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As climate concerns rise and sustainability becomes central to how businesses operate, companies are under increasing pressure to show what they’re doing about it. Whether it’s regulators, investors, customers, or corporate partners—everyone’s asking the same thing: What’s your environmental impact, and what are you doing to manage it?
One of the most widely recognized ways to answer that question is through CDP reporting. In this blog—the first in a series exploring key sustainability frameworks—we break down what CDP is, who it applies to, and what your business needs to do to get ready.
Founded in 2000, CDP, formerly the Carbon Disclosure Project, is a global platform that helps organizations measure and share their environmental performance. It offers annual questionnaires and scoring systems, which provides a clear, comparable rating for how well a company is disclosing and managing climate-related tasks.
With the ability to earn a Carbon Disclosure Rating, CDP enables companies to take inventory of their environmental efforts and then share that story in a format that stakeholders can understand and trust.
While CDP reporting is technically voluntary, its influence is far-reaching. In fact, the most widely used sustainability and carbon disclosure system in the world. For many businesses, participating isn’t really optional anymore, especially if you are part of a larger company’s supply chain. More and more corporations are asking their suppliers to disclose through CDP as part of their sustainability and procurement requirements.
CDP reporting is used across both the public and private sectors in more than 80 countries, applying to companies of all shapes and sizes. In fact, nearly 25,000 organizations disclosed through CDP in 2023 alone. While any company can choose to participate, CDP disclosures are often requested by large, key stakeholders who want a clearer picture of a business’s environmental performance and climate-related risks.
Here’s how different groups might use CDP data:
CDP reporting entails a clear, four step process:
1. Register: The first step is to create an account and register with the CDP.
2. Report: After registering, participating organizations complete a detailed questionnaire focused on five key environmental themes:
CDP’s corporate questionnaire is designed to align with major sustainability reporting frameworks, allowing companies to meet multiple requirements in one go. These include:
The questionnaire is adaptable, enabling participation across various sectors, sizes, and revenue levels.
3. Verify: CDP may require data verification, either by an approved third-party or its internal verification team, to ensure accuracy and credibility.
4. Receive a Score: Submitted reports are scored using CDP’s standardized methodology. Organizations receive ratings ranging from D- to A, with A List companies recognized for leadership in transparency and performance. Entities that fail to disclose receive an F rating.
While CDP reporting can be time-consuming,especially for newcomers or those without established data systems, it remains one of the most respected tools for demonstrating commitment to environmental accountability.
In 2025, CDP is raising the bar on Scope 3 emissions and value chain transparency. Although the questionnaire itself hasn’t changed dramatically, there is now a stronger emphasis on providing granular, comprehensive data on indirect emissions.
This shift reflects a growing recognition of how significantly Scope 3 emissions, which occur outside an organization’s direct operations, can impact a company’s overall carbon footprint.
As expectations around transparency grow, more companies are stepping up to share how they manage their emissions and tackle environmental risks, especially in their supply chains. CDP makes this process easier with a flexible reporting framework that helps organizations stay ahead of new regulations.
In fact, in 2023 alone, companies reporting through CDP identified $16 trillion in potential climate-related opportunities. Being part of CDP can boost a company’s credibility, strengthen investor relationships, and open the door to new partnerships. On the flip side, staying silent might mean missing out.
Preparing for CDP reporting is all about building a solid foundation for tracking and managing environmental data. Here’s how to get started:
Looking to simplify this process? Services like Aclymate provide software that can simplify CDP-aligned reporting with accurate, audit-ready carbon reporting data.
CDP is just one of several major sustainability reporting frameworks businesses are expected to understand in 2025. As expectations for climate transparency grow, knowing how to navigate these frameworks will be essential to meet stakeholder demands, reduce risk, and seize opportunity. Whether you're responding to investor pressure, preparing for regulatory shifts, or aligning your supply chain, CDP reporting is a powerful tool to showcase environmental accountability.
In our next installment, we’ll cover what to expect from EcoVadis reporting—how it differs from CDP, what criteria it assesses, and how you can score higher to stand out in procurement processes.
Ready to take the first step?
Download your free emissions report or start a free trial with Aclymate to simplify your carbon reporting and get audit-ready data that aligns with CDP and other global frameworks.