CDP is a not-for-profit organisation established in 2000 that runs the global environmental disclosure system for companies, cities, and governments. CDP has created an international standard for reporting on climate change, water, forests, and plastics.
As of 2023, 23,000 companies, accounting for two-thirds of global market capitalisation, report through CDP. This number continues to grow as consumers, investors, and other stakeholders increasingly expect companies to report on and manage their environmental impact.
Companies can disclose in response to a request from an investor, a customer, or both. The disclosure takes place in a questionnaire, separate for each topic: climate change, water and forestry.
In 2024, CDP will roll out a new integrated format for the complete corporate questionnaire, combining all three existing questionnaires across climate, forests, and water security into one integrated questionnaire. Each company's questionnaire is set up through an online response system (ORS) and happens annually. It starts in April, and submissions are due in July.
In April 2024, CDP will roll out a dedicated CDP SME corporate questionnaire. The questions in this questionnaire will be aligned to the CDP complete corporate questionnaire but with fewer data points, simplified question formats and enhanced guidance to ease SMEs' reporting burden.
Each year, CDP takes the information provided by companies in the questionnaires and scores companies based on disclosure and environmental performance to incentivise companies to disclose and improve their performance. The scores range from A-F and provide companies and stakeholders with feedback on where the companies are on the road to operating in line with a 1.5°C, deforestation-free and water-secure future.
CDP's scoring methodology assesses the level of detail and comprehensiveness in response, the company's awareness of environmental issues, its management methods and progress towards environmental stewardship.
The demand for environmental disclosure is rapidly increasing in the market, with investors, governments and regulators urging thousands of companies to share their environmental data, including through CDP.
Responding to stakeholder requests for disclosure offers several tangible business advantages:
CDP is collaborating with leading framework standard setters to achieve the most comprehensive application in the market. As of 2024, the following frameworks are aligned with the CDP questionnaires:
CDP's corporate questionnaire also supports disclosures in line with the GHG Protocol, AFi and the CEO Water Mandate.
The clock is ticking! Start reporting on your impact now. Contact our policy experts to discover our sustainability reporting solutions.
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