SAP Ariba Sustainability Questionnaire: A Complete Supplier Guide

What Is the SAP Ariba Sustainability Questionnaire?

SAP Ariba is the world's largest B2B procurement network, used by thousands of large enterprises to manage supplier relationships and purchasing. Within Ariba, corporate buyers can create and send customised sustainability questionnaires to their supplier base.

If you have received an email notification from SAP Ariba about a sustainability assessment, your client is asking you to complete a structured carbon and ESG questionnaire inside their procurement portal. This guide explains exactly what they are asking and how to answer it correctly.

What Does a Typical Ariba Sustainability Questionnaire Cover?

Every company customises their questionnaire differently, but most cover these sections:

The verification URL field — even if marked optional — is where you paste your Carbon Passport link.

How Do You Access the Ariba Questionnaire?

1. Open the email from SAP Ariba (often sent from a noreply@ariba.com address)
2. Click the link to open your Ariba Supplier account
3. Navigate to Questionnaires in your supplier dashboard
4. Find the sustainability questionnaire from your specific buyer
5. Complete each section — you can save progress and return later
6. Submit when complete

If you do not yet have an Ariba account, you will be prompted to create one (free) during this process.

What Are the Most Common Mistakes Suppliers Make?

Suppliers who struggle with Ariba sustainability questionnaires typically make one of these errors:

• Leaving GHG fields blank — this registers as non-response, which hurts your supplier score
• Entering CO2 instead of CO2e — always use CO2 equivalent, which includes all greenhouse gases
• Reporting in kg instead of tonnes — Ariba expects tCO2e (metric tonnes); 1 tCO2e = 1,000 kgCO2e
• Using market-based electricity without a note — if you have a renewable tariff, write "100% renewable electricity via green tariff contract"
• Skipping the verification URL field — always paste your Carbon Passport URL here, even if marked optional

What If You Have Never Measured Your Emissions Before?

You have three realistic options:

• Leave it blank and accept the risk — your supplier score will reflect non-response
• Self-assess with estimates — acceptable for initial qualification, but must be labelled as estimated
• Measure using DeCarbonOPS — 20–30 minutes, GHG Protocol compliant, produces the exact figures Ariba needs

Generating a Carbon Passport before completing the questionnaire is the correct sequence. It takes less time than navigating the Ariba portal without the right numbers, and the resulting passport covers future questionnaires from other clients too.

How Do You Handle the Ariba Renewal the Following Year?

Ariba sustainability questionnaires expire — typically annually. When your renewal comes around, update your Carbon Passport with the latest year's data first, then return to Ariba and refresh the figures. DeCarbonOPS stores your company profile between years, so the renewal data entry takes 10–15 minutes rather than starting from scratch.

How Does Ariba Scoring Work for Sustainability?

Ariba assigns suppliers a sustainability risk score based on questionnaire responses. Factors that improve your score:

• Completing all fields (even with self-assessed data)
• Providing a methodology statement (GHG Protocol)
• Having a reduction target (even a simple one)
• Linking to a verification URL
• Holding ISO 14001 or an equivalent environmental certification

You do not need to be a carbon leader to score well. You need to be measurable and transparent. That is exactly what a Carbon Passport provides.