Letter to the Board

CDP’s annual ‘Letter to the Board’ is sent to a company’s senior stakeholders – a formal invitation to disclose environmental information on behalf of their investors via CDP’s corporate questionnaire.

Read this year's letter

Note, users in India should download this version

cdp-letter-to-the-board

In 2025, over 31,500 organizations have been requested by 640+ global investors to disclose this critical data. The data CDP collects on behalf of investors is essential to address their environmental impacts.

Data is what the market wants, and businesses are getting the message. It’s why 93% of the FTSE100 and 85% of the S&P500, and nearly 1,000 cities, states and regions representing 16% of the global population, now disclose environmental data through CDP.

Notice to users in India

Indian ESG Rating Users, as defined under Securities and Exchange Board of India (Credit Rating Agencies) Regulations, 1999, are prohibited from using CDP scores for decision-making, investment analysis, compliance or research purposes related to ESG investment, performance and practices. This restriction includes any public or Indian company that has listed equity or debt, plans to list equity or debt in the near future, or is a subsidiary of or is controlled (directly or indirectly) by an entity with listed equity or debt. As an exception to the above, any non-India-based individual, entity or organization may refer to and use the CDP scores, subject to our Website Terms of Use.

Next steps

  1. Share the ‘Letter to the Board’ with your sustainability team, or equivalent team. If someone else at your organization should receive this, or if your Letter should be addressed to a different contact in your organization, please contact the CDP Help Center or your Account Manager. 

  2. If you have previously disclosed through CDP, log into your Portal account and update your organizational details. 

  3. Stay up to date with our 2025 disclosure cycle milestones.

  4. Prepare to disclose by reading our 2025 questionnaire and guidance.

Benefits of disclosing through CDP

Benefits of disclosing through CDP 

By responding to the Letter to the Board request and disclosing through CDP, organizations gain a comprehensive understanding of their environmental dependencies, risks, impacts and opportunities. Leading organizations use transparency to drive action: securing capital, reducing risks and boosting efficiency.

More, and better, information creates an accurate picture of progress and enables organizations to build robust plans for action. Companies disclosing through CDP reduce their direct emissions by 7-10% within two years of an investor request.

Norges Bank Investment Management uses CDP's corporate data to drive long-term returns by evaluating companies on their water risk exposure, management and performance.

CDP can support your environmental journey – turning data into Earth-positive impact.

Twenty-five years of Letter to the Board

For almost 25 years, CDP has sent letters on behalf of investors requesting companies to disclose their environmental information.

The data we collect has catalyzed change on a global scale. And in the intervening years, that information has become even more valuable to investors to manage the unfolding climate and nature crises.

Now, companies representing two-thirds of global market capitalization and nearly 1,000 cities, states and regions disclose critical environmental data through CDP.

CDP Capital Markets Signatories 

In 2025, 640+ Capital Markets Signatories – representing more than US$127 trillion in assets – have requested thousands of companies to disclose their environmental risks and impacts through CDP, creating the world’s largest database on environmental data. Find out more about our Capital Markets Signatories program, and browse the full list of Signatories below.

This is not an exhaustive list of Signatories. If you have been requested to disclose and would like to obtain the full list, please contact either your Account Manager or raise a case via the Help Center.

Non-Disclosure Campaign banner

Non-Disclosure Campaign

CDP’s Non-Disclosure Campaign shows that investors are eager to pursue disclosure data from less engaged businesses.

Companies directly targeted by participating investors as part of the campaign are more than twice as likely to disclose as a result.

Find out more

FAQs

In 2025, 640+ CDP Capital Markets Signatories – representing more than US$127 trillion in assets – have requested thousands of companies to disclose their environmental risks and impacts through CDP, creating the world’s largest database on environmental data.

In addition to being requested to disclose by CDP’s Capital Markets Signatories, organizations may also be requested by their customers – this is known as a 'customer request' or 'Supply Chain request'.  

Please note that for Capital Markets Signatories-requested organizations:

  • Requested organizations will be required to pay an admin fee to submit their questionnaire and disclose; 

  • Requested organizations will be listed on the CDP website (even if they choose not to disclose); 

  • Scores for disclosing companies will be made publicly available, regardless of whether the response itself is public or non-public, although companies disclosing for the first time will have the option to keep their score private (ie it won't be displayed on the CDP website, nor will it be shared with Capital Markets Signatories, although it will still be shared with requesting customers); and

  • The data you disclose will be made available to Capital Markets Signatories.

Your organization has been requested to disclose its environmental information through CDP’s full corporate questionnaire in 2025. This questionnaire sits in the CDP Portal and provides a framework to uniformly disclose key environmental information to stakeholders; such as governance and policy, risks and opportunity management, environmental targets and strategy, and scenario analysis.

Eligible disclosers can receive a CDP score to benchmark their environmental activities (note, they must submit their questionnaire and pay their admin fee by the scoring deadline to receive a score).

The data disclosed will be made available to Capital Markets Signatories and any other requesting organizations once you have completed and submitted your questionnaire. 

All organizations requested by Capital Markets Signatories via the Letter to the Board are required to pay a fee to disclose, unless they are exempt. Learn more about our admin fee.

CDP recognizes that all industrial activities have a significant role to play in reducing environmental impact as we transition to a sustainable economy. We therefore apply several criteria to identify companies who are most relevant to capital markets actors. Find out more about our sample methodology.

No, it is not mandatory to disclose through CDP. However, organizations who fail to disclose will automatically receive an F score.

Companies requested to disclose their data will receive an F score if they either:  

  • Choose not to disclose; or  

  • Don't provide sufficient information to be evaluated.

Please note that an F does not indicate a failure in environmental stewardship.

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