Public evidence only
We score what a buyer can find on the public website. Private decks, sales claims and unpublished evidence do not count.
Public methodology
How we score sustainability authority.
The Sustainability Authority Score asks whether a buyer can find credible public evidence: claims, carbon data, reports, certifications and enough context to trust what they are seeing.
Score frame
Sustainability Authority Score
A 0-100 buyer-facing score based on public website evidence. It is not legal advice, formal assurance or a private supplier audit.
5
categories
100
points
0
private files
Authority, not legal advice
The score flags public evidence strength and gaps. It is not a formal assurance opinion or compliance ruling.
Claims need context
Broad claims earn less authority unless the site also shows scope, timeframe, methodology, data or verification.
AI explains, checks score
The score comes from deterministic checks. LLM commentary can explain the result, but never invents numbers.
The five categories
Authority comes from evidence a buyer can actually verify.
Buyer readiness
Whether a buyer can quickly understand, verify and act on the sustainability information.
20%
weight
- Clear sustainability, ESG, impact or environment page.
- Buyer-relevant contact, procurement, supplier or enquiry path.
- Policies, case studies, named ownership and downloadable evidence.
Quality of green claims
Whether public green claims are specific, bounded and supported by evidence nearby.
25%
weight
- Green, sustainability, net-zero, carbon-neutral and similar claims.
- Nearby evidence such as metrics, dates, scope, standards or methodology.
- Vague or absolute claims that need more substantiation.
Evidence of carbon emissions
Whether carbon data, scopes, years, methodology, targets and progress are publicly visible.
25%
weight
- Scope 1, Scope 2 and Scope 3 visibility.
- tCO2e figures, reporting year, base year and methodology.
- Targets, progress, assurance and GHG Protocol or SECR references.
Visibility of reporting
Whether reports are easy to find, current, downloadable and crawlable.
15%
weight
- Sustainability, ESG, impact, carbon or annual report links.
- Current reporting years, archives and downloadable documents.
- Whether reporting evidence is easy to find from public pages.
Certifications and trust signals
Whether recognised certifications, standards and registry links are visible and verifiable.
15%
weight
- Recognised signals such as ISO 14001, B Corp, CDP, SBTi and EcoVadis.
- Registry or source links where a buyer can verify the claim.
- Assurance, governance and trust-policy language.
Score bands
The band names describe public authority, not moral worth.
0 to 20
Limited Authority
Limited public sustainability evidence is currently visible.
21 to 40
Early Authority
Early sustainability signals are present, with room to add evidence.
41 to 60
Emerging Authority
Useful sustainability information is visible, with opportunities to strengthen carbon evidence and methodology.
61 to 80
Strong Authority
Clear sustainability evidence, reporting and trust signals are visible.
81 to 100
Leading Authority
Comprehensive public sustainability evidence, reporting visibility and buyer-ready documentation.
References
The checks are anchored to public guidance.
We use these sources as design constraints for the scanner. The scanner still only scores what it can observe on public pages.
What we do not score
- Private supplier questionnaires or sales decks.
- Whether a company is legally compliant.
- Whether emissions data is formally assured unless public evidence says so.
- Whether a company is morally good or bad.
Next step
Use it as a buyer evidence screen.
The report gives a score, visible evidence, gaps and practical questions to ask before shortlisting a supplier.
Run a sustainability scan