CDP Reporting Standards: What Your Business Needs to Know in 2025

As climate concerns rise and sustainability becomes central to how businesses operate, companies face increasing pressure to demonstrate their environmental accountability. Regulators, investors, customers, and corporate partners all expect transparency about environmental impact and management strategies.

What is CDP?

Founded in 2000, the Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP) is a global platform enabling organizations to measure and share their environmental performance. The platform offers annual questionnaires and scoring systems that provide comparable ratings for corporate environmental disclosure and management effectiveness.

CDP reporting is technically voluntary but functionally essential. It represents "the most widely used sustainability and carbon disclosure system in the world." Increasingly, large corporations require suppliers to disclose through CDP as part of procurement and sustainability requirements.

Who Needs to Report?

CDP operates across more than 80 countries in both public and private sectors, applying to companies of all sizes. "Nearly 25,000 organizations disclosed through CDP in 2023 alone." Stakeholders use this data differently:

• Investors evaluate environmental risks affecting financial performance
• Customers require supplier disclosures to meet internal sustainability goals
• NGOs and advocacy groups track corporate accountability
• Financial institutions assess climate risk and regulatory compliance

What Does CDP Reporting Involve?

The process follows four steps:

1. Register - Create an account and register with CDP

2. Report - Complete a detailed questionnaire covering five themes:

• Climate Change
• Water security
• Forests
• Plastics
• Biodiversity

CDP's questionnaire aligns with major frameworks including GHG Protocol, IFRS S2, ESRS, TNFD, TCFD, GRI, and others, enabling companies to meet multiple requirements simultaneously.

3. Verify - CDP may require third-party or internal verification of submitted data

4. Receive a Score - Organizations receive ratings from D- to A, with A List recognition for leadership. Non-disclosing entities receive an F rating.

What's New in 2025?

CDP is emphasizing "granular, comprehensive data on indirect emissions" and strengthening requirements around Scope 3 emissions and value chain transparency. This shift acknowledges that indirect emissions significantly impact overall carbon footprints.

Why It Matters

Transparency expectations continue growing. In 2023, "companies reporting through CDP identified $16 trillion in potential climate-related opportunities." Participation enhances credibility, strengthens investor relationships, and opens partnership doors.

How to Prepare

1. Start tracking emissions using the Greenhouse Gas (GHG) Protocol
2. Focus on Scope 3 emissions by mapping supply chains and gathering vendor data
3. Invest in software - solutions like Aclymate can simplify CDP-aligned reporting with audit-ready data

Conclusion

CDP represents one of several major sustainability frameworks businesses must understand in 2025. As transparency expectations increase, navigating these frameworks becomes essential for meeting stakeholder demands, reducing risk, and identifying opportunities.