The COVID-19 pandemic has illuminated vulnerabilities in the global supply chain, creating disruptions that are projected to get much worse as climate change advances. Fortunately, more companies are centering sustainability in their environmental, social, and corporate governance (ESG) program goals and hardening their supply chains to improve resiliency. And for a good reason: up to 90% of an organization’s ESG footprint is in the supply chain.

But according to a recent survey of 530 corporate executives, more than half have little or no confidence in the reliability and maturity of their ESG programs. The truth is, companies and suppliers alike face a dizzying array of ever-changing industry standards, increasingly challenging operating environments, and a lack of data standardization and transparency, making it difficult to turn ESG goals into measurable results.

To address this critical information gap, Avetta has launched its Sustainability & ESG solution, which is part of the Avetta One™ Platform. With unique benefits for both companies and suppliers, Avetta’s Sustainability & ESG solution offers a holistic view of ESG status across the supply chain by enabling ESG performance to be scored based on individual company goals combined with industry standards.

Simplifying ESG compliance across the supply chain

With Avetta, companies can use a single platform to define, measure, and remediate ESG compliance issues, along with all their other supplier qualification needs. Through Avetta’s Sustainability and ESG evaluation, companies can customize according to their supplier due diligence programs, collecting information focused on compliance and risk. Avetta calculates an ESG Index that characterizes supplier levels of awareness and understanding by measuring ESG compliance across a range of global standards, including specific industry and investor requirements.

Avetta also offers companies access to its unparalleled global network to easily discover and connect with sustainable and diverse suppliers.  

“Over the course of the pandemic, the definition of what constitutes a business risk has evolved dramatically,” said Nick Heinzmann, analyst team lead at Spend Matters. “Procurement and supply chain groups are increasingly being pushed by their management, investors and end consumers to tackle large-scale, society-level problems, to include carbon emissions reduction, supplier diversity and equity improvement, and the prevention of cybersecurity failures that could lead to the disruption of critical infrastructure. Yet they must also continue to manage and improve upon core supply chain risks such as EHS standards and liability coverage.

“This is what makes the release of Avetta One so timely. Instead of piecing together third-party profile, compliance and sustainability risk data across multiple solutions, organizations can use Avetta to centrally manage their risk management efforts, integrating this essential process into their current third-party management workflows. The result is an offering sorely needed in the world of 2022: a central platform and network in which customers and suppliers can manage the evolving scope of risks affecting their businesses.”

Empowering suppliers to deliver

As more companies turn to their supply chains to tackle sustainability gaps, suppliers face more pressure than ever to understand and gather data demonstrating their progress. Avetta’s Sustainability & ESG solution offers suppliers the tools they need to address evolving sustainability requirements and exposure to the Avetta client network, so they can forge a path to compliance and quickly demonstrate their value to customers.  

Avetta’s single platform offers centralized management, allowing suppliers to minimize the time spent on administrative tasks and maximize their time working on site. Avetta also provides extensive resources on the latest sustainability and ESG practices and requirements so suppliers can quickly get up to speed. Qualified suppliers can also get increased visibility through Avetta’s platform to gain new business by being promoted as sustainable and diverse suppliers to ESG-focused companies.

Avetta will add Sustain.Life as an Avetta Marketplace Partner, offering suppliers an affordable and effective solution to swiftly improve their sustainability performance —no matter the level of their experience.  With Sustain.Life companies can: calculate and track their carbon emissions for free, and utilize expert guidance and tools to reduce those emissions.

Pursuing sustainability and ESG goals creates value for companies, suppliers, and customers while supporting durable change for people and the planet. Avetta’s comprehensive single-platform for compliance empowers companies and suppliers to take charge of their sustainability journey by simplifying how ESG maturity is assessed, tracked, and improved.  

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