What is CDP reporting?
The CDP (Carbon Disclosure Project) is an international environmental reporting initiative that invites companies to disclose information on key environmental topics. Created in 2000, CDP assesses how organisations manage climate change, water, and deforestation, and is progressively integrating emerging topics such as plastic waste and biodiversity.
Each year, companies complete a standardised questionnaire covering greenhouse gas emissions, environmental governance, internal policies, and climate-related risk assessment.
Why structure your CDP reporting?
A well-structured CDP reporting process serves several strategic objectives:
- Anticipate regulation: CDP methodology is largely aligned with CSRD requirements, particularly on climate (ESRS E1).
- Strengthen credibility: a strong CDP score (A or B) demonstrates environmental maturity and builds investor confidence.
- Engage internal teams: structured reporting improves coordination between ESG, operations and finance.
- Accelerate environmental transition: collecting and analysing environmental data helps prioritise actions and investments.
Key steps to successful CDP environmental reporting
1. Define scope and priorities
Each company must identify the most relevant topics (climate, water, forests) based on its sector and ambitions. CDP questionnaires are sector-specific and reflect material priorities. High-impact sectors such as energy or transport must complete additional modules.
An Impacts, Risks and Opportunities (IRO) assessment is the foundation of CDP reporting. This step frames the climate strategy and organises resources needed for data collection.
Maximise your CDP 2026 score
We designed this guide to help you understand the scoring, avoid common pitfalls, and structure your response to make meaningful progress.
2. Collect and validate data
At the core of CDP reporting lies the accurate and verifiable collection of environmental data, including:
- Greenhouse gas emissions (Scopes 1, 2 and 3) following the GHG Protocol;
- Water consumption and management, particularly in water-stressed areas;
- Supply-chain impacts, especially from strategic suppliers;
- Deforestation avoidance and waste management policies.
Data must come from reliable internal sources and be consolidated through a quality-control process. ESG reporting tools help centralise indicators and supporting evidence.
3. Mobilise and coordinate internal teams
CDP reporting requires cross-functional governance:
- Executive and finance teams for strategic validation,
- Environmental teams for data collection,
- Operations and procurement for value-chain inputs,
- ESG specialists for methodological consistency.
A kick-off meeting and internal validation loop ensure consistency and compliance across responses.
4. Use the right tools and processes
Companies submit their responses via the CDP online portal, in English, Spanish, Portuguese or Chinese (French is not accepted for scoring).
Implementing an integrated ESG reporting system simplifies data consolidation, traceability and reuse across other frameworks (ISO, EcoVadis, CSRD).
5. Respect deadlines and structure the timeline
For 2025, the CDP platform is expected to open around 16 June, with the scoring submission deadline set for 14 September.
Best practice is to define a clear backward planning early in the year:
- March–April: scope definition and initial data collection
- May–June: drafting and internal validation
- July–August: review and quality checks
- Early September: submission before the deadline
6. Understand and use CDP scoring
CDP assigns scores from A to D, based on four maturity levels:
- D: Disclosure (data transparency)
- C: Awareness (analysis of environmental impacts, risks and opportunities)
- B: Management (strategy and action plans)
- A: Leadership (best practices and strategic integration)
A company can only reach a level if it fully meets the criteria of the previous one.
Scores provide the basis for environmental benchmark, helping organisations position themselves against peers and identify improvement priorities.
7. Use results to drive continuous improvement
Analysing the CDP score helps identify improvement levers and structure an ongoing action plan:
- Closing gaps identified by CDP,
- Updating environmental policies and targets,
- Integrating CDP reporting into the broader ESG strategy.
CDP results can be made public, strengthening transparency and credibility with investors and clients.
CDP reporting – Key takeaways
| Key step | Main objective | Best practices | Expected outcome |
|---|---|---|---|
| Define the scope | Frame the approach based on material topics | Identify relevant themes (climate, water, forests) | Focused and relevant reporting |
| Collect data | Ensure reliability and traceability | Use the GHG Protocol, control data sources | Consistent and verifiable data |
| Mobilise teams | Ensure reporting rigour | Coordinate ESG, finance and operations | Smooth and complete submission |
| Equip the process | Automate and centralise reporting | Use a shared ESG platform (e.g. Ditto) | Time savings and cross-framework consistency |
| Respect the timeline | Avoid scoring penalties | Plan from early spring | On-time CDP submission |
| Interpret the score | Identify improvement levers | Sector benchmarking and action plan | Progression towards A and B scores |
