CDP reporting · UK guide
CDP reporting: what it is, who asks, and how it scores
CDP reporting is the answer an organisation gives to CDP’s environmental questionnaire, which CDP then scores from D- to A and publishes.
It is voluntary, it is not a regulator’s regime, and over 540 financial institutions are still asking more than 43,000 organisations to do it in 2026.
Whether you pay, whether you are scored and who sees the result all depend on who asked you, and this page puts those answers together.
Definition
What CDP is, and what the letters stood for
CDP runs what it calls “the world’s only independent environmental disclosure system”, founded in 2000.
Companies, cities, states and regions answer a questionnaire on climate change, forests, water security and other environmental issues, and CDP scores and publishes the answers.
In 2025 more than 23,100 organisations disclosed through CDP, of which more than 22,100 were companies and nearly 20,000 were scored.
The letters once stood for the Carbon Disclosure Project, the name on CDP’s 2007 Global FT500 report, which was written on behalf of 315 investors.
The name no longer describes the scope, because the questionnaire now reaches well beyond carbon, but procurement documents and search queries still use it, and it means the same organisation.
CDP Worldwide is, as at 30 September 2026, a registered charity (no. 1122330) and a company limited by guarantee (no. 05013650).
On 11 June 2026 CDP announced it will split into a commercial company backed by Permira and a charitable CDP Foundation.
Completion is subject to regulatory approvals, including the Charity Commission’s, and CDP says the 2026 disclosure cycle is unaffected.
The system in four numbers
Status
Is CDP reporting mandatory? No
CDP is a platform, not an authority.
It makes no law, cannot fine anyone and has no statutory power over a UK company.
No UK instrument requires a CDP response, and a CDP score has no regulatory status.
Its leverage is borrowed from the people who ask: in 2026 its Capital Markets Signatories hold more than US$110 trillion in assets, and in 2025 more than 270 corporate buyers asked roughly 45,000 suppliers to disclose through CDP Supply Chain.
So the cost of not responding is commercial, and it depends entirely on who asked you and how much of your revenue or capital sits behind them.
A requested company that does not respond is marked “Did not disclose”, which CDP says is not a reflection of its environmental stewardship.
There is no F grade.
CDP’s own notice says that, to comply with the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Credit Rating Agencies) Regulations 1999, Indian organisations with securities listed in India must not share their CDP scores externally within India.
No regulator anywhere requires a CDP response or a CDP score.
The request
CDP disclosure starts with who asked you
Almost every question a first-time discloser has flows from this one.
A request to disclose can come from CDP on behalf of its Capital Markets Signatories (the “Letter to the Board”), from a customer running CDP Supply Chain, from a bank, or from an initiative you belong to.
Or nobody asked, and you choose to disclose as a Self-Selected Company, which is an ordinary route rather than a lesser one.
The route decides three separate things: whether an admin fee is payable, whether the response is eligible for a score, and who can see that score.
The fee exemption is the one that surprises people: a company asked only by customers, a bank, a Private Markets member or RE100 pays nothing, but one investor request brings the fee back.
Every request you have received is listed on the Requests tab of the CDP Portal, and one response answers all of them.
Request router · what CDP’s own rules say
Admin fee
Not payable. You still select “No fee payable” in the Portal before you can submit.
Score
Scored if submitted by the scoring deadline: climate change, forests and water security on the full questionnaire; climate change only on the SME questionnaire.
Who sees the score
Not published by CDP; shared with the organisations that requested your response. An A score is always public.
Sources: CDP FAQs (admin fee exemptions, 2026 fee table) · CDP Terms of Disclosure §§5.1, 12.1, 13.1–13.3 · CDP Help Center KA-01160. CDP can change these terms; confirm in your Portal.
The CDP process
The CDP process, step by step
CDP publishes the onboarding steps in the same order every cycle.
The first cycle is mostly a data-gathering exercise rather than a writing one.
Most of the difficulty is discovering that energy, fuel and travel data sits in several systems owned by different teams.
The questionnaire and guidance are published first, and the scoring methodology a week later — in 2026, the weeks of 20 and 27 April — so a response can be planned before the Portal opens.
A first response that is complete and honest does better than an ambitious one with gaps, because the first scoring level measures completeness and cannot be skipped.
The calendar for each step, including the 2027 dates, is on the CDP reporting timeline.
From request to score
- Step 1Get into the Portal
Use the link in your request, or the Register to Disclose form if nobody asked.
- Step 2Confirm a Submission Lead
The only role that can pay the fee and submit.
- Step 3Choose and pay the fee
Or select "No fee payable" if exempt — either way, before submitting.
- Step 4Set up the questionnaire
Revenue, headcount and activities decide full or SME, and which modules appear.
- Step 5Answer and submit
By the scoring deadline, if you want a score.
- Step 6Amend, then wait
Edits after the scoring deadline are accepted and not scored; scores follow weeks later.
Source: CDP, How to Disclose · CDP Help Center KA-01037 and KA-01079
The questionnaire
One integrated questionnaire, built from modules
Since 2024 CDP has asked its corporate questions through one integrated questionnaire, not separate climate, water and forests forms.
Climate change
All companies are asked climate change questions, on both the full and the SME questionnaire. It is the theme almost every requested company answers.
Forests and water security
Asked where a requester wants them, where CDP’s industry classification says your activities affect them, where you identify substantive issues, or where you opt in.
Plastics, biodiversity and ocean
Biodiversity questions go to every full-questionnaire company; plastics and ocean are opt-in. None of the three is scored in 2026.
The full corporate questionnaire has 13 modules: introduction, risk identification, risk disclosure, governance, business strategy, then one environmental-performance module per issue, and a sign-off.
Which modules you see depends on who requested you, on CDP’s industry classification and on your own answers at setup.
Smaller organisations can use the shorter SME questionnaire if they meet CDP’s revenue and headcount tests, and the fee is the same either way.
The module-by-module walk-through, and what changed for 2026, is on the CDP questionnaire 2026.
How each module is scored — the methodology, the levels and the essential criteria — is on the CDP reporting framework page.
The environmental themes in their own right, climate, water and forests first, are on CDP environmental reporting, and biodiversity reporting is where the forests theme leads.
Carbon disclosure
Scope 1, 2 and 3: the part that travels furthest
The emissions categories CDP asks for are the GHG Protocol’s, not CDP’s own.
Scope 1 is what you burn directly.
Scope 2 is the energy you buy.
Scope 3 is everything else in your value chain, and it is where most first responses thin out.
The GHG Protocol Scope 3 Standard defines fifteen categories, and saying which ones you have measured is worth more than a total with no stated basis.
The practical detail is on Scope 3 emissions reporting.
Because SECR and UK SRS are built on the same categories, this is the part of a CDP response that is reused most.
| Scope | What it covers | Where it goes next |
|---|---|---|
| Scope 1 | Fuel you burn and processes you run | SECR, UK SRS S2, CDP |
| Scope 2 | Electricity, heat and steam you buy | SECR, UK SRS S2, CDP |
| Scope 3 | Everything else in your value chain | UK SRS S2, CDP; SECR only voluntarily |
How it scores
How CDP scoring works: four levels, eight grades
CDP scores each response on four consecutive levels, and a response reaches Leadership only by clearing the three below it.
To move up, a response must pass a percentage threshold and every essential criterion at the level below.
The full corporate questionnaire is scored separately for climate change, forests and water security, and the SME questionnaire for climate change only.
The 2025 Corporate A List was announced on 8 January 2026 as 877 companies, 4% of those scored, with 23 Triple A.
CDP’s scores data page now shows 899 companies (5%) and 27 Triple A; its other scores page notes that some scores remain subject to change while appeals are open.
The thresholds, the essential criteria and when 2026 scores come out are on CDP scores.
| Level | Grades | What it measures |
|---|---|---|
| Leadership | A / A- | Best practice in strategy and action |
| Management | B / B- | Evidence of action and processes |
| Awareness | C / C- | Understanding of how the issue meets the business |
| Disclosure | D / D- | Completeness of the response |
| Did not disclose | No score | Requested, no response or too little to score |
What it costs
What CDP reporting costs: the one published figure
CDP publishes its charges as scheme fees, and the main one is the annual admin fee, set by where the company is headquartered.
For a UK-headquartered company in 2026 it is £2,450 at Foundation tier or £5,985 at Enhanced tier, excluding taxes, and the Essential tier is not offered in the UK.
It is payable before submission, it is the same for the SME questionnaire, and CDP says fees rose by approximately 5% globally in 2026.
Enhanced adds access to up to 100 other disclosers’ responses (20 at Foundation), a comparative report against ten peers and priority event places.
Internal time, software and advisers are not CDP figures, and this page gives no estimate of them.
The fee in full, with the exemptions and the separate On-Demand Extension fee, is on CDP pricing and admin fees.
| Headquarters | Foundation | Enhanced |
|---|---|---|
| UK | £2,450 | £5,985 |
| Europe (incl. Türkiye) | €2,975 | €7,200 |
| North America | US$3,250 | US$7,650 |
When
The 2026 cycle has closed for scoring; 2027 opens in April
The 2026 scoring deadline was 16 September 2026, and a response submitted after it is not eligible for a 2026 score.
Responses and amendments are still accepted, unscored, until the questionnaire closes on 28 October 2026.
CDP published its 2027 dates in July 2026, and they are roughly three months earlier: the scoring deadline is 23 June 2027.
A company that plans its data collection around the 2026 calendar will be late for 2027.
CDP’s Terms reserve the right to change any date “at its sole discretion at any time”, so treat every CDP date as CDP’s current intention.
Every milestone, and how the two cycles compare, is on the CDP reporting timeline.
| Milestone | 2026 | 2027 |
|---|---|---|
| Response window opens | w/c 15 June | 14 April |
| Scoring deadline | 16 September | 23 June |
| Final response deadline | 28 October | 25 August |
| Scores to disclosers | w/c 30 November | September (aim) |
Your UK obligations
What CDP data does for UK reporting
A CDP response is not a filing and discharges no UK duty — but the data underneath it is the data the statutory regimes are built on.
| UK regime | Status | What carries across from CDP |
|---|---|---|
| SECR | Law: quoted companies, large unquoted companies and large LLPs, in the annual report | Scope 1 and 2 and energy use; SECR adds a UK energy figure and an intensity ratio |
| UK SRS (FCA PS26/19) | Final rules 30 Sep 2026: listed companies in scope report on a comply-or-explain basis for periods from 1 Jan 2027 | Governance, strategy, risks, targets and emissions — CDP is built on IFRS S2, which UK SRS S2 adopts |
| TCFD-aligned disclosure | Law: Companies Act 2006 s.414CB climate-related financial disclosures | The four pillars CDP has mapped its climate questions to since 2018 |
| ESOS Phase 4 | Law: energy audits for large undertakings, on four-year phases | Energy data; the audit itself is separate |
An unquoted company or LLP is in SECR scope where it exceeds at least two of the Schedule 7 size limits — £36 million turnover, £18 million balance sheet total and 250 employees — as set out on SECR thresholds.
Scope 1 and 2 carry across from a CDP response almost directly, but SECR lives in the annual report rather than on a platform; see also what SECR requires and streamlined energy and carbon reporting.
The FCA’s final rules (PS26/19, 30 September 2026) require listed companies in scope to report against UK SRS on a comply-or-explain basis for accounting periods beginning on or after 1 January 2027, with first reports in 2028.
That replaced the CP26/5 consultation, which had proposed mandatory UK SRS S2; the final rules apply comply-or-explain across all of UK SRS, with a one-year Scope 3 relief.
UK SRS itself was published by the Department for Business and Trade on 25 February 2026 and is voluntary for everyone outside the FCA’s listing categories; IFRS S2 is the international standard it adopts.
CDP says IFRS S2 is the foundational baseline for its climate questions, which is why a company already answering CDP has gathered much of what UK SRS S2 asks about; the lineage is on TCFD vs UK SRS, and the scenario work on climate scenario analysis.
Carbon reporting requirements and ESG reporting requirements map the whole UK landscape, with a sister reference on the same requirements.
ESOS Phase 4 is the energy-audit regime running alongside it, with a Phase 4 compliance guide on a sister site.
Science-based targets matter here too: a validated target is one of the examples CDP gives of Leadership-level action.
Limits
What CDP does not do for you
The overlap invites the opposite conclusion, so it is worth stating plainly.
A CDP response is not a statutory filing and satisfies no UK reporting obligation.
It is not assured: CDP’s scoring introduction says neither CDP nor its scoring partners verify the information in any individual response.
A good score is not evidence of compliance with anything, and CDP itself says a score is not a comprehensive measure of how sustainable an organisation is.
And a score may not be reused freely: CDP’s terms say scores must not be used for anything other than internal, non-commercial use without its written consent.
The mapping of CDP against TCFD, the ISSB, GRI and SASB is on CDP reporting standards.
If you want help with any of it, carbon compliance consultancy sets out what specialists do, there are independent guides to sustainability consultancy and carbon reporting software, and you can book a free 15-minute call.
Short answers to wider questions are in the site FAQ, and the homepage maps everything else.
A secondary summary of CDP’s 2026 materials is available from KPMG, as further reading only.
Frequently asked
CDP reporting — frequently asked
What is CDP?
CDP is a global environmental disclosure system. Companies, cities, states and regions answer its questionnaire on climate change, forests, water security and other environmental issues, and CDP scores and publishes the results. In 2025 more than 23,100 organisations disclosed through CDP, of which more than 22,100 were companies. CDP Worldwide is, as at 30 September 2026, a UK registered charity (no. 1122330); in June 2026 it announced a split into a Permira-backed commercial company and a charitable CDP Foundation, which had not completed at that date.
What does CDP stand for?
CDP began as the Carbon Disclosure Project. Its 2007 report was published under that name, on behalf of 315 investors. The organisation now uses the letters CDP on their own, because its questionnaire covers forests, water security, plastics, biodiversity and ocean as well as carbon.
Is CDP reporting mandatory?
No. CDP is a voluntary disclosure platform, and no UK law requires a CDP response. Companies respond because an investor, a customer, a bank or an initiative has asked them to, or because they choose to disclose as a Self-Selected Company. A CDP score has no regulatory status. The pressure to respond is commercial, not legal.
How does CDP scoring work?
CDP scores each response on four consecutive levels: Disclosure (D- or D), Awareness (C- or C), Management (B- or B) and Leadership (A- or A). A response must clear a threshold and any essential criteria at one level before it is credited at the next. A requested company that does not respond is marked Did not disclose, and a response submitted after the scoring deadline is not scored. The A List is drawn from the Leadership level.
How much does CDP reporting cost in the UK?
CDP publishes an admin fee. For a UK-headquartered company in 2026 it is £2,450 at Foundation tier or £5,985 at Enhanced tier, excluding taxes, and the Essential tier is not offered in the UK. The fee is payable before you submit. A company requested only by customers through CDP Supply Chain, by a bank, by a Private Markets member or by RE100 is exempt. CDP publishes no figure for internal time, software or advisers.
What is the CDP deadline for 2026?
The 2026 scoring deadline was 16 September 2026: a response had to be submitted by then to be eligible for a score. Unscored responses and amendments can still be submitted until the questionnaire closes, which CDP's Terms of Disclosure define as 28 October 2026. 2026 scores reach disclosers in the week of 30 November 2026.
When is the 2027 CDP disclosure cycle?
CDP published its 2027 dates in July 2026. The response window opens on 14 April 2027, the scoring deadline is 23 June 2027 and the final response deadline is 25 August 2027. That is roughly three months earlier than 2026, and CDP describes the response window as one month shorter than in previous cycles.
Does a CDP response count as UK climate reporting?
No. A CDP response is not a filing and discharges no UK legal duty. The emissions data behind it is the same data that SECR, the Companies Act climate-related financial disclosure rules and UK SRS draw on, so it can be reused, but each regime has its own format, boundary and publication route.
How does CDP relate to UK SRS, IFRS S2 and TCFD?
CDP says the ISSB's climate standard, IFRS S2, has been the foundational baseline for its climate questions since 2024, and that its climate datapoints have been aligned with the TCFD recommendations since 2018. UK SRS S2 is the UK's version of IFRS S2, published by the Department for Business and Trade on 25 February 2026. So a CDP response gathers much of the data UK SRS S2 asks for, but CDP and UK SRS remain separate.
Is a CDP score verified?
No. CDP states that neither CDP nor its scoring partners verify the information in any individual organisation's response. A score grades the completeness and content of a self-reported response. The questionnaire does ask whether your emissions figures were independently verified, and that answer is scored.
Sources
Primary sources
Every figure, date and status on this page traces to the instrument’s owner. Secondary commentary is never the source for a number.
- CDPTerms of Disclosure 2026 — definitions, §§5.1–5.4, 12.1, 13.1–13.3 and Annex §3.1
Scoring Deadline 16 September 2026; Questionnaire Closure Date 28 October 2026; the right to change dates; score publicity; CDP Worldwide's charity and company numbers.
- CDPFAQs — disclosure, the admin fee and scores
The 2026 fee table, the exemptions, the three fee tiers, the four scoring levels and "Did not disclose".
- CDPDisclosure 2026 hub
540+ financial institutions requesting 43,000+ organisations; 4,400+ first-time company disclosers in 2025; the fee paid before submission.
- CDPDisclosure 2027 hub
The 2027 key dates, the one-month-shorter window and CDP's reasons for moving the cycle.
- CDPHow to Disclose — step-by-step
Requests, registration, onboarding steps and the scoring and final deadlines.
- CDP Help CenterKA-01160 — Understand your score as a disclosing company
What is scored in 2026, the score release week and why a response may not be scored.
- CDP Help CenterKA-01037 — How to pay your CDP admin fee as a Discloser
Who pays, the "No fee payable" step and the approximately 5% rise in 2026.
- CDPScores and A Lists (data page)
2025 A List shown as 899 companies (5%) and 27 Triple A; SME A score from 2026.
- CDPCDP A List 2025 press release, 8 January 2026
23,100+ disclosers, 22,100+ companies, nearly 20,000 scored, 877 on the Corporate A List (4%).
- CDPAlignment with disclosure frameworks and standards
IFRS S2 as the baseline since 2024; TCFD alignment since 2018; GHG Protocol alignment.
- CDPPress release, 11 June 2026 — CDP to become two organisations
The Permira-backed split and its completion condition.
- CDPCarbon Disclosure Project Report 2007 — Global FT500
The organisation's original name, and a request made on behalf of 315 investors.
- GHG ProtocolCorporate Value Chain (Scope 3) Standard
The emissions categories CDP, SECR and UK SRS share.
- legislation.gov.ukSI 2008/410, Schedule 7 — Parts 7 and 7A (SECR)
Where SECR disclosures sit, and the size conditions for unquoted companies.
- FCAPS26/19 — Aligning listed issuers' sustainability disclosures with international standards
Final rules, 30 September 2026: UK SRS on a comply-or-explain basis for periods from 1 January 2027.
- FCACP26/5 — the consultation PS26/19 finalised
What was proposed, for comparison with the final rules.
Continue reading
Read next
CDP reporting timeline 2026–2027
Every published date, the two final-deadline wordings reconciled, and the 2027 cycle.
CDP scores and scoring methodology
The D- to A ladder, the thresholds, essential criteria and the A List.
CDP pricing and admin fees 2026
The fee table, who is exempt and what each tier returns.