U.S. Policy

CDP disclosure is the ideal strategic implementation pathway and planning tool to prepare for climate change.

The U.S. has returned to the world stage on climate change policy, with various new strategies being discussed. CDP disclosure helps companies prepare for policy change, illuminating hidden financial and operational risks from climate change as well as business opportunities that can drive value creation.

Since 2018, CDP’s disclosure has been aligned with the recommendations of the Task Force on Climate-Related Financial Disclosures (TCFD), implemented through our annual disclosure process. Most current policy recommendations call for disclosure in accordance with the TCFD, which means that companies disclosing through CDP are already disclosing this data in a format consistent with the TCFD, helping advance their policy preparedness.

"CDP is to the future of business what the X-Ray machine was to the then-future of medicine. Without it, we would never see the inside of the patient’s health.”

Christiana Figueres, co-founder of Global Optimism and former Executive Secretary of the UNFCCC

CDP pioneered environmental disclosure 20 years ago with the world’s first standardized investor request for disclosure. Today, CDP still operates the world’s only integrated environmental disclosure system covering climate change, forests and water security – and will expand into disclosure on biodiversity and oceans.

Learn how CDP is a unique implementation platform and information reference point

CDP implements policy goals CDP highlights climate risks & expands resilience

Link climate to finance Drive green infrastructure Achieve the NDC

590

investors collectively representing US$106 trillion are signatories to CDP’s annual disclosure request, which gauges corporate performance on climate change, risk assessment and environmental impact.

$1.2

trillion in potential climate change-related risks was identified by global companies through CDP disclosure in 2019.

$2.1

trillion in potential climate change-related opportunities was identified by global companies through CDP disclosure in 2019.

CDP Matchmaker derives data from city disclosure and tracks infrastructure projects in cities around the nation that can create jobs and improve environmental resilience – especially in low-income communities.

Currently, 361 pending municipal infrastructure projects in 107 cities in North America are tracked through CDP Matchmaker. The initiative tracks projects critical to climate resilience yet waiting for funding.

CDP Matchmaker can provide a map for implementing the American Jobs Plan by highlighting existing pending infrastructure projects nation-wide.

Driving climate leadership: 1/3 of the cities on the CDP A List are in the U.S., which Special Envoy John Kerry recently cited to the U.S. Conference of Mayors as data that helped showcase U.S. cities’ ongoing commitment to climate leadership.

Advancing climate ambition: 125 U.S. companies have set science-based emissions reduction targets through the Science Based Targets Initiative (SBTi). CDP tracks progress for the SBTi, which guides companies to take action in line with the science of the reduction targets of the Paris Agreement.

Expanding low carbon procurement: 200 organizations – including the U.S. GSA and the State of California – are members of CDP Supply Chain, the nation’s pre-eminent supply chain emissions management program used by major U.S. companies.

Unlock hidden risks Build a clean energy economy Boost resiliency

10K

companies and sub-national governments disclosed through CDP in 2020, 20 years after CDP invented environmental disclosure – a critical tool that helps companies and cities identify and manage hazards related to climate change.

80%

of disclosing companies identify environmental threats to their business, from water scarcity to the growing risk of infectious disease. CDP disclosure illuminates these hidden risks, enabling companies to take action.

359

North American companies are pricing carbon internally. CDP tracks annually the use of an “internal” price of carbon among disclosing companies, which can help the federal government implement and develop the social cost of carbon.

CDP has helped trigger and track environmental leadership among companies, driving 81 U.S. companies to commit to 100% renewable energy and 125 to set science-based GHG reduction targets.

CDP is a lever to deploy clean energy technology at scale. Our scoring methodology incentivizes investment in breakthrough innovation technologies. Disclosure tracks the ROI for clean energy investments, which are often swift and deliver high returns.

CDP disclosure can provide an annual gauge on methane emissions and reduction efforts.

102

U.S. cities (60% of disclosing U.S. cities) have adaptation plans that tackle climate risks.

112

U.S. cities (66% of disclosing U.S. cities) have climate action plans.

73%

of disclosing companies say that CDP disclosure “Helps my organization to prepare for the future.”

"Disclosure means everything. A company has to be transparent and have good data, and connect that data to science – which is why what CDP does is important."

Gina McCarthy, White House National Climate Advisor

2020 Carbon pricing report

While the federal government investigates the social cost of carbon, CDP analysis shows an 80% increase in companies setting internal carbon prices.

2018 State by state report

An analysis of U.S. companies and cities across seven states bracing for the impacts of climate change.

Learn how CDP disclosure works

CDP has mainstreamed environmental disclosure: 10,000 companies and sub-national governments disclosed through CDP in 2020.

CDP is fully aligned with the TCFD

The TCFD’s recommendations are translated into actual questions within the CDP disclosure questionnaire. Read more.

CDP celebrated its 20th anniversary in 2020. CDP created a vanguard then – and today continues to lead on climate change action and the transition to a net-zero economy.