CDP Scores and A Lists

A CDP score provides a snapshot of environmental disclosure and performance for any entity or organization that discloses through CDP such as companies (including Small and Medium-sized Enterprises, or SMEs), cities, states and regions. Bold environmental action must begin with an accurate, transparent assessment of environmental impact and progress, which CDP scoring makes possible. CDP has been scoring companies since 2010, and cities since 2018. This is the first year CDP have scored states and regions 

Our scores show these organizations – and their stakeholders – where they are on the road towards operating in line with a 1.5C, deforestation-free and water-secure future. By disclosing over consecutive years, companies, cities, states and regions can understand the trajectory of their environmental journey.  

We use our scoring methodology to incentivize entities to measure and manage environmental impacts through the CDP questionnaire. Disclosure drives action, and by scoring companies from D- to A, we take them on a journey from disclosure through awareness and management, and finally to leadership. We go into further detail about these score levels, as well as what scores mean, below.  

Our scoring methodology is aligned with the International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) S2 Climate-related Disclosures and recommendations of the Taskforce for Climate-Related Financial Disclosures (TCFD), providing a comparable dataset across the global market.  

Responding organizations are assessed and scored across four consecutive levels which represent the steps an organization moves through as it progresses towards environmental stewardship.  

Disclosure (D- or D)  

Nearly every question in the questionnaire is scored for Disclosure (except for biodiversity and plastics questions). The Disclosure score measures the completeness of an organization’s reporting. The number of points allocated to each question depends on both the amount of data requested and the relative importance to data users.  

Awareness (C- or C)  

The Awareness score measures the comprehensiveness of an organization’s evaluation of how environmental issues intersect with their business. The awareness score does not indicate that an organization has taken any actions to address environmental issues beyond initial screenings or assessments.  

Management (B- or B)  

Management points are awarded for answers that provide evidence of undertaking actions associated with good environmental management, based on awareness of the organization’s impact on the environmental issue. The Management score measures whether organizations are managing their environmental impact; but does not indicate whether they are undertaking actions that mark them out as a leader in their field.  

Leadership (A- or A)  

To earn Leadership status, organizations must demonstrate best practice in the strategies they utilize and the actions they undertake. These actions represent best practice as formulated by organizations working with CDP to advance environmental stewardship and, in many cases, are already embodied by organizations leading in environmental policy and practice. 

SME Disclosure (‘SME D’)  

An ‘SME D’ score indicates the SME is beginning to demonstrate transparency, a first step in its climate journey. To advance to an ‘SME C’ score an SME should develop a more comprehensive response that indicates a clear awareness of its climate management practices.  

SME Awareness (‘SME C’)  

SMEs that score an ‘SME C’ have demonstrated awareness of climate management practices. The SME is evaluating how climate issues intersect with its business, and how its operations affect people and ecosystems. An ‘SME C’ indicates an understanding of its climate impact demonstrated by comprehensive disclosure. To advance to an ‘SME B’, an SME should continue to evaluate climate impacts across all areas of its business and, crucially, take steps to manage them.  

SME Management (‘SME B’)  

An ‘SME B’ score indicates that the SME demonstrates initial climate management (commensurate with its size). SMEs that score an ‘SME B’ are starting to implement steps to address the climate impacts of their business and are developing climate management processes. An ‘SME B’ score indicates that the SME is committed to making climate progress. In future years, companies will need to exceed the determined threshold to progress to an ‘SME A’, providing sufficient data to demonstrate 'Leadership’ through disclosure.  

SME Leadership (‘SME A’) – Please note that for 2025, the highest score SMEs will receive will be an SME B. Reporting companies will be scored at the SME Disclosure, SME Awareness, and SME Management levels.  

An SME may also receive an F score (failure to disclose). 

Jurisdictions are assessed across four scoring bands which represent the steps jurisdictions move through as they progress towards climate leadership.  

Disclosure (D- or D)  

A jurisdiction in the Disclosure scoring band has just started the journey of understanding and reporting on climate impacts. These jurisdictions understand the value of collecting data to drive climate action but may not have structures or resources in place to obtain the necessary information. Jurisdictions in the Disclosure band report on the degree to which climate impacts and risks have been measured.  

Awareness (C- or C)  

A jurisdiction in the Awareness scoring band is in the process of assessing the main risks and impacts of climate change. These jurisdictions have begun developing an assessment and measuring impacts to get a holistic understanding of the main effects climate change has on their jurisdiction and are beginning to take action to reduce them.  

Management (B- or B)  

A jurisdiction in the Management band has managed to gather data on the main risks and impacts of climate change and is taking action to adapt to and reduce these effects. These jurisdictions have worked collaboratively with key stakeholders to understand their risks and impacts and now have plans in place to mitigate and/or adapt.  

Leadership (A- or A)  

A Leadership jurisdiction demonstrates best practice standards across adaptation and mitigation, has set ambitious goals and made progress towards achieving those goals. Jurisdictions in the Leadership band have strategic, holistic plans in place to ensure the actions they are taking will reduce climate impacts and vulnerabilities of the people, businesses and organizations in their jurisdiction.  

In some cases, a company or SME may receive an F score (failure to disclose). An ‘F’ is applied to any company that is requested to disclose by Capital Markets Signatories but does not respond to the disclosure request. The score will be applied to each environmental issue the company was requested to disclose on but failed to do so.  

An ‘F’ indicates a failure to provide CDP with sufficient information to be evaluated. It is not a reflection of a company’s environmental stewardship. 

Every question in the CDP full corporate questionnaire is mapped to a scoring category such as ‘Verification (inc. Emissions)’. Each scoring category at the Management and Leadership levels is weighted according to its relative importance to the overall score. Category weightings are tailored to each high impact sector, to reflect the relative importance of certain areas to that sector.   

For example, it is particularly important for companies operating in the electric utilities sector to disclose energy consumption and breakdowns, emissions accounting, and emissions performance. The same can be said for emission reduction targets, along with other emission reduction initiatives and low-carbon products, and this is reflected in the weightings for this sector.  

CDP’s scoring methodology assesses the level of detail and comprehensiveness in an entity’s response, as well as their awareness of environmental issues, management methods and progress towards environmental stewardship.  

Questionnaire scoring is conducted by accredited scoring partners trained by CDP. Our internal scoring team then collates all scores, running data quality checks to ensure that scoring standards are accurate and consistent.  

CDP continues to raise the bar for what qualifies as leadership. Therefore, there is no guarantee that an entity will remain on CDP’s A List year-on-year if they do not also evolve their environmental journey alongside science and market needs.  

View all CDP scoring materials for companies (including SMEs), cities, and states and regions.  

At CDP, we continue to review our scoring methodology to ensure that it helps organizations strive for excellence in an evolving world of environmental disclosure.  

A large portion of the CDP questionnaire measures entities on environmental action – the strategies and changes they implement following disclosure. The aim is that, by continuously evolving our methodology, we can ensure that our questions always cover the most important metrics that entities need to measure to understand and improve their performance.  

To receive a score in the Management band (B/B-), organizations are demonstrating that they are beginning to take action to address environmental issues. For example, efforts are made to mitigate risk, advance environmental accounting, and assemble robust and comprehensive risk assessments.   

To be awarded a score in the Leadership band (A/A-), organizations are demonstrating best practice in managing environmental issues – for companies, they have fully integrated environmental issues into their business strategies. For example, an organization is actively tracking progress against a 1.5°C-aligned transition plan that is publicly available, are engaging with their suppliers on environmental issues, and may have an organisation-wide Scope 1 and 2 emissions reduction target that is validated by the Science Based Targets initiative.  

CDP scores alone are not a comprehensive metric of an entity’s level of sustainability or 'green-ness', but instead indicate the level of action reported by the company to assess and manage its environmental impacts during the reporting year.  

For more information on how CDP will score your organization in 2025 please see the 2025 scoring methodology.