FranceRSE Certification: The " ESG " certification is open to all sectors

Manufacturing, services, consulting, associations, public services, and public institutions: FranceRSE Certification evaluates an organization’s “ ESG ” approach regardless of its sector. ESTRADS Certification awards each level based on verified evidence and following an on-site audit.

What the people you're talking to are asking you to prove

Today, a committed organization faces the same demands from four different quarters: its clients and contractors, its funders, its candidates, and its public stakeholders. FranceRSE Certification addresses each of these demands with third-party-verified evidence.

The Growing Number of CSR Surveys

The CSRD Directive and the Duty of Care Act apply to large companies. Their suppliers, on the other hand, receive the corresponding questionnaires—one per client, each with its own format and timeline. Certification provides you with a single, third-party-verified response to present to each of them.

Funding sources that want proof

Banks, investment funds, and insurers are incorporating non-financial criteria into their decision-making. The analysis report provided along with the certification offers them a verified ESG assessment, rather than just rhetoric. ESTRADS Certification also provides an ESG rating for financial institutions evaluating a portfolio.

Job seekers who compare employers

Recent graduates and new hires look at how a company treats its employees before applying. The certification evaluates your policies on recruitment, gender equality, employment of people with disabilities, training, and harassment prevention. This provides you with a verified selling point that is particularly useful in fields with labor shortages.

Bids Where the " ESG " Matters

ESG ’s criteria carry weight in both public procurement and private consultations. The certificate and its communication kit allow you to meet these criteria with a document prepared by a third party. Certified organizations are listed on the page Our References.

A certification open to all sectors
, and all types of organizations

While otherESTRADS Certification certifications are designed for specific industries, the FranceRSE Certification is intended for any organization—whether private or public—regardless of its field of activity. The questionnaire is tailored to the organization’s size, activities, and status.

Large Corporations and Mid-Sized Companies

Your subcontractors reflect on your reputation. Certification provides a common framework for identifying which ones share your standards, and a way to report on your own actions to your employees, shareholders, and the public. To map all of your suppliers based on their certifications, see the supplier and subcontractor mapping tool ATLAS.

Suppliers, Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises (SMEs), and Mid-Sized Companies

You already have responsible practices in place, but nothing to certify them. Certification assesses what you have in place, identifies what’s missing, and provides you with a report that serves as a roadmap. Your teams can use it on their own.

Service and Consulting Firms

Your employees work at your clients' sites. The questionnaire for service companies focuses on what you control: your teams, your internal practices, your partners, and your subcontractors.

Startup

A young company must win over its investors and its first industrial clients. The startup questionnaire is tailored to the company’s size and helps it establish its “ ESG ” approach from the outset, rather than having to rebuild it later under pressure from a client.

Associations and Organizations

An organization is accountable to its members, its funders, and the local governments that support it. The nonprofit questionnaire covers its governance, the use of its resources, and its working conditions.

Public Services and Public Institutions

Local governments, public institutions, government agencies, hospitals, schools, and universities, as well as joint agencies and associations: every public institution is accountable to its governing bodies, elected officials, and citizens. FranceRSE Certification provides an independent assessment of its approach ESG, using criteria tailored to its specific operations—public procurement, asset management, employment policies, and relations with service users. The report helps the institution track its progress and report on it in its annual reports and sustainability reports.

A public institution that also wishes to assess its dependencies—particularly digital ones—can supplement its approach with NSI Certification.

What the FranceRSE Certification Measures

More than 500 criteria, grouped into eight categories. The questionnaire varies depending on the organization’s profile: industrial company, service company, large corporation, small or medium-sized business, startup, nonprofit, or public institution. Multiple managers can collaborate on the responses (senior management, finance, legal, human resources, production, ESG).

Regulations and Ethics: Applicable Laws and Regulations, Anti-Corruption Measures, Transparency.
Governance: decision-making, transparency regarding shareholders and beneficial owners.
Employees: recruitment, gender equality, disability, training, harassment prevention, workplace well-being.
External partners: shared ethical standards with customers, suppliers, and subcontractors.
Environment: energy, resources, emissions, biodiversity, waste management and recycling.
Innovation: Responsible research and development; sharing innovation.
High-demand occupations: promoting these occupations, training, career transition, and working conditions.
Cybersecurity: staff awareness, security tools, data processing.

Where do these criteria come from? From international, European, and French documents listed on the page Our Certifications page: Sustainable Development Goals, ISO 26000, ISO 9001, ISO 14001, ISO 45001, CSRD and ESRS standards, CS3D, Taxonomy, SFDR, the PACTE Act, the Sapin II Act, and the 2017 Act on the Duty of Care. These standards are reviewed annually, or sooner if a relevant document is amended.

Five levels, to help students progress from one year to the next

The FranceRSE Certification has five levels: Essential, followed by 2-, 3-, 4-, and 5-star ratings. These are earned in order. The first level assesses the current state of affairs and provides a 30- to 100-page report that serves as a roadmap; the subsequent levels evaluate what the organization has implemented, then the overall consistency of its efforts, and finally what it does beyond what is required.

The certification is valid for 12 months. Each year, an evaluation is conducted to determine whether the organization can maintain its current level or advance to the next one. An organization that no longer meets the requirements for its current level—for example, following a takeover or a change in leadership—may be downgraded one level.

Details about each level can be found on the page Levels.

A sovereign and independent certification body

As an independent, trusted third party, ESTRADS Certification is an organization that provides auditing, ESG rating, CSR certification, and sovereignty assessment services. It has issued 650 certifications, none of which have been rejected by a contracting entity or client. It is certified to ISO 9001, ISO 14001, and ISO 45001 and holds the status of a mission-driven company.

ESTRADS Certification , a company with 100% French ownership, is not subject to the Cloud Act: the documents and information transmitted during a certification process remain with a French provider. Details are available on the page Our Sovereignty.

The evaluation is based on evidence verified on a case-by-case basis, on-site audits, and a peer-review certification committee. Any stakeholder can report a violation on the page Notify Us page: a non-compliance results in requests for corrective action and may lead to sanctions.

What if your organization is part of a specific industry?

The FranceRSE Certification covers all sectors. When an industry has its own certification, it incorporates the same requirements and adds industry-specific criteria: ProD&S for defense and security, ProTarmac for aerospace and airport infrastructure, ProAtome for the nuclear sector, ProSpace for the space industry, ProTrack for motorsports, ProDemos for events, ProFinEthic for ethical finance. The team will help you determine which one best suits your business: see all our certifications and charters.

Letter of Recognition from the DGA

ESTRADS Certification received an official letter of recognition from the DGA highlighting the relevance of his work. As this excerpt states:

“The Defense Industry Directorate (DGA/DID) has taken note of the work conducted by ESTRADS Certification in the field of ethical, social, environmental, and sovereignty certification as applied to complex and sensitive industrial sectors, and more specifically to strategic sectors related to defense and security. This letter serves as explicit recognition of the value of the approach developed by ESTRADS Certification as an independent private initiative aimed at supporting industrial stakeholders in a proactive effort to advance and structure their practices.”

Let's talk about your FranceRSE certification

A quick conversation is all it takes to determine which questionnaire applies to you, which level to aim for, and which pricing plan applies. Pricing is based on your revenue, with special terms available for startups and members of partner organizations. A certified organization that recommends ESTRADS Certification qualifies for the referral program.