A customer asks your company to disclose through CDP. The request lands with the sustainability lead, operations team, or executive who now needs to work out what to submit, who owns the data, and how to meet the deadline.
The CDP program provides a structured way to report environmental information. For your team, participation starts with understanding the request and building an accurate response. A useful internal program also creates a repeatable process for collecting data, reviewing risks, and tracking improvements between reporting cycles.
What is the CDP program?
CDP, formerly known as the Carbon Disclosure Project, operates an environmental disclosure system used by companies, investors, and public authorities. Its work supports environmental transparency by making information about environmental impact and management available for decision-making.
For companies, participation centers on completing a questionnaire through the CDP Portal. The response brings together information about governance, strategy, risk management, environmental metrics, and targets. CDP's corporate question bank covers climate change and a broader range of environmental issues.
The term “CDP program” can also describe your company's internal work to prepare that disclosure. That work includes identifying data owners, documenting methods, reviewing answers, and acting on findings after submission. Treat these responsibilities as part of an ongoing operating process, with a clear reporting milestone each year.
Who participates and why?
CDP requests can come from customers participating in its Supply Chain program, capital markets signatories, banks, or initiatives an organization has joined. Companies can also volunteer to disclose.
These requests connect environmental reporting to a specific stakeholder need. A customer may be gathering information across its supply chains, while financial institutions may request information to understand environmental risks.
Start by confirming what your requester expects. Do they need a completed response, particular environmental data, or a specific result? Ask which entity should respond and whether parent-company reporting covers the request.
Keep the business objective explicit. Completing a requested submission and pursuing an A List score involve different planning decisions. Agree on the required outcome before allocating budget or setting improvement targets.
What environmental issues does CDP cover?
CDP uses a single corporate questionnaire with content tailored to the organization. Its environmental coverage includes climate change, water security, forests, plastics, biodiversity, and ocean-related issues. The questions a company receives depend on its pathway and setup.
Climate disclosure addresses emissions and how the business understands and manages climate risks. Water reporting examines water-related dependencies, impacts, risks, and management. Forests disclosure addresses forest-related issues, including commodities associated with deforestation, such as palm oil.
Review your actual questionnaire before assigning work. A facilities team may hold water information, procurement may own commodity sourcing records, and finance may hold inputs for emissions calculations. Build your collection plan around the questions that apply to your organization.
How does CDP relate to other reporting frameworks?
CDP brings several standards and frameworks into its disclosure approach. Its climate questions align with IFRS S2 and the TCFD recommendations, covering governance, strategy, risk management, and metrics and targets.
The questionnaire is also partially aligned with standards from the Global Reporting Initiative, or GRI. Its emissions reporting requirements align with relevant GHG Protocol standards and guidance.
This creates opportunities to reuse information, but each reporting framework still needs its own review. Match reporting periods, organizational boundaries, definitions, and evidence requirements before carrying data into another output.
If regulators require a separate disclosure, confirm the applicable requirements directly. A CDP response can support preparation, but alignment alone does not establish that your company has fulfilled a legal reporting obligation.
How is a CDP score determined?
CDP evaluates responses against its scoring methodology. The full corporate questionnaire has four levels: Disclosure (D/D-), Awareness (C/C-), Management (B/B-), and Leadership (A/A-). Progression depends on thresholds and applicable essential criteria.
In 2026, full corporate responses receive separate scores for climate change, forests, and water security, where applicable. Biodiversity, plastics, and ocean questions remain unscored. The SME questionnaire is scored for climate change only.
Read the result alongside the category breakdown. A CDP score describes the quality and maturity demonstrated in your response; it does not directly measure absolute environmental performance.
Use the findings to prioritize work. Separate incomplete answers from management practices that need development. Before pursuing A List recognition, review the current eligibility requirements and consider how that objective fits your stakeholder request.
How to build a manageable CDP program
1. Confirm the scope and calendar
Review requests in the Portal, confirm the submission lead, and complete questionnaire setup. Check any applicable administration fee and current deadlines.
Set internal dates for data collection, technical review, executive approval, and submission. Leave time to resolve inconsistent figures and unanswered questions. Keep the requester informed if you need clarification about scope.
2. Assign owners for the information
Choose one coordinator and identify owners across finance, facilities, procurement, and leadership. For each question, record the contributor, reviewer, supporting source, and due date.
Give contributors a precise request. Specify the reporting period, units, entity coverage, and required format. This helps reviewers compare inputs and identify missing information before drafting begins.
3. Prepare the emissions inventory
Use the GHG Protocol to structure your greenhouse gas emissions inventory. Scope 1 covers direct emissions, Scope 2 covers purchased electricity and other acquired energy, and Scope 3 addresses other value chain emissions.
Keep activity data, emission factors, calculation methods, and assumptions with the inventory. When describing carbon emissions, explain the reporting boundary and any limitations so the figures can be reviewed and reproduced.
4. Review risks and management evidence
Gather the records that support your answers about governance, environmental risks, targets, and actions. Make sure each answer reflects the practices actually implemented during the relevant period.
For an internal climate risk review, consider how potential disruptions could affect facilities, sourcing, costs, or customers. Document the assessment and identify who approves decisions. Apply the same discipline to other environmental issues covered by your questionnaire.
5. Check the response as a whole
Compare figures, dates, boundaries, and descriptions across sections. Resolve conflicting answers with the responsible owner. CDP scores the information in the response; external links and attachments count only where the methodology specifically permits them.
Retain the approved response and its supporting records. After results arrive, assign improvement actions with owners and deadlines. Review progress between cycles so the next submission builds on completed work.
Get support for your next CDP submission
Greenplaces supports CDP disclosure by mapping requirements, compiling evidence, drafting responses, managing submission, and analyzing scorecards.
Bring your customer request, previous response, and outstanding data questions to a strategy call. Use the discussion to define the scope, your team's responsibilities, and the support needed to complete your next disclosure.