Although you might wonder what value there would be in voluntarily participating in a sustainability assessment, perhaps this could be a timely opportunity to reconsider the benefits of joining all the other businesses, which are already preparing their submissions for the September 2025 deadline.

What is CDP?

CDP is an international non-profit organisation, which formed in 2000 to help companies, capital markets, cities, states and regions to monitor and disclose environmental impacts, and, ultimately, identify, incentivise, and implement operational improvements; a win-win for both bottom-line profit and nature.

Who takes part?

The number of companies reporting through CDP has since grown to over 24,800 (approximately two-thirds of global market capitalisation); either voluntarily, or in response to direct requests from clients and customers.

How does it work?

Last year CDP streamlined the reporting process, incorporating what was previously three separate disclosures on climate change, forests, and water security, into one questionnaire. All participants provide information on strategy, governance, management of risks and opportunities and environmental performance (primarily, energy and carbon efficiency).

Depending on a company’s business activities, invitations are received or participants can choose to complete sections on climate change, forests, and/or water security. Larger companies of over 1,000 employees also disclose environmental impact relating to plastics and biodiversity.

Respondents are then graded ‘A’ to ‘D’, based on the transparency of their disclosures; the former being a market-leader, the latter a laggard.

You might be wondering why you would invest yet more resources into reporting, at the expense of action, so here’s the ‘why’:

Investment opportunities:

• CDP supports over 700 financial institutions with investment decisions, based on the participating organisations’ environmental performance and resilience. Some participants have used their CDP score to access sustainability-focused investment funds to finance sustainability improvements.

Streamlined reporting:

• CDP asks the questions and collects the data, based on what purchasers want, and need, to know from their suppliers. In 2024, over 300 supply chain owners, with a combined purchasing power of $6.5 trillion, used CDP to gather information from businesses across their value-chains. Consolidating answers in one place, therefore, can help to reduce time spent answering multiple information requests from different clients and customers.

Enhanced compliance:

• CDP has worked with the Taskforce on Climate-related Financial Disclosures to ensure complete alignment on the type and format of data required. Additionally, it aligns with more than 65% of the EU Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive’s (CSRD) environment-related disclosure topics.

Participating annually, therefore, feeds into wider compliance obligations and supports consistency across disclosures.

Further information

Contact Tom Bardwell

Is a social sustainability reporting shift on the horizon?