CDP 2026: how scoring works and what changed in the questionnaire

In short

CDP scores its integrated questionnaire question by question on four levels: disclosure, awareness, management and leadership. To move up a level, a company needs enough points at the level below and must pass that level's essential criteria. The 2026 questionnaire tightens requirements on renewable energy contracts, 1.5°C transition plans and physical risk adaptation.

Key points

• The corporate version of CDP's integrated questionnaire has 13 modules and more than 150 questions, and each question feeds one of 17 scoring categories whose weights vary by sector.
• Each answer earns points at the disclosure, awareness, management and leadership levels: on the scenario analysis question used as an example, completing all five columns of the table gives 3 disclosure points, and answering yes unlocks the awareness and management points.
• Essential criteria work as locks: miss one and you stay at the lower level whatever your points. In a client example shown, 78% of disclosure points, below the 80% needed, kept the company from reaching a C.
• According to the speakers, the 2026 setup adds an aviation sector, merges gas and electric utilities into one energy sector, opens forests and water plus an A score to the SME questionnaire, and moves RE100 members to the corporate questionnaire.
• For the top scores in 2026, CDP asks for the duration and time matching of renewable electricity contracts, a public transition plan explicitly aligned with 1.5°C that stakeholders can comment on, and evidence that identified physical risks are actually managed.
• The speakers' preparation method: set a target score, check the essential criteria it requires, find where points were lost last year with a gap analysis, then run an action plan before the submission window closes in September.

Chapters

1. 0:00Welcome and introductions
2. 3:39Agenda and the 2026 CDP timeline
3. 5:42About Ditto, CDP accredited partner
4. 7:46What CDP is and its key numbers
5. 11:48Scoring categories and the D to A scale
6. 15:02How scoring works: points and essential criteria
7. 17:46Worked examples: scenario analysis and risks
8. 23:02Q&A: answering on water when it isn't material
9. 25:592026 changes: sectors and the SME questionnaire
10. 29:302026 content changes and renewable energy contracts
11. 32:39Transition plan and physical risk adaptation
12. 36:25Q&A: SBTi-validated targets and the A List
13. 38:20Five steps to prepare and gap analysis
14. 45:20Client case: Adenes, B score in one month
15. 46:07CDP Coaching Guide 2026
16. 46:52Q&A: finding the essential criteria, and wrap-up