Two-minute brief
The CDP questionnaire and scoring explained: video brief
A two-minute brief on what the CDP questionnaire covers and how responses are scored.
Key takeaways
- The full corporate questionnaire replaced three separate questionnaires in 2024.
- Questionnaire setup selects the questions that apply to each company.
- Themes include climate change, forests and water security, with plastics and biodiversity.
- Each scored theme is assessed from Disclosure to Leadership.
- Scores run from D- to A; a score covers one reporting year.
One multi-issue questionnaire
CDP has no clauses to conform to. Since 2024 the full corporate questionnaire, a single multi-issue questionnaire for large companies, has replaced the three separate climate change, forests and water security questionnaires; companies that meet CDP's SME eligibility can choose a shorter SME questionnaire. This short film shows how the questionnaire works and how it is scored.
The questionnaire is built from modules such as Governance, Business Strategy and Environmental Performance. Some modules are sector-specific, some issue-specific and some multi-issue, and the questionnaire setup completed during onboarding selects the questions that apply to each company. Setup therefore matters: it fixes the reporting entity and period, the sector description and the themes and topics the company will answer on, from climate change, forests and water security to plastics, biodiversity and, from 2026, the ocean.
How CDP scores a response
CDP scores each scored theme on four consecutive levels, from Disclosure to Leadership, using its published methodology for the cycle. A response has to show not only what the company discloses, but how it is aware of and manages the issue and what action it takes, before it can reach the higher levels. CDP-trained accredited scoring partners support the scoring, and CDP's internal team collates the scores and checks them for consistency. Scores run from D- to A, and the best performers are named on the annual A List.
Responses submitted by the scoring deadline are scored; the final response deadline comes later in the cycle. Companies are requested by CDP's capital markets signatories or by customers through CDP Supply Chain, and some choose to disclose without a request. A score is a snapshot of one reporting year, shared publicly or non-publicly as the company decides at submission.
Climate change, forests and water security are each scored on four consecutive levels: Disclosure, Awareness, Management and Leadership. A score is not a certification: CDP describes it as a snapshot of disclosure and performance, not a measure of how sustainable a company is.
CDP at a glance
- Purpose
- An annual environmental disclosure that investors and customers request through CDP, scored from D- to A for climate change, forests and water security, so they can compare how companies manage environmental issues
- Relevant to
- Companies requested by CDP's capital markets signatories or by customers through CDP Supply Chain, companies that choose to disclose, and eligible smaller companies through the SME questionnaire
- Edition
- The 2026 disclosure cycle on the full corporate questionnaire, one multi-issue questionnaire since 2024; scoring deadline 16 September 2026, final response deadline the week commencing 26 October 2026
- Certification
- None. CDP scores the response against its published methodology and names the best performers on its annual A List; a score is a snapshot of one reporting year, not a certificate
- Sterling's role
- Gap analysis against the questionnaire and scoring methodology, the GHG inventory and evidence, governance, risk and target work, submission support and the next-cycle plan, then Sustain™
- Cost and timing
- Total investment for a CDP disclosure programme depends on the current maturity of your processes, the scope, locations and number of employees. The process typically takes 3 to 6 months
CDP: questions people ask
Is a CDP score a certification?
No. CDP runs a disclosure system: it scores the response a company submits against its published methodology and shares the response with the requesters. CDP describes a score as a snapshot of a company's environmental disclosure and performance, and states that scores alone do not measure how sustainable a company is; they indicate the level of action reported for the year. A certificate from an accredited body and independent verification of emissions are different instruments; each can support a CDP response, and neither replaces it.
Who can ask us to disclose through CDP?
Investors that are CDP capital markets signatories, large purchasing organisations that are CDP Supply Chain members, members of CDP's banks programme and initiatives such as RE100. A company can also disclose without being asked, as what CDP calls a self-selected company.
What happens if we ignore a CDP request?
A company requested by capital markets signatories that does not respond receives a "Did not disclose" status, which CDP describes as a failure to provide sufficient information to be evaluated. A response submitted after the scoring deadline but before the final deadline is received, but not scored.
How is a CDP score calculated?
CDP scores climate change, forests and water security on four consecutive levels: Disclosure (D- or D) for the completeness of reporting, Awareness (C- or C) for how comprehensively the company has evaluated the ways environmental issues intersect with its business, Management (B- or B) for evidence of actions associated with good environmental management, and Leadership (A- or A) for best practice in strategy and action. Nearly every question is scored for Disclosure, except the biodiversity and plastics questions.
What is the CDP A List?
CDP's annual list of the best-performing companies on climate change, deforestation and water security. The 2025 Corporate A List named 899 companies, about 5 per cent of the nearly 20,000 companies scored, and 27 companies achieved a Triple A, an A for climate change, forests and water security together. CDP states that a place is not guaranteed from year to year for a company that does not keep improving.
Keep exploring
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