CDP reporting timeline 2026: the dates that matter

Two deadlines, not one

Most CDP guidance collapses the cycle into a single “submission deadline”.

That is misleading.

The CDP 2026 cycle has two distinct cut-offs, and they do different jobs.

The first is the scoring deadline of 17 September 2026: a response must be submitted by then to be eligible for a CDP score^[1]. Edits can continue after that date, but they are not scored^[2].

The second is the questionnaire closure date of 19 November 2026: after it, the questionnaire is closed and responses can no longer be changed at all^[1].

For what CDP is, how the A–D scoring ladder works, and where CDP sits alongside the UK regime, see our main CDP reporting guide. This page is the calendar.

The disclosure cycle, milestone by milestone

CDP runs an annual disclosure cycle on a published timetable. The 2026 questionnaire, guidance and scoring methodologies were released in the spring so companies could prepare against the final framework before the cycle opened^[3].

The questionnaire and guidance were published during the week of 20 April 2026, and the scoring methodology during the week of 27 April 2026^[3].

The disclosure cycle itself opens in June 2026 and runs for around four months, closing in October^[3]. The two formal cut-offs — the scoring deadline and the questionnaire closure — fall within and just after that window^[1].

Because CDP can revise these dates during the cycle, confirm them against CDP’s Disclosure Hub before you plan around them^[1].

How to plan against the 2026 cycle

The headline date is the scoring deadline of 17 September 2026^[1]. The harder question is when the work needs to start, and the answer depends on whether the framework is published yet.

Because the 2026 questionnaire, guidance and scoring methodology were published in April^[3], companies can review the exact requirements and map their data needs before the cycle even opens in June. That preparation window is the single biggest determinant of a strong score.

The reason is the questionnaire’s structure.

The climate, water and forests content asks for activity data across the prior year, often with intensity ratios and target progress that depend on figures the finance team owns rather than the sustainability team.

Pulling those together inside the disclosure window without pre-existing reporting infrastructure is the most common cause of incomplete submissions and depressed scores.

The CDP cycle in the wider UK reporting calendar

For UK companies, the CDP cycle increasingly runs alongside the statutory regime rather than separately from it.

SECR disclosures sit in the annual report and reuse the same Scope 1 and 2 figures; ESOS energy audits generate data that flows into both; and the UK Sustainability Reporting Standards (UK SRS) set the destination architecture all of these datasets are moving toward.

CDP aligned its corporate questionnaire with the ISSB’s IFRS S2 in 2024, and IFRS S2 incorporates the recommendations of the Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures (TCFD). UK SRS S2 is the UK’s endorsement of IFRS S2, so a company that already discloses through CDP will have gathered much of the same governance, strategy, risk and emissions data.

Organisations that plan a CDP submission in isolation often pay twice for the same measurement. For how the frameworks connect, see our CDP reporting framework guide and our CDP and reporting standards analysis. For the scoring detail, see CDP environmental reporting.

CDP reporting timeline: frequently asked questions