FAQs

Companies, cities, states and regions disclose their environmental information through the CDP Portal.   

Learn more about how to disclose including a summary of the key steps and latest disclosure and scoring materials. You can also find the latest updates and resources for the 2025 disclosure cycle on our hub page. 

Cities can report simultaneously to multiple climate initiatives such as:  

• ICLEI  

• C40  

• WWF One Planet City Challenge  

• The Global Covenant of Mayors for Climate & Energy  

  Cities can also measure their progress against UN-backed climate campaigns such as Race to Zero and Race to Resilience. Cities disclose through CDP-ICLEI Track, the world’s leading climate reporting platform and progress accountability mechanism for local governments and their cities, to help them understand their impact and take action. 

Note, this is not relevant to Japan. 

CDP believes that state and regional governments play a vital role in driving climate action and delivering sustainable economies. We provide a global platform for sub-national governments to measure, manage and disclose their environmental impact. 

CDP's questionnaire is aligned with the global standard of the Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures (TCFD), showcasing your state or region's leadership in climate-related risk planning and strengthening opportunities to engage with investors and the private sector. 

Stakeholders are increasingly requesting environmental data through CDP. These requesters include capital markets, large purchasing organizations who are Supply Chain members, Banks program members, and membership/initiatives such as RE100. Requesters use this data to inform decisions and drive environmental action.  

Requested organizations can see which entities have asked them to disclose their environmental data in the CDP Portal.

The CDP Cities and States and Regions questionnaires request qualitative and quantitative environmental data for the following themes:  

• Governance; 

• Climate hazards, Adaptation; 

• Jurisdiction-wide emissions;  

• Community-wide emissions; 

• Emissions reduction, Opportunities; 

• Energy, Buildings, Transport; 

• Urban planning; 

• Forests (selected states and regions only); 

• Food, Waste; and  

• Water security. 

View the questionnaire and guidance for the 2025 cycle. 

Companies disclose data on the impact their business activities have on environmental issues or themes such as climate change, deforestation and water security. Companies can do this through CDP's streamlined corporate questionnaire or SME questionnaire, depending on which is most relevant to them. Disclosing companies only see questions relevant to the issues they have been requested to disclose on, and can respond across multiple issues in a single place.  

Questionnaires are made up of modules such as:  

• Governance;  

• Business Strategy; and  

• Environmental Performance.  

Some modules are sector-specific, some are issue-specific, and some are integrated, or multi-issue.  

If a Self Selected Company (SSC) meets the eligibility for the SME questionnaire based on the revenue and headcount they enter in the questionnaire setup, they can choose between the SME and full corporate questionnaire. SSCs can also select whether they intend to disclose on forests and/or water in the questionnaire setup. 

View the questionnaire and guidance for the 2025 cycle. 

There is no minimum amount of data that cities need to report and the response is completely voluntary at all stages.  

However, if your city is committed to the Global Covenant of Mayors for Climate & Energy or a C40 city, certain requirements should be met. In order to pass the lowest scoring band of ‘disclosure’ according to CDP's scoring methodology, you must provide a fairly complete response to the CDP Cities questionnaire.

All companies are asked to respond to climate change questions.  

All companies responding to the full corporate questionnaire are asked supplementary questions on plastics and biodiversity.  

Companies are only asked to respond to forests and water datapoints if at least one of the following conditions is met for forests and/or water security respectively:   

• Request: you have been asked to disclose by a requester (eg a Capital Markets Signatory member, a Supply Chain member, a Banks program member etc.). 

• Industry impact classification: the environmental impact of your CDP Activity Classification System (CDP-ACS) activities on forests and/or water, as established by the CDP industry impact classification. Note, this is not applicable to organizations responding to the SME questionnaire. 

• Self-assessment: based on whether you have indicated that you have identified substantive forests- and/or water-related issues in your questionnaire setup. Note, this is not applicable to organizations responding to the SME questionnaire. 

• Opt-in: if none of the above conditions are met but your organization chooses to disclose on forests and/or water security.   

Please note that organizations that have received the CDP Letter to the Board can review their initial assessment of environmental issues they are requested to disclose on. This initial environmental issue assignment is subject to change.

Additionally, if you have been requested to disclose by a Supply Chain member, Banks program member or Private Markets program member, your requester may request you to respond to a specific environmental issue. Organizations are welcome to volunteer to disclose on environmental issues, whether they have been requested to do so or not.

The streamlined corporate questionnaire doesn’t mean that all companies have to answer datapoints on all environmental issues.

Questions on water and forests will continue to be presented to companies based on how relevant these issues are to their business and activities. The relevance of these questions is assessed using the CDP-ACS methodology, following the same process CDP has used to determine requests to large public companies for the last decade.

CDP provides a variety of materials to help companies, cities, states and regions throughout disclosure. Note, some of these will be published at different stages of the disclosure cycle. 

Our Disclosure Hub contains the latest key dates, information and resources for this year’s cycle including PDF versions of our questionnaire, reporting guidance and scoring methodologies. 

You can find further disclosure and scoring materials on our How to Disclose page. 

You can learn more about this year’s cycle including functionality improvements for 2025. 

The CDP Portal contains the latest questionnaire, reporting guidance (to provide clarity around questions, terminology and requirements) and scoring methodologies (which outline the number of points available for each question). PDF versions of these are available on our Disclosure Hub too. The CDP Help Center contains articles covering specific steps of the disclosing and requesting process. If you need further assistance, you can contact My Support here too.  

  Additionally, you can:  

• Browse upcoming events and webinars to support you in reporting;  

• Learn more about our Reporter Services program, to receive in-depth disclosure support on a one-to-one basis*; and  

• Find an Accredited Solutions Provider (ASP) for external support on your environmental initiatives. 

 *Companies only.   

Environmental disclosure is an essential tool to build resilient business models by illuminating risks and identifying untapped opportunities for growth.  

Twenty five years since CDP was founded, environmental disclosure is more important than ever. 

Six of the nine planetary boundaries have now been crossed, and the economic costs are mounting up - inaction will reduce GDP by almost 20%, or US$38 trillion, by 2050. 

Disclosing through CDP puts the right data in the hands of those who can make changes the planet and economy need.  

CDP pioneered climate disclosure at the turn of the millennium. Twenty five years on, this data has catalyzed change on a global scale. Now, companies representing two-thirds of global market capitalization and nearly 1,000 cities, states and regions disclose critical environmental data through CDP.   

By 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. They’re not just staying compliant. They’re staying ahead.   

Last year alone, companies reported saving over $13 billion in costs from acting on their Scope 3 emissions, with $165 billion on the horizon.  

Our “write once, read many” approach ensures organizations can turn a single disclosure into powerful market intelligence that fuels decision-making at all levels. Disclosing through CDP provides a competitive edge and enables organizations to get ahead of incoming regulation and market demands.   

For financial institutions, data from portfolio companies is critical to uncovering hidden risks and opportunities, providing the tools needed to inform risk-management practices, guide engagement priorities and integrate sustainability considerations into their investment process.    

Learn more about the benefits of disclosing including how doing so can support access to capital, business efficiency and competitiveness. 

Yes, a company can volunteer to disclose as a self-selected company (SSC) if they haven’t been requested to do so by an organization. They will need to complete our Register to Disclose form (available from June 18).

The same policies for companies requested by Capital Markets Signatories apply to SSCs, namely:   

• SSCs must pay the admin fee to disclose;

• SSCs’ response will be made available to Capital Markets Signatories, which can be shared more widely with CDP Supply Chain members and other stakeholders (eg initiatives like RE100 and Net Zero Asset Managers) if they make this public; and

• SSCs receive a score if they respond to the full corporate questionnaire and submit their response by the scoring deadline.

If a SSC doesn't end up disclosing, they won’t receive an ‘F’ score and they won't be mentioned on CDP’s website or in CDP’s datasets.

The CDP admin fee is the fee that companies and other entities pay in order to disclose through CDP.  The following entities must pay the CDP admin fee:  

• Companies requested to disclose by CDP’s Capital Market Signatories;  

• Self-Selected Companies (ie companies who wish to disclose even if they have not been requested to do so by Capital Market Signatories or customers); and  

• Public authorities.    

Cities, states and regions don’t need to pay the admin fee*.  

*Subject to change 

We offer three fee options for disclosers, with our enhanced fee option offering the most benefits: 

1. Enhanced fee 

Benefits (note, may vary by region so please check this with the relevant regional office):  

• Report through the CDP Portal 

• Use CDP's suite of tools, including disclosure frameworks and guidance 

• Enjoy communications opportunities resulting from disclosing through CDP 

• Receive a CDP Supporter badge to use in your organization’s external communications 

• Get your organization’s name listed as a CDP Supporter on CDP’s website 

• Receive a pre-paid/priority registration for two people and organization recognition at regional CDP events, where applicable 

• Receive a quote from a CDP Director to use in your sustainability communications  

• Get increased access to 100 company responses of your choice 

• Receive a detailed Comparative Analysis Report to compare your company with 10 peer companies of your choice 

• Receive a tailored introduction to a CDP Accredited Solutions Provider 

• Get a screening of your top 50 suppliers to understand environmental action in your supply chain 

 2. Foundation fee 

Benefits:  

• Report through the CDP Portal 

• Use CDP's suite of tools, including disclosure frameworks and guidance 

• Enjoy communications opportunities resulting from disclosing through CDP 

• Receive pre-paid entry/priority registration to one regional CDP event, where applicable 

3. Essential fee

 Benefits:  

• Report through CDP's Portal 

• Use CDP's suite of tools including reporting frameworks and guidance 

• Enjoy communications opportunities resulting from disclosing through CDP 

 Note, this fee option is only available to disclosing organizations headquartered outside of North America, the United Kingdom, Europe (including Türkiye), Japan, South Korea, Southeast Asia, Taiwan (China), Hong Kong (China), Australia, New Zealand, Bermuda, and Guernsey.  This option is aimed at small to medium sized enterprises (SMEs) and those with a limited budget.   

Learn more about paying your admin fee as a discloser. 

The CDP admin fee varies by region and fee option. See the table below for all 2024 fees, as a guide.  

Fees are exclusive of any applicable local taxes. Some fee levels are not available in regions ('n/a').  

All overseas territories match the grouping of the country that they are part of.    

The following countries and areas fall under CDP's definition for Europe for corporate disclosure, and are therefore subject to European admin fees:   

Åland Islands, Albania, Andorra, Austria, Belgium, Bonaire, Sint Eustatius and Saba, Bosnia & Herzegovina, Bouvet Island, Cyprus, Czechia, Denmark, Estonia, Faroe Islands, Finland, France, French Guiana, French Polynesia, French Southern Territories, Germany, Greece, Greenland, Guadeloupe, Holy See, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Kosovo, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Martinique, Mayotte, Monaco, Montenegro, Netherlands, New Caledonia, North Macedonia, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Republic of Moldova, Réunion, Romania, Saint Barthélemy, Saint Martin (French Part), Saint Pierre and Miquelon, San Marino, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Svalbard and Jan, Mayen Islands, Turkey, Sweden, Switzerland, and Wallis and Futuna Islands. 

Disclosers are exempt from paying the admin fee if they have only been requested to disclose by:  

• a Supply Chain member, and/or;  

• a Banks Program member, and/or;  

• a Private Markets member, and/or;  

• the RE100 initiative.  

If an organization has been requested to disclose by one of these and CDP’s Capital Markets Signatories, they will need to pay the fee.  

Organizations based in Ukraine are currently exempt from paying the admin fee. Meanwhile we are not accepting the fee from companies based in Russia and Belarus.  

If you have any questions regarding admin fee eligibility, please speak to your Account Manager or  contact My Support via the Help Center. 

If you have disclosed previously and haven’t been required to pay the admin fee on those occasions, you may need to do so this time if you have been requested to disclose by CDP’s Capital Markets Signatories as part of CDP’s Letter to the Board. 

Global disclosure prices remained the same from 2016 until 2023 when we began reviewing our pricing annually. Any annual fee inflations are in line with current economic conditions and rising operational costs. 

No, the fee amounts are the same regardless of which version of the questionnaire is submitted.

No, the admin fee is not refundable. 

The Cities questionnaire is divided into three distinct pathways to streamline reporting, allowing disclosing cities to find the most appropriate questionnaire for their local context.  

Users are recommended a pathway during the questionnaire set-up process based on population, emissions per capita, and human development index (HDI). That said, users can select a different pathway to the one they are recommended, if they wish. Note, ICLEI Network Cities are encouraged to report to Pathway 3.  

Read more about these pathways in our onboarding steps for cities. 

For more information about how we use disclosers' personal data, please refer to the “Data Protection” section of our terms of disclosure. 

We are conscious of the key role that consultants play in supporting multiple disclosures at once including their different needs. Currently consultants can act as users, which means they can see all answers, support in inputting etc.  For more information about adding users, visit our Help Center. 

It is possible to edit a previously submitted questionnaire(s) before the close of the cycle. Learn more about our amendments policy and how to edit your response.  

CDP’s Activity Classification System (CDP-ACS) was developed to allocate sector-specific questions to companies from 2018. The CDP-ACS framework categorizes companies by focusing on the activities from which they derive revenue, and associating these with the impacts across a company’s value chain from climate change, water security and deforestation.   

Questionnaire sectors are allocated based on the same percentages used to allocated CDP activities. All CDP activities – including those responsible for less than 20% of a company’s total revenue – are matched to the corresponding questionnaire sectors and the revenue percentages are summed by the questionnaire sectors. Any questionnaire sectors responsible for at least 20% of a company’s total revenue are allocated to the company. The questionnaire sector with the highest revenue percentage is assigned as the primary questionnaire sector and any remaining questionnaire sectors are assigned as additional questionnaire sectors. 

CDP-ACS is a three-tiered system comprised of (from bottom-up) Activity, Activity Group and Industry. See the full list of classifications for the CDP-ACS. 

The sector-based approach allows CDP to make more meaningful assessments of companies' responses, incorporating each sector's characteristics and nuances, and resulting in a score that reflects the company's progress in environmental stewardship while enabling better benchmarking against other companies. 

Please note, companies are only scored on their primary questionnaire sector. This means that if more than one set of sector questions applies to a company, not all questions will be scored. Sector specific questions are labelled to indicate which sector(s) they apply to. However, we encourage companies to respond to all questions that apply to them.  

If you believe your ACS allocation needs to be changed, please contact My Support via the Help Center (selecting "Questionnaire Response" from the category dropdown). Note, to access My Support, you will need to sign in then return to the Help Center (new users will need to register). 

The Total revenue figure and revenue breakdown you enter in the questionnaire set-up will not be shared with external stakeholders. This information is used to inform your questionnaire setup to ensure your organization receives the relevant questions. This information will also be included in CDP data products in an aggregated format. Your stakeholders will receive information on Primary ACS including Industry, Activity Group and Activity.   

There is an opportunity to disclose revenue in the questionnaire in questions 1.4.1 in the Full Corporate Questionnaire and 14.4.1 in the SME questionnaire. The data will be shared following the same policies that govern public and non-public responses and you can choose when submitting your response whether your response is public or non-public. 

The preferred approach is for parent companies to submit a consolidated response to CDP that includes all subsidiary data.  

For more information, read our Parent-Subsidiary policy and process for disclosers. 

In 2024, Financial Services (FS) datapoints were integrated into the CDP questionnaire via a financial services sector tag.  

Therefore, FS companies saw a tailored questionnaire with three types of questions:  

• Questions shown to all sectors;  

• Questions shown to all sectors with additional details and datapoints tailored to FS only; and  

• FS-specific questions.  

We will confirm details for the 2025 cycle once these are available.  

Please refer to our contact page for details on how to contact our global offices and teams depending on your query.  

Note, if you require disclosure support, you can contact us via My Support on the CDP Help Center. You will need to sign in then return to the Help Center to access My Support. New users will need to register. 

To provide feedback on the content of our questionnaires and supporting materials, please complete our general feedback form. You can also submit feedback directly through the Portal. 

Please note, you will not receive a reply to your feedback although all submissions are reviewed. If you represent a responding organization and would like to request a response, please get in touch with your local CDP contact.