buyer requests

EcoVadis, CDP, or a carbon-footprint request — here's how to respond fast

A customer asked for your EcoVadis score, a CDP supply-chain disclosure, or your carbon footprint. This is a practical walkthrough for small businesses: what each request actually means, the data that sits behind all three, and how to prepare it once so you can answer any of them — and reuse it for the next buyer.

Prepare your data — free Got a general questionnaire instead?

Practical orientation for small businesses, not legal advice. EcoDiligence is independent and is not affiliated with EcoVadis or CDP.

The short version

EcoVadis, CDP and a direct carbon-footprint ask are three destinations for the same underlying data.
That data — energy, emissions, workforce, policies — is already in your business.
EcoDiligence prepares and calculates it once; it does not issue an EcoVadis score or submit a CDP response for you.
With the numbers ready, filling any platform (or answering a direct request) takes minutes, not days.
Keep the profile and reuse it for the next customer.

First: which request did you actually get?

The word “sustainability request” hides three quite different things. Knowing which one you have tells you where the answer goes — but, reassuringly, all three lean on the same handful of facts about your business.

An EcoVadis assessment

A buyer wants an EcoVadis scorecard or medal. You complete the assessment on the EcoVadis platform; the rating is theirs, not something a supplier self-issues.

A CDP supply-chain request

A customer, through CDP's supply-chain programme, asks you to disclose environmental data on CDP's system — typically emissions and climate governance.

Full CDP guide

A direct carbon-footprint ask

No platform — the customer simply wants your emissions figure (usually Scope 1 and Scope 2) by email or in their own form.

If it is the middle one, that request has enough of its own detail — scope, deadlines, why your customer sent it, what to prepare first — to warrant its own walkthrough: you received a CDP supply-chain request. The rest of this page covers what all three have in common.

What all three have in common

Behind the different logos, every one of these requests is asking you to quantify and describe the same things: how much energy you use, the emissions that energy produces, a few workforce facts, and whether you have basic governance policies. The hard part is almost never the platform — it is assembling defensible numbers. Do that once and each request becomes a copy-and-submit exercise.

If you want to know how much of the request in front of you falls into that shared core, paste it into Coverage Check — it groups the request by topic, naming the datapoints a structured Passport already holds and the subjects it does not. Free, no account, and the text is not stored.

Where EcoDiligence fits (and where it doesn't)

To be clear about the boundary: EcoDiligence does not give you an EcoVadis rating, and it does not submit a CDP response on your behalf. Those happen on their own platforms. What EcoDiligence does is the part that actually slows you down — it turns your energy bills into a calculated Scope 1 and Scope 2 figure with the correct country grid factor, and assembles a standards-based profile (mapped to EFRAG VSME and ISSB S2) that holds all the facts these forms ask for. You bring that prepared data to EcoVadis or CDP, or send it directly.

Guided, not blank

Plain-language questions collect the standard scope; you are never staring at an empty jargon-heavy form.

Emissions calculated

Enter energy use; Scope 1 and Scope 2 are computed with sourced, country-correct factors — a defensible number, not a guess.

One source, every request

A shareable link, a PDF, and structured exports — reuse the same prepared data for EcoVadis, CDP, and direct asks alike.

Respond, then reuse

Submit through EcoVadis or CDP where the buyer requires it; for a direct request, send your Passport link or PDF with a short, cooperative note. Either way, keep the profile — the next customer who asks gets an answer in minutes, because the data is already prepared and up to date.

Prepare your data with a free Passport, compare it with a third-party rating in our EcoVadis alternative guide, or read the general supplier ESG questionnaire walkthrough.

If this is the first ESG request you have ever received, the supplier overview explains the whole approach — what a Passport holds, what it costs, and what happens the next time a customer asks.

Frequently asked questions

If the buyer specifically requires an EcoVadis scorecard or medal, then yes — that assessment happens on the EcoVadis platform and EcoDiligence is not a substitute for it. What EcoDiligence does is get the underlying numbers ready: your energy use, calculated Scope 1 and Scope 2 emissions, workforce basics, and policies, organized in one place. That makes filling the EcoVadis questionnaire (and any other buyer form) far faster, because you are copying from a prepared, standards-based profile instead of starting from scratch.

CDP runs an environmental disclosure system; through its supply-chain programme, large customers ask their suppliers to disclose data such as emissions and climate governance. You respond on CDP's own platform, not to your customer directly. For what the request covers, why your customer sent it, and how to prepare before you open the platform, see our dedicated guide to a CDP supply-chain request.

Usually they mean your Scope 1 (direct fuel/combustion) and Scope 2 (purchased electricity) emissions for a recent year, sometimes with a request to help estimate Scope 3. EcoDiligence turns your energy bills into a calculated Scope 1 and Scope 2 figure using a sourced, country-correct grid factor, so you can send a clear, defensible number rather than a guess.

Usually not for the core data. The inputs these requests rely on — energy use, headcount, a few policies — are already in your business. A guided tool walks you through them and does the emissions calculation for you. A consultant is optional, for depth beyond the basics or when a specific buyer requires assured figures.

The underlying data, yes — that is the point. Each platform has its own form, but they draw on the same facts about your business. Prepare a standards-based ESG Passport once and you have a single, up-to-date source to answer every request from, plus a shareable link and PDF for buyers who just want the data directly.

This page is practical orientation for small businesses and is not legal advice. EcoVadis and CDP are the trademarks of their respective owners; EcoDiligence is an independent product and is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or a submission channel for either. Data prepared with EcoDiligence is self-reported and is not a third-party rating or assurance.

Get your numbers ready once — answer every request fast

A free ESG Passport calculates your emissions and organizes the data EcoVadis, CDP, and direct asks all need.

Create free Passport EcoDiligence vs. a third-party rating