CASE STUDY
From Zero to Enterprise-Ready: How Studion Built a Sustainability Program Under Real Business Pressure
A 30-employee company's journey to an EcoVadis Silver Medal
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Studion had never done any of this before. No sustainability director, no internal roadmap, no prior disclosure experience, just a general counsel and a global controller who suddenly had to figure out CDP, EcoVadis, and SBTi all at once, because a strategic life sciences client made all three a condition of staying on as a vendor. RyeStrategy stepped in and treated the three frameworks as one connected program instead of three separate scrambles, so the work Studion did for one requirement carried straight into the next. By the end of the engagement, Studion had a CDP climate disclosure submitted, an EcoVadis Committed rating in hand, and SBTi targets formally validated. The company now leans on that track record in client conversations that have nothing to do with the original deadline.
For two decades, lean internal teams managed Studion's growth. The company was genuinely environmentally minded, but sustainability had never been formalized. No dedicated director, reporting structure, or roadmap existed. As Glyn Polson, Studion's General Counsel, puts it, the company's environmental footprint lived somewhere between good intentions and recycling bins, which is where a lot of companies quietly stay until something forces the question.
The Challenge: An Enterprise Client Requirement With No Internal Program
A major life sciences client brought a requirement that was neither optional nor vague. To be considered for the engagement, Studion needed to demonstrate credible, transparent environmental reporting across CDP, EcoVadis, and SBTi. The timeline was aggressive and the stakes were explicit.
For a company without a sustainability function, a dedicated director, or any prior disclosure experience, the scope of what was being asked could have been paralyzing. The frameworks were unfamiliar, the process was technical, and the team tasked with delivering it, Studion's general counsel and global controller, had full-time jobs unrelated to carbon accounting.
The turning point came when they recognized early that this wasn't a problem to solve by learning three frameworks independently. It required a partner who could hold the whole picture at once, so the team could move from unknown requirements to a coordinated plan.
Choosing a Sustainability Partner Built for the Unknown
When Studion began evaluating partners, they narrowed the field to five firms before selecting RyeStrategy. Glyn is candid about where the company stood at that point.
"We were starting from actually zero. We had no sustainability function, we had no internal roadmap. The scope of what was being asked was significant, and the aggressive timeline made it feel rather daunting. We knew the stakes, but we had no roadmap." — Glyn Polson, General Counsel, Studion
The team that stepped into the engagement was not a sustainability department. Glyn, as general counsel, and Studion's global controller became the internal leads for a process neither had dealt with before. That pairing of legal and finance leading a complex, technical environmental disclosure is more common than most people acknowledge, and it shapes what effective outside support actually needs to look like.
One Coordinated Sustainability Program, Not Three Separate Projects
For a lean team managing this work alongside their primary responsibilities, that sequencing mattered as much as the technical guidance. Every task was tied to the downstream intent behind it, which helped the team see how each step fit the larger program.
"Instead of feeling like three complex systems pulling us in different directions, the process was quite cohesive. We shifted it from a series of tactical check-the-box tasks into a coordinated strategic capability we could build on."
"RyeStrategy really helped us understand how decisions in one area cascaded into other areas. Governance and boundary decisions informed emissions reporting, emissions data fed the SBTi target setting, and all of this strengthened our CDP disclosure and then flowed naturally into EcoVadis. This coordination was critical for our success."
Glyn Polson, General Counsel, Studion
The impetus was to protect revenue and ensure success with a transitional enterprise client in the life sciences world. If we couldn't demonstrate credible, transparent environmental reporting, we really risked losing a very strategic account.
Glyn Polson, General Counsel, Studion
For Studion, the right partner didn't hand over a static template and step back. RyeStrategy embedded alongside a busy team, translated unfamiliar requirements into prioritized, feasible steps, and kept the work moving without requiring the internal team to become sustainability experts overnight.
The operational challenge with CDP, EcoVadis, and SBTi is that each framework has its own methodology, data requirements, and submission process. Approached independently, they compete for the same limited internal bandwidth. Approached as a coordinated system, the work done for one framework builds the foundation for the next.
That coordination was central to how RyeStrategy structured the engagement. Hannah, who led the work at RyeStrategy, treated the three frameworks as components of a single sustainability operating model. Governance and boundary decisions shaped how Studion's emissions were reported, emissions data fed directly into SBTi target development, and the resulting targets strengthened the CDP disclosure before flowing into EcoVadis scoring.
| Framework | Outcome |
|---|---|
| EcoVadis | 55/100, Committed medal, 37th percentile globally |
| SBTi | Validated targets: 42% absolute Scope 1 and 2 reduction by 2030 from a 2023 base year, plus a commitment to measure and reduce Scope 3 emissions |
| CDP | Climate disclosure submitted, SME B rating |
Studion's most recent EcoVadis assessment, published in August 2026, scored strongest in Ethics (64/100) and Environment (61/100), with Sustainable Procurement close behind at 56/100. For a company that had never participated in a formal sustainability rating before this engagement, that result reflects genuine program quality across every dimension EcoVadis measures.
On the SBTi side, Studion's commitment is specific and independently reviewed: a 42% absolute reduction in Scope 1 and 2 greenhouse gas emissions by 2030 from a 2023 base year, alongside a commitment to measure and reduce Scope 3 emissions. Studion is now accountable to targets it set for itself, not just a requirement handed down by a client.
Starting from zero, Studion completed a full carbon footprint, submitted a CDP climate disclosure, earned an EcoVadis Committed rating, and had its SBTi targets formally validated within a single coordinated program.
The Results: CDP Disclosure, an EcoVadis Committed Rating, and Validated SBTi Targets
Moving from Compliance Checkbox to Strategic Capability
That shift has changed how Studion shows up in client conversations. When sustainability requirements come up in new business discussions, the company's position is fundamentally different from where it was before. Having already executed against these requirements for a leading life sciences company makes it an easy answer for Glyn now, rather than something to scramble to address.
When Studion started this process, the goal was defined and bounded: meet a specific client's sustainability requirements on an aggressive timeline. After that deadline passed, the work took on a different meaning.
Glyn points to the moment Studion received its EcoVadis rating as an important shift.
"Getting the EcoVadis rating back was the turning point. Up to that point, it felt like an abstract data-collection and reporting effort to satisfy a known requirement. Once we had an external, third-party rating in hand, it became something we could point to and be proud of, not just paperwork to clear for compliance purposes. Setting the SBTi target afterward reinforced that, too. We are now setting our own bar for continual improvement, not just meeting someone else's.'“
Advice for Companies Facing Similar Requirements
"I'd recommend not waiting for a known scope before engaging. We didn't fully know what we needed when we brought Rye in, and their model meant we could solve it together rather than needing locked specs upfront. “
Glyn Polson, General Counsel, Studion
Glyn also points to contract structure as something worth getting right from the start. Building scope flexibility into the SOW so requirements can shift without triggering formal amendments allowed Studion to move at the pace the client demanded, a practical consideration that rarely comes up in sustainability conversations, but matters enormously in practice.
Today Studion has a validated emissions baseline, formally approved science-based targets, and ratings across two of the most recognized sustainability frameworks in enterprise procurement. A single client requirement grew into a standing capability the business now draws on in any conversation, built by a company that had a hard deadline, a strategic account on the line, and the judgment to find a partner who could build the program alongside them.
Asked what he would tell another general counsel facing sustainability requirements flowing down through a client agreement with no in-house expertise to meet them, Glyn's answer is direct.
“If your situation is similarly undefined and you are contractually obligated to meet targets set by a client despite having little to no in-house process or expertise to get there, look for a partner built for that kind of iterative, adaptive engagement, not one that needs a finished RFP or locked requirements to perform.”
Frequently Asked Questions
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CDP is a climate disclosure system that companies use to report their environmental impact. Investors and enterprise buyers are increasingly asking for it as a part of vetting their vendors and portfolios. It's become one of the standard ways a company proves its climate reporting is credible and transparent, not just a claim on a website.
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EcoVadis rates companies across environment, labor and human rights, ethics, and sustainable procurement, then ranks them against everyone else who's been rated. A Committed medal means a company scored in the higher percentiles of that pool, which is a meaningful signal for a company that had never gone through a formal sustainability rating before.
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SBTi (Science Based Targets initiative) targets are greenhouse gas reduction commitments that are independently reviewed and validated against climate science, typically aligned with limiting global warming to well below 2°C. Enterprise buyers are increasingly mandating target action from suppliers, as a part of meeting their own science-based target commitments.
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Yes. Studion had no dedicated sustainability staff, roadmap, or prior disclosure experience before starting this engagement. Working with RyeStrategy as a coordinated program rather than three separate projects, Studion completed a full carbon footprint, submitted a CDP disclosure, earned an EcoVadis Committed rating, and had SBTi targets formally validated.
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Timelines vary by scope and internal bandwidth, but coordinating CDP, EcoVadis, and SBTi as a single program, rather than tackling each independently, is what makes an aggressive timeline achievable, since work completed for one framework directly feeds the others.
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