Partnering for health: Nexio Projects’ role in EcoVadis’ Sector Initiatives   

“Sector-wide collaboration is essential to unlocking better human rights and sustainability standards across the entire global health value chain.” 

Sector initiatives by EcoVadis 

The EcoVadis sector initiatives are collaborative programmes designed to unite key players within the same industry to address shared sustainability challenges across their global supply chains. They create a common platform for harmonised standards, shared tools, and collective learning, helping industry leaders coordinate efforts and accelerate progress on key environmental, social, and ethical issues (1).  

Through sector initiatives, organisations join forces to accelerate  systemic change — improving supplier engagement, strengthening due diligence, and building greater resilience across complex value chains.  

Examples of Sector Initiatives powered by EcoVadis  include:  

• Responsible Health Initiative (RHI): Healthcare and pharmaceutical sector initiative led by Amgen, AstraZeneca, UCB, , Moderna, , and other key organisations. 

• Responsible Beauty Initiative (RBI): Beauty & cosmetics sector collaboration led by , Coty, , L’Oréal, Groupe L’Occitane, Shiseido, Aromazone and LVMH Beauty. 

• Progress Initiative: FMCG and Food & Beverage sector collaboration led by Henkel, Mars, Reckitt, and Unilever. 

• Sustainable Rail Initiative (SRI): Rail and OEMs sector collaboration led by Alstom, Siemens, and other key industry players. 

• Aviation Initiative for Responsible Procurement (AIRPro): Commercial aviation sector collaboration led by Airbus, Boeing, and other aviation leaders. 

• Hospitality Alliance for Responsible Procurement (HARP): Hospitality sector alliance led by Accor, Hilton, Marriott, and more global hospitality groups. 

These initiatives provide shared methodologies, standardised KPIs, and governance structures that allow members to collectively monitor performance, identify risks, and drive measurable improvements across their value chains (1).  

More concretely, sector initiatives powered by EcoVadis deliver clear and practical benefits, creating efficiencies and fostering stronger collaboration across the value chain. Here’s why they matter: 

1. Efficiency for buyers and suppliers. Unified assessments streamline onboarding and create standard scorecards, saving time and effort while improving supplier coverage.  

2. Shared sector benchmarks and collaboration. Members benefit from pooled supplier scorecards (covering thousands of suppliers) and shared data on decarbonisation progress and transparency, enabling everyone to advance faster on key sustainability topics.
3. Scalable capacity-building. Suppliers gain access to focused trainings, webinars and improvement tools at no additional cost, which supports consistent member development. 

3. Demonstrable impact and reliable reporting. Sector initiatives drive measurable improvement in scores, supplier engagement, and emissions reporting. Collaboration makes it easier to identify risks, implement action, and report on improvement. 

4. Long-term strategic value. Members can actively manage risks, improve supplier relationships, and align with evolving expectations. Collective action leads to better overall outcomes and cost savings. 

The bottom line is: sector initiatives powered by  EcoVadis not only drive efficiency but can lay the groundwork for deeper change, making it easier for companies to align and advance together.  

Nexio Projects’ role in sector initiatives 

At Nexio Projects, we are proud to support sector initiatives by providing capacity-building and supplier engagement support to help embed sustainability across their operations and value chains.  

As a global EcoVadis strategic partner for more than 5 years and a platinum-rated company, our team provides guidance to organisations participating in EcoVadis sector initiatives. Our in-house experts have supported over 400 clients across 1,000+ projects in more than 20 countries, supporting organisations in 25+ sectors, including shipping, logistics, manufacturing, chemicals, and consumer goods. 

Our work spans multiple sector initiatives, with Responsible Health Initiative (RHI) being our current focus. We have had the pleasure to previously collaborate on the Responsible Beauty Initiative (RBI) and the Progress Initiative, contributing to supplier training and alignment efforts in those sectors. As part of RHI, Nexio Projects delivers diverse solutions to both buying organisations leveraging the EcoVadis rating platform and their suppliers. 

The Responsible Health Initiative (RHI) 

The Responsible Health Initiative (RHI) is a healthcare and pharmaceutical sector initiative powered by EcoVadis and led by major sector leaders including Amgen, AstraZeneca, Moderna, Stada, Teva, UCB, Ferrer, and Boehringer Ingelheim (3, 4).  

Its mission is to:  

• Foster industry-wide collaboration to improve sustainability and social responsibility in global healthcare supply chains.  

• Standardise performance measurement across suppliers, covering labour rights, human rights, environmental impact, and ethics.  

• Address systemic risks, from forced and child labour to unsafe working conditions and environmental harm, through collective action (3, 4).  

Today, RHI supports over 6,000  suppliers across 165 industries in 114 countries, creating a shared space for benchmarking, progress tracking, and continuous improvement (3). 

Nexio Projects partners with RHI to deliver comprehensive learning plans focused on human rights and decarbonisation, equipping healthcare organisations and their suppliers with the knowledge and tools to manage risks and drive sustainable value across their entire value chain. Through a series of foundational and advanced training sessions, we provide practical guidance on global human rights frameworks, building practical monitoring systems, and driving stakeholder engagement for continuous improvement on human rights topics. On the topic of decarbonisation, we propose a series of trainings to gain hands-on skills carbon accounting, reliable reporting, and supplier engagement to set science-based targets and implement emissions reduction across the value chain. 

How we support supplier engagement 

Supplier engagement is at the heart of sustainable procurement, and Nexio Projects enables organisations to accelerate progress across their value chain. We focus our support on two primary pillars: helping buying organisations and directly empowering their suppliers. 

For buying organisations 

Nexio Projects supports sustainable procurement for large organisations at every maturity stage, offering services such as: 

• At the beginner (transactional) stage, Nexio Projects helps organisations develop supplier codes of conduct and establish clear sustainability requirements. At this level the focus is on ensuring cost efficiency and meeting basic compliance obligations, with ESG risks addressed reactively. 

• As organisations progress to the risk management part, we support mapping tier 1 suppliers and assessing ESG risks within the supply chain. We also design and implement strategies to mitigate those risks while increasing transparency and clearly communicating supplier expectations. 

• Moving into the capability building level, Nexio Projects provides tailored supplier awareness and training programmes. These help suppliers deepen their understanding of sustainability risks and opportunities, and enable them to engage their own supply bases effectively on ESG topics. 

• At the incentivising stage, we assist organisations in creating supplier incentive programmes that embed sustainability into performance management and sourcing decisions. Such programmes reward top-performing suppliers with financial incentives, long-term contracts, and formal recognition, as well as creates incentives for procurement teams to align long term vision with day-to-day decision making. 

• Finally, at the collaborating (leadership) stage, Nexio Projects facilitates innovation and collaboration initiatives with suppliers. This fosters proactive partnerships that promote shared learning, address complex sustainability challenges, and unlock new opportunities for joint value creation. 

This approach ensures that large organisations receive the right support at every stage of their sustainable procurement journey, maximising shared value and accelerating progress across their value chain. 

For suppliers  

We equip suppliers with practical tools and targeted training to help them meet, and exceed, sustainability expectations: 

• Topic-focused training (e.g., decarbonisation, management system implementation). 

• EcoVadis assessment support and readiness. 

• Sustainability policy development and implementation. 

• Sustainability reporting and disclosure. 

• Outsourced sustainability management services. 

• Strategic sustainability roadmap development. 

• Supply chain engagement support and carbon footprint (Scope 3) analysis. 

By addressing needs on both sides of the value chain, Nexio Projects drives impactful, scalable improvement in supplier engagement and ESG performance. 

Download our guide on data collection throughout the supply chain.

Looking ahead 

Our ongoing collaboration with EcoVadis’ RHI reinforces our belief that sector initiatives are a powerful lever for systemic change. Whether in healthcare, beauty, FMCG, or other industries, working collectively is key to accelerating impact and ensuring a fairer, more sustainable future.! 

Whether you are a supplier or, on the requesting side,a procurement organisation (or both), we offer tailored sustainability solutions designed to meet your specific needs. Get in touch with us today to explore how we can support your organisation in achieving its ESG and sustainability goals. 

Contact Nexio Projects if you are seeking support in supplier engagement, EcoVadis assessments or more!

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References

1. EcoVadis, (n.d.) What is a Sector Initiative? EcoVadis Help Center. Available at: https://support.ecovadis.com/hc/en-us/articles/228414628-What-is-a-sector-initiative [Accessed 23 September 2025]. 
2. EcoVadis, (n.d.) EcoVadis Training Partners. EcoVadis. Available at: https://ecovadis.com/training-partners [Accessed 23 September 2025]. 
3. EcoVadis, (n.d.) The Responsible Health Initiative (RHI). EcoVadis. Available at: https://sector.ecovadis.com/the-responsible-health-initiative-rhi/ [Accessed 23 September 2025]. 
4. EcoVadis, (n.d.) About the Responsible Health Initiative. EcoVadis. Available at: https://sector.ecovadis.com/the-responsible-health-initiative/about [Accessed 23 September 2025].