
Get Disclosure-Ready: Preparing for CDP's 2025 Response
by James Balik-Meacher, Alyssa Limmena
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The CDP climate questionnaire is the largest independent environmental disclosure system for companies to manage their environmental impacts and make Earth-positive decisions.
The 2024 CDP disclosure cycle brought significant changes and numerous challenges for many disclosers. As CDP continues to work towards decision-useful disclosure, the organization has announced an updated strategy and strategic restructure focusing on streamlining reporting and reducing reporting burden. As companies prepare for the upcoming disclosure cycle, many may still be scratching their heads around how to respond to the new integrated format and what further changes can be expected in 2025.
Despite these challenges, CDP remains a clear and standardised method for companies to demonstrate sustainability leadership and for investors to assess a company鈥檚 performance against peers without guesswork. According to the conducted by ERM, CDP is consistently ranked as the top Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) rating provider in terms of quality and usefulness by both corporate and investor respondents.
The number of companies responding to CDP has continued to grow with a record 24,700+ companies responding in 2024 鈥� up 6.3% from 2023. The number of A-list companies has also increased by 30%. With an increasing number of companies and stakeholders calling for climate action, a strong CDP track record can set companies apart from their peers and demonstrate that they are serious about integrating sustainability into their business.
With the 2025 disclosure cycle quickly approaching, we have compiled a summary of key milestones and their implications to guide companies through the process:
Compared to last year, the 2025 questionnaire and scoring methodology have minimal changes aimed at improving clarity and usability, enabling disclosers to focus on improving their 2024 response. CDP will continue to score companies individually for climate change, forests, and water security with plastics and biodiversity remaining unscored. Forests and water scores for the financial services (FS) sector will be made public for the first time in 2025.
A full list of changes to the and can be found on the CDP website however, we have provided a high level overview on key updates below:
As CDP continues to make improvements to increase reporting efficiency, it鈥檚 becoming increasingly important for companies to be aware of changes and begin preparing early.Whether you are a first-time or existing responder to CDP, SLR can help you through the process and improve your response. Our services include:
As a聽for our CDP services in the UK, we have direct access to CDP technical teams and are able to provide our clients with up-to-date insights and the latest feedback on requirements or recommended approach.
Contact us to discuss further.
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