EcoVadis Joins Forces With SGS & QIMA: Raising The Bar For ESG Audits In Global Supply Chains
EcoVadis has expanded its network by partnering with SGS and QIMA to launch a new supply chain sustainability auditing offering, addressing surging demand for high-quality, targeted on-site audits and verification where ESG risks are identified in global supply chains. This strategic move comes as sustainability leaders face growing pressure to provide credible assurances, accelerate responsible sourcing and comply with increasingly stringent regulations.
Demand for supply chain ESG due diligence and assurance is rapidly accelerating amid tightening global regulations, including the EU CSDDD, EU Forced Labour Regulation, EUDR and US UFLPA. These regulations require firms to actively identify, assess and remediate ESG risks across value chains and increase expectations for transparency. Indeed, the 2025 Verdantix supply chain sustainability global corporate survey found that 63% of organizations cite improving transparency and traceability as their most significant or a very significant investment driver in supply chain sustainability. Real-world incidents – such as Tony’s Chocolonely uncovering 1,701 cases of child labour in its supply chain—shows that firms must adopt proactive ESG due diligence programmes, leveraging software and assurance partners to ensure compliance, mitigate reputational and financial risks, and maintain market access. LRQA’s 2025 Supply Chain ESG Risk Outlook report underscores the urgency on a wider scale, revealing that 60% of sourcing markets face high or extreme environmental risks and 55% are exposed to forced labour threats.
Addressing this risk, EcoVadis’s alliance builds upon the recent launch of the supply chain platform provider’s Worker Voice solution suite, developed with human rights analytics firm Ulula – itself acquired in 2024. The tool gives firms anonymized, real-time insight into responsible sourcing and human rights across supply chains. Worker Voice enables anonymous whistleblowing, multi-channel surveys and two-way digital dialogue, allowing workers anywhere in the global supply chain to speak up without fear of reprisal. This information is used to flag high-risk sites where breaches may exist, and audit partners like SGS and QIMA can deploy targeted investigations to verify, monitor and guide remediation, supporting rapid risk identification and effective action.
Modern supply chain sustainability auditing increasingly blends software and services, integrating risk analytics, worker engagement and field audit data. Verdantix has identified several other providers that are combining software and services for supply chain sustainability due diligence and assurance, such as:
- Bureau Veritas.
Bureau Veritas’s Supply-R solution allows organizations to assess supply chain vulnerabilities and verify risks through field audits, while its Clarity offering enables calculation of site-level sustainability risks, sustainability maturity assessments and action plan development. - Intertek.
Intertek’s Inlight solution, a customizable assurance platform, enables supplier evaluation through desktop verification, on-site or remote assessments, and third-party assurance solutions managed online and through audit grading matrices.
- LRQA.
LRQA’s EiQ software uses AI, analytics and data from 30,000 annual audits to identify, monitor and mitigate social and environmental risks with survey tools that assess worker sentiment, labour risks, grievance mechanisms and other critical issues.
With regulations tightening and stakeholders demanding more transparency, the blend of software and assurance services is becoming the new benchmark. The competitive landscape among providers is heating up, promising further innovation and higher standards for supply chain sustainability in 2026 and beyond. To learn more about the ESG assurance and supply chain sustainability software market, read the following reports:
About The Author
Jessie Wilson
Industry Analyst
