What Is CDP Reporting: A Complete Disclosure Guide
For many sustainability and ESG teams, CDP reporting has become one of the most demanding disclosure requirements to manage. Data gaps across Scope 1, 2, and 3 emissions, evolving questionnaires, tight timelines, and increasing scrutiny from investors make CDP a complex process.
As expectations rise, CDP carbon disclosure is no longer just a voluntary exercise. It directly impacts reputation, access to capital, and how credibly a company’s climate strategy is perceived.
This guide is designed to break down how CDP reporting works, who it applies to, and how organizations can approach disclosure with confidence rather than confusion.
Whether you’re reporting for the first time or aiming to improve performance year over year, this resource will help you understand expectations, navigate challenges, and build a more structured approach to climate disclosure.
What Is CDP Reporting?
CDP reporting refers to the environmental disclosure process facilitated by the Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP). It is a voluntary, globally recognized system that enables companies, cities, states, and public authorities to disclose standardized data on their environmental impacts, risks, and actions.
At its core, CDP reporting focuses on key environmental themes, including climate change, water security, and forests. Through detailed questionnaires, participating organizations report how their operations affect the environment and how environmental factors, in turn, influence their financial performance and long-term resilience.
CDP reporting captures both quantitative data and strategic insights, such as:
- Greenhouse gas emissions (Scope 1, 2, and increasingly Scope 3)
- Climate-related risks and opportunities, including physical and transition risks
- Governance structures overseeing environmental issues
- Targets and performance, such as emissions reduction goals aligned with climate science
- Risk management practices for water scarcity, deforestation, and ecosystem impacts
- Integration of sustainability into business strategy and capital planning
This disclosure framework allows organizations to clearly document how they identify environmental risks, reduce emissions, and align business strategies with global climate and sustainability goals.
Who Needs to Report to CDP?
CDP reporting applies to a wide range of organizations across the global economy. While participation remains voluntary in principle, market expectations, investor pressure, and regulatory alignment have made CDP disclosure effectively essential for many entities.
1. Publicly listed companies
Public companies face the strongest expectations to report to Carbon Disclosure Project. Institutional investors, asset managers, and banks use CDP data to evaluate climate risk, emissions exposure, and long-term resilience. Companies listed on major stock exchanges are frequently requested to disclose through CDP by shareholders seeking transparent, decision-useful environmental data.
2. Large private companies
Large privately held organizations increasingly report to CDP due to their economic scale and environmental footprint. Private equity firms, lenders, and insurers rely on CDP disclosures to assess risk and value creation potential. Reporting also supports readiness for future regulatory requirements and strengthens credibility with customers and partners.
3. Supply-chain companies
Many organizations report to CDP because they are requested by customers. Global brands and multinational corporations ask suppliers to disclose emissions, water use, and deforestation risks through CDP Supply Chain questionnaires. Suppliers that respond gain visibility, maintain preferred-supplier status, and demonstrate alignment with customer sustainability goals.
4. Financial institutions
Banks, asset managers, insurers, and other financial institutions report to CDP to disclose financed emissions, climate risk management practices, and portfolio alignment with climate targets. These disclosures support responsible investment strategies and respond to growing scrutiny from regulators and beneficiaries.
5. Cities, states, and regions
Local and regional governments report through CDP to share data on climate action plans, emissions inventories, adaptation measures, and resilience strategies. This disclosure supports benchmarking, access to climate finance, and collaboration with peers across regions.
6. Governments and public authorities
National and subnational public bodies use CDP to communicate progress on climate mitigation, water security, and forest protection. Reporting enhances transparency, supports policy evaluation, and strengthens engagement with international stakeholders.
How to Report on CDP
Preparing for CDP reporting requires more than filling out a questionnaire. It involves structured data collection, cross-functional coordination, and a clear understanding of disclosure expectations. Below are the key steps companies should follow to report effectively and improve their CDP carbon disclosure score over time.
1. Understand the CDP Questionnaire Structure
The first step is understanding how CDP frameworks are organized. CDP climate disclosure questionnaires typically cover governance, risks and opportunities, emissions data, targets, and strategy. Knowing what CDP expects helps teams avoid gaps and inconsistencies that can negatively affect scoring.
2. Define Reporting Boundaries and Scope
Companies must clearly define organizational boundaries, reporting year, and emission scopes. This is especially important for CDP reporting companies with complex structures or global operations. Clear boundaries ensure data consistency and comparability across reporting cycles.
3. Collect and Validate Environmental Data
Accurate emissions data is the foundation of strong CDP environmental reporting. Businesses need reliable Scope 1, 2, and where applicable, Scope 3 data. Validation processes and internal reviews are critical to avoid errors, omissions, or contradictory disclosures.
4. Align Strategy, Targets, and Risk Management
CDP places strong emphasis on how climate risks are integrated into business strategy. Companies should clearly explain targets, transition plans, and governance oversight. This demonstrates maturity in CDP climate disclosure, beyond basic data reporting.
5. Review, Submit, and Prepare for Scoring
Before submission, responses should be reviewed for clarity, consistency, and alignment with previous disclosures. After submission, companies should analyze feedback and scoring outcomes to identify improvement areas for future reporting cycles.
CDP vs Other ESG Frameworks
As sustainability reporting matures, companies often find themselves navigating multiple frameworks at once. While CDP plays a critical role in environmental disclosure, it is not the only framework businesses encounter. Understanding how CDP compares with other major ESG standards helps organizations streamline reporting through carbon tracking software and reduce duplication.
CDP vs GRI
CDP is primarily focused on environmental performance, especially climate change, water security, and deforestation. It emphasizes quantitative data, risk assessment, and forward-looking climate strategy, making it highly valuable for investors.
GRI, on the other hand, offers a broader sustainability framework covering environmental, social, and governance topics. It is designed for a wide range of stakeholders and focuses on impact reporting rather than investor risk alone. Many companies use GRI for comprehensive sustainability reports while leveraging CDP for deeper climate disclosure.
CDP vs TCFD
CDP is closely aligned with the Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures (TCFD). In fact, CDP’s climate questionnaire maps directly to TCFD recommendations, covering governance, strategy, risk management, and metrics.
The key difference is that TCFD provides principles and guidance, while CDP operationalizes those principles through a structured questionnaire and scoring system. For companies asking what CDP reporting is, this makes CDP a practical way to implement TCFD-aligned climate disclosure.
CDP vs SASB
SASB focuses on financially material ESG issues specific to industries. Its standards are concise and designed for inclusion in financial filings.
CDP complements SASB by going deeper into environmental data and emissions management. While SASB identifies what to disclose from a financial materiality perspective, CDP helps companies demonstrate how they manage climate risks and environmental performance in detail.
CDP vs Integrated Reporting (IR)
Integrated Reporting aims to connect financial and non-financial performance into a single narrative explaining how an organization creates long-term value.
CDP feeds into this process by providing verified, structured environmental data that can strengthen the climate and natural capital components of an integrated report. Rather than competing, CDP often supports stronger integrated reporting outcomes.
Common Challenges in CDP Reporting
1. Data collection across teams and geographies
One of the biggest challenges in CDP reporting is gathering accurate environmental data from multiple departments, subsidiaries, and regions. Emissions, water usage, and climate risk data often sit in silos, making consolidation time-consuming and prone to gaps or inconsistencies.
2. Understanding CDP’s evolving requirements
CDP questionnaires and scoring methodologies are updated regularly to reflect new climate science and regulatory expectations. Many organizations struggle to keep pace with these changes, leading to incomplete responses or misalignment with current disclosure expectations.
3. Scope 3 emissions complexity
For most companies, Scope 3 emissions represent the largest share of their carbon footprint. However, collecting reliable data from suppliers and downstream partners is difficult, especially when suppliers lack reporting maturity or standardized methodologies.
4. Linking disclosure to strategy
CDP is not just about reporting numbers. Companies are expected to demonstrate governance, risk management, and credible transition plans. Many organizations find it challenging to connect emissions data with broader climate strategy, targets, and decision-making.
5. Improving and maintaining CDP scores
Achieving a strong CDP carbon disclosure score requires year-on-year improvement, consistency, and evidence-backed responses. Without structured processes and internal ownership, companies risk stagnating scores despite genuine sustainability efforts.
Overcome CDP Reporting Challenges with Breathe ESG
CDP reporting has evolved from a voluntary disclosure exercise into a critical benchmark for environmental transparency. For companies facing growing investor scrutiny, regulatory pressure, and supply chain expectations, strong CDP performance signals credibility, preparedness, and long-term resilience.
This is where Breathe ESG helps simplify the process. Breathe ESG enables companies to centralize emissions data, streamline CDP-aligned reporting, and ensure accuracy across disclosures with audit-ready outputs.
With automated data management, real-time insights, and framework-aligned reporting capabilities, Breathe ESG supports teams in improving their CDP submissions while reducing manual effort and risk.
Book a free demo with Breathe ESG today to strengthen your CDP reporting.
FAQs
What does CDP stand for?
CDP stands for Carbon Disclosure Project. It is a global non-profit organization that runs one of the world’s most widely used environmental disclosure systems for companies, cities, states, and regions.
What is the meaning of CDP reporting?
CDP reporting refers to the process of disclosing environmental data through CDP’s standardized questionnaires. This includes information on climate change, water security, forests, and plastics, enabling investors and stakeholders to assess environmental risks and performance.
Is CDP a reporting framework?
Yes, CDP functions as a reporting framework and disclosure system. While it is not a regulation, it provides structured questionnaires and scoring methodologies that align closely with global standards like TCFD, GRI, and ISSB.
Is CDP reporting mandatory?
CDP reporting is not legally mandatory, but it is often required by investors, customers, and supply chain partners. Many companies report to CDP because failure to disclose can impact investor confidence, ratings, and business relationships.
