Verified 22 August 2026 · CDP 2026 & 2027 cycles

CDP reporting timeline 2026 — the dates that matter

The 2026 disclosure cycle has three cut-offs, not one, and only the first of them decides whether your response is scored.

This page sets out every published date for 2026, reconciles the two that CDP states differently in two different places, and carries the 2027 calendar CDP published in July 2026 — which moves the scoring deadline almost three months earlier.

The answer, in one breath

The CDP deadline 2026 is three deadlines, and only one of them is about your score

Anyone searching for the CDP deadline 2026 is usually looking for one date, and the cycle does not have one.

Almost every summary of the cycle collapses it into a single “submission deadline”, and that is the mistake that costs companies a score.

The CDP deadline 2026 is better read as three separate cut-offs with three separate jobs.

The three dates, and what each one settles

16 September 2026 is the Scoring Deadline — the date by which a response must be submitted to be eligible for a CDP score. CDP, Terms of Disclosure

28 October 2026 is the Questionnaire Closure Date — after it the questionnaire shuts and no response or amendment is accepted at all. Terms of Disclosure

The week commencing 30 November 2026 is when 2026 scores reach disclosers through the CDP Portal. CDP, Supplier Engagement Guide 2026

 

Between the first two dates you may still submit and still edit, and nothing you do will be scored. CDP Help Centre, KA-01079

Why one date is the wrong mental model

Collapsing those into one date is not a harmless simplification, because the three do different jobs.

The first decides whether you are graded.

The second decides whether you appear at all.

The third decides when anyone finds out.

A plan built to the second date produces a disclosure that is on the public record and carries no score, which is almost never what the organisation intended when it started.

CDP deadline 2026 — the three cut-offs, 16 September, 28 October and w/c 30 November
Three cut-offs, three different jobs: the score, the record, and the release.
16 SepScoring Deadline — the score is decided here
30 SepOn-Demand Extension ceiling, if CDP grants one
28 OctQuestionnaire Closure Date — the window shuts
w/c 30 Nov2026 scores released to disclosers
The window is open until October.
The score is settled on 16 September.
Descend into the 2026 cycle
The published cycle

The CDP reporting timeline for 2026, milestone by milestone

The CDP reporting timeline is not one document — it is eight milestones scattered across CDP’s own site.

CDP publishes eight milestones for a disclosure cycle, and they are spread across six of its own web pages and four PDFs.

What follows is the CDP reporting timeline as CDP itself publishes it, with nothing added and nothing reconciled away.

Every date below is CDP’s own, with the document it comes from named beside it.

CDP reporting timeline 2026 — the eight published milestones from April to November
The 2026 cycle at a glance: publication in April, the window in June, the score settled in September, the questionnaire closed in October, scores in November.
Week of 20 April 2026
The questionnaire and guidance are published
You can read the full question set months before the Portal opens, which is the only reason a first-time discloser can be ready by June. CDP FAQs
Week of 27 April 2026
The scoring methodologies are published
The methodology tells you which questions carry points before you answer any of them, and it is published a week after the questions themselves. CDP FAQs
Week of 27 April 2026
Requesters begin building their request lists
If a customer or an investor is going to ask you to disclose, the decision is being made here — weeks before you hear about it. Supplier Engagement Guide 2026
Week commencing 15 June 2026
The response window opens
The Portal opens for disclosers, and CDP’s own framing is that the cycle “opens in June for four months, closing in October”. CDP, Onboarding Guidance 2026
16 September 2026
The Scoring Deadline
The single date on this list that changes the outcome — a response submitted after it is not eligible for a 2026 score. Terms of Disclosure
29 – 30 September 2026
The On-Demand Extension window
A paid, limited, discretionary extension that must be requested by 29 September for a response submitted on or before 30 September. Terms of Disclosure
28 October 2026
The Questionnaire Closure Date
The questionnaire shuts. CDP’s Disclosure Hub describes this as “the week commencing October 26”; its Terms name the day. Terms of Disclosure
Week commencing 30 November 2026
2026 scores are released
Scores reach disclosers through the CDP Portal, earlier in the year than the 2025 cycle managed, and deliberately so. Supplier Engagement Guide 2026

What the published calendar leaves out

Three things CDP does not publish on that calendar are worth naming, because their absence is what makes the cycle hard to plan.

There is no published date for verification or assurance, which is usually the longest-lead item in the chain.

There is no published request-list deadline for 2026 — CDP publishes one for 2027, but for this cycle the requester-side dates live inside guidance PDFs rather than on the calendar. Supplier Engagement Guide 2026

And there is no published on-demand extension fee, so the cost of the one flexibility in the cycle is only visible once you are inside the Portal.

CDP reserves the right to move any of these: both dates in its Terms carry the phrase “or any alternative date that is notified to Disclosers during CDP’s disclosure cycle for 2026”. Confirm against the Disclosure Hub before you plan around them.

A discrepancy worth knowing about

Week commencing 26 October, or 28 October? Both — and the difference is not cosmetic

CDP states its final deadline two different ways, in two documents that are both its own.

Its Disclosure Hub and its How to Disclose page say the final response deadline “will be in the week commencing October 26, after which point the questionnaire will be closed”. CDP, How to Disclose

CDP Disclosure Hubweek commencing 26 October

Its Terms of Disclosure — the document you accept when you disclose — defines the Questionnaire Closure Date as 28 October 2026. Terms of Disclosure

The same pattern applies to the Scoring Deadline: CDP’s Help Centre describes it as “the week of September 14”, while the Terms name 16 September 2026. Help Centre, KA-01079

The marketing wording is the safer one to plan against, because a week is a wider target than a day.

The Terms wording is the one that governs, because it is the contract — and it is the one that tells you the questionnaire is open on Monday 26 October and shut after Wednesday the 28th.

Neither is wrong; they are written for different purposes, and no summary of the cycle we could find reconciles them.

Both definitions in the Terms end “or any alternative date that is notified to Disclosers”, so a date on this page is a published intention, never a guarantee.

Your position

Where you are in the 2026 cycle, right now

The cycle only has two states that matter to you: before the Scoring Deadline, and after it.

This works out which side of each published milestone today falls on, using the dates cited above and nothing else.

Before 16 September, every hour of work still changes the outcome.

After it, the only thing left to decide is whether an unscored disclosure is worth filing — which for a supplier answering a customer request it very often is.

Nothing you enter here is sent anywhere, and no date is inferred — every anchor is one of CDP’s own published milestones.

What the date is protecting

What the CDP scoring deadline is actually protecting

A deadline only matters in proportion to what sits behind it, so it is worth being precise about what a CDP score is and how many organisations get one.

The CDP scoring deadline is the only date in the cycle that changes an outcome rather than a record.

CDP scores on a ladder of four bands: Disclosure (D−/D), Awareness (C−/C), Management (B−/B) and Leadership (A−/A). CDP FAQs

Scoring in 2026 covers climate change, forests and water security; ocean is new for 2026 and is optional and unscored in its first year. CDP, Disclosure Hub 2026

The four bands, and what each one is asking

Disclosure asks only whether you answered — it is a completeness band.

Awareness asks whether you understand how environmental issues intersect with your business.

Management asks whether you are acting on what you understand.

Leadership asks whether your action is best practice, and it is the band the A List is drawn from. CDP FAQs

Missing the scoring deadline does not move you down that ladder, which is the part worth being clear about — it takes you off the ladder entirely.

CDP scoring deadline — the four scoring bands from Disclosure to Leadership
Four bands, eight grades. Missing the scoring deadline does not move you down the ladder; it takes you off it.

How many organisations actually get a score

In the 2025 cycle, more than 23,100 companies, cities, states and regions disclosed through CDP. CDP press release, 8 January 2026

Of those, more than 22,100 were companies, together representing more than half of global market capitalisation. CDP press release, 8 January 2026

Nearly 20,000 were scored — so roughly one in ten disclosing companies ended the cycle with a disclosure on file and no score against it. CDP press release, 8 January 2026

Companies scored, of those that disclosed (2025)~20,000 of 22,100

899 companies made the 2025 Corporate A List, which is 5% of those scored, and 27 took a Triple A across climate, forests and water security. CDP — Scores and A Lists

A-List share of companies scored, 2025 cycle
Japan
12%
Türkiye
12%
France
12%
Portugal
9%
Spain
9%
Taiwan (China)
8%
All scored companies
4%

Source: CDP, “CDP A List 2025”, 8 January 2026. Percentages are the share of companies scored in each market, as published by CDP. That press release gives a global A List share of 4% (877 companies); CDP’s current Scores and A Lists page gives 899, or 5%, quoted above — CDP does not explain the difference.

The direction of travel is upward: A scores in climate rose from 346 in 2023 to 751 in 2025, water security from 101 to 263, and forests from 30 to 55. CDP press release, 8 January 2026

Who is asking for the data

Demand is what makes the ladder worth climbing: for the 2026 cycle, CDP’s Capital Markets Signatories — over 540 financial institutions with more than US$110 trillion in assets — are requesting disclosure, and more than 270 corporate buyers requested data from roughly 45,000 suppliers in 2025. CDP, Disclosure Hub 2026

How the bands are actually awarded is a subject of its own, and it is covered in full on CDP scores explained.

The six weeks nobody documents

What the CDP reporting window still lets you do after 16 September

The gap between the Scoring Deadline and the Questionnaire Closure Date is six weeks long, and it is the least-documented part of the cycle.

The CDP reporting window does not shut when the score does, and the six weeks in between have their own rules.

You can still submit a response in that window, and it will be published as a disclosure. Help Centre, KA-01079

You can still edit and resubmit a response you filed earlier. Help Centre, KA-01079

What you cannot do is change your score, because “any amendments submitted after the scoring deadline will not be scored”. Help Centre, KA-01079

Does reopening a submitted response put my score at risk?No. If you reopen and do not resubmit, CDP scores the version you originally submitted. The risk is resubmitting an amendment after 16 September, which is accepted and not scored.

The reopen-without-resubmitting rule

There is a trap inside that rule which is worth reading twice.

If you reopen a submitted response and do not resubmit it, CDP scores the version you originally submitted — so reopening is safe, and reopening then abandoning is also safe. Help Centre, KA-01079

But an amendment you make in good faith on 20 September, to correct a genuine error, is an amendment that will not be scored.

The practical consequence is that your last scoreable act of the 2026 cycle happens on 16 September, and everything after it is housekeeping on the public record.

Why the unscored window is not a guarantee either

One further asymmetry is worth planning around.

CDP’s Terms say it may elect to score a response filed after the Scoring Deadline, at its sole discretion, and that it is under no obligation to. Terms of Disclosure

So the six-week window is not a guaranteed unscored channel either — it is a channel whose treatment is CDP’s to decide.

Plan on the assumption that nothing after 16 September is scored, and treat any other outcome as a surprise in your favour.

CDP reporting window 2026 — scored to 16 September, open but unscored for six weeks, closed after 28 October
The window has three states, and only the first one changes your score.

What the window is genuinely for

Getting a first disclosure on the record when a score was never realistic this cycle.

Correcting a factual error so the published data is right, even though the correction will not be scored.

Completing a supply-chain request whose value to the customer is the data, not the grade.

What it is not for

Improving a score — no amendment after 16 September is scored.

Buying time on Scope 3 data, because the score is already fixed by then.

Waiting for assurance to complete, unless you have accepted that this year is unscored.

Deliberately without a verdict bar: whether the six-week window is useful to you is a judgement about what you wanted from the cycle, not a number.

The extension

The On-Demand Extension — fourteen days, requested after the deadline has passed

CDP does operate an extension, and almost nothing written about the cycle explains how strange its shape is.

It applies to a response submitted after the Scoring Deadline but on or before 30 September 2026. Terms of Disclosure

It must be requested by 29 September 2026 — thirteen days after the deadline it extends has already gone. Help Centre, KA-01079

It carries a fee, and CDP states that “only a limited number of on-demand Scores are available in 2026, so your request may not be granted”. Terms of Disclosure

 

Why it is not a planning instrument

So it is discretionary, capped, paid, and requested in arrears.

Three things that follow

Three things follow for anyone thinking of relying on it.

First, it is not a planning instrument — you cannot decide in July to use the extension, because you cannot request it until the deadline has passed.

Second, the fourteen days it buys are the fourteen days after your data was already late, which is rarely enough to fix the thing that made it late.

Third, a request that is refused leaves you exactly where you would have been, minus the time spent asking.

CDP does not publish the on-demand fee alongside the admin fee table, so we do not state a figure for it; the request process and the amount are handled in the Portal.

The one case where it is worth asking

There is one situation in which it does make sense, and it is narrow.

You have a substantially complete response, one dependency has slipped by days rather than weeks — an assurance opinion, a single Scope 3 category, a governance sign-off — and the cost of the fee is small against the value of the score to a customer or an investor.

In that case the extension is exactly what it was designed for.

If instead the response is not close, the extension buys two weeks against a problem that took months to create, and the request itself has an administrative cost.

Deliberately non-numeric. Whether fourteen days is worth a discretionary fee depends on what is missing from your response, and that is not a number we can compute for you.

Which year you are reporting

A 2026 disclosure does not report on 2026

This is the single most common misunderstanding in the cycle, and none of the pages that rank above this one address it.

A 2026 disclosure reports on your organisation’s most recent completed annual reporting period, not on calendar year 2026.

Which year end maps to which cycle

For a company with a 31 December year end, that means the 2026 cycle is where your FY2025 figures are disclosed.

For a company with a 31 March year end, it usually means FY2025/26, closed in March 2026 and disclosed in the window that opened in June.

Two consequences fall out of that, and both of them are calendar consequences.

The first is that your data is already old when the window opens — the numbers have been sitting in your finance and operations systems since your year end.

The second is that a late year end compresses everything: a company closing its books in March has roughly three months of internal reporting to complete before 16 September, while a December closer has had nine.

Why this year’s work lands in next year’s score

There is a second-order effect that catches companies in their second cycle rather than their first.

Because the cycle reports a completed year, the actions you take this year show up in next year’s score, not this one.

A target set in March 2026, or a supplier engagement programme launched in June, lands in the 2027 disclosure.

That is a long feedback loop, and it is the strongest argument for reading the scoring methodology in April rather than after the score arrives in November.

Confirm the precise reporting-period rules for your own organisation and questionnaire in CDP’s own guidance, because they vary by questionnaire type and by whether you are answering on behalf of subsidiaries. Onboarding Guidance 2026

Your first cycle

Disclosing for the first time, on a calendar built for people who have done it before

CDP’s published dates assume you already know what a response contains, and a first-time discloser meets the questionnaire and the deadline in the same month.

The number of organisations in this position is not small: CDP reported roughly 4,400 first-time disclosers in the 2025 cycle. Disclosure Hub 2026

Four things are genuinely different the first time, and none of them appear on the calendar.

The four things that are different the first time

The first is registration, which is a step in its own right rather than a formality.

If you have been requested, you may receive a registration link from CDP or a domain activation link from the customer who requested you; if you have not been requested and want to disclose voluntarily, you use CDP’s Register to Disclose form. Onboarding Guidance 2026

Setup decides how much work the cycle is

The second is questionnaire setup, which decides which questions you are asked and therefore how much work the cycle is.

Setup is driven by who requested you, so a company with both a customer request and an investor request answers a wider question set than one with either alone. Onboarding Guidance 2026

First-time disclosers, 2025 cycle~4,400 of 23,100

The third is that a first response has no copy-forward — every figure, every narrative answer and every governance description is written from nothing.

That is precisely the advantage CDP cites for shortening the 2027 window, and it is an advantage a first-time discloser does not have. CDP, Disclosure Hub 2027

The fourth is that subsidiaries have to be resolved before you answer, not after.

The Portal shows whether your subsidiaries carry their own requests, and you can choose to respond on their behalf — a decision that changes the scope of the response and has to be made at setup. Onboarding Guidance 2026

Start in April, not June

The honest first-timer’s calendar therefore starts in April, when the questionnaire and the scoring methodology are published, and not in June when the Portal opens.

Two months of reading the question set before the window opens is the difference between a considered first response and a rushed one, and it costs nothing but attention.

If a score this year was never realistic, the six-week window after 16 September is a legitimate way to get a first disclosure onto the public record — see what the window still lets you do.

Working backwards

Plan backwards from 16 September, not forwards from June

The most common cause of a weak score is leaving data collection — especially Scope 3 and the figures that belong to finance — until the disclosure window itself.

Tell it your year end and whether this is your first cycle, and it works the dates back from CDP’s published Scoring Deadline.

The plan it produces is arithmetic on CDP’s own anchors and your own year end; it is not a benchmark and it is not advice.

The admin fee

Who pays to disclose, and who does not

The fee is not a timeline question until you notice that it is payable before you submit — which makes it a dependency of the 16 September deadline.

CDP requires that disclosing companies “must pay the CDP admin fee before submitting their response”. Disclosure Hub 2026

The 2026 fees for UK-headquartered organisations are £2,450 at Foundation tier and £5,985 at Enhanced tier, exclusive of applicable taxes. CDP FAQs, admin fee table

The lower Essential tier is not available in the UK, nor in the rest of Europe, North America or Japan. CDP FAQs, admin fee table

For comparison, CDP’s published European rates are €2,975 and €7,200, and its North American rates are US$3,250 and US$7,650. CDP FAQs, admin fee table

UK Foundation tier, against Enhanced£2,450 of £5,985

CDP states that admin fees rose by approximately 5% globally in 2026. CDP Help Centre, KA-01037

Who the fee actually applies to

The part that is genuinely buried, and that changes the answer for a large number of UK companies, is who the fee applies to.

CDP’s own supplier onboarding guidance is explicit: “for companies only requested by their customers (Supply Chain request), it is free to disclose, but for companies who also have CDP Capital Markets request (Investor request), there will be an admin fee”. Onboarding Guidance 2026

Cities, states and regions are exempt from the admin fee entirely. Disclosure Hub 2026

What each tier returns

The two tiers differ in what they return rather than in what you have to answer.

Enhanced tier carries access to 100 public company responses, one Comparative Analysis Report benchmarking you against 10 peer companies of your choice, and priority event registration for two people. CDP FAQs

Foundation tier carries priority registration for one person at one regional CDP event, and no comparable data-access or benchmarking entitlement. CDP FAQs

Why a fee is a deadline dependency

Two timing consequences follow from a fee that is payable before submission.

The first is that the fee has to clear your own procurement — raising a purchase order, getting an invoice approved and paid — and that is a finance process with its own calendar, not a card payment at the end of the questionnaire.

The second is that an unpaid fee is a hard block on submission, so a payment that slips into late September is a scoring deadline missed for an administrative reason. Disclosure Hub 2026

The full tier comparison, and what each entitlement is actually worth, is on CDP cost & admin fees 2026.

Fees are stated because CDP publishes them itself and they are linked to CDP’s own fee page. No other price on this page is ours, and none is an estimate.

The other calendar

Your real deadline may be set by your customer, not by CDP

There are two calendars in a CDP cycle, and most companies only ever see one of them.

The requester calendar starts in April, when requesters begin building the lists of organisations they will ask to disclose. Supplier Engagement Guide 2026

CDP emails supplier contacts with activation links and getting-started material as those lists are built, before the response window opens. Supplier Engagement Guide 2026

The classes of requester, and what each one costs you

Requesters fall into several classes, and the class you are in determines what you pay and often when you are expected to answer. CDP, Request Data

Which request type am I answering?Your Requests tab in the CDP Portal names every organisation that has asked you. A customer request is a Supply Chain request; an investor request comes from a Capital Markets Signatory through the Letter to the Board.

Supply Chain members are large purchasing organisations asking their suppliers — this is the “customer request”.

Capital Markets Signatories ask public companies through CDP’s Letter to the Board, and it is this request that triggers the admin fee.

Others include banks financing supply chains, private-market asset owners, associations such as RE100 and C40 Cities, and subnational governments. CDP, Request Data

CDP publishes a request-list deadline for the 2027 cycle — 7 April 2027 — which makes the requester calendar visible in a way it was not in 2026. Disclosure Hub 2027

For 2026, the requester-side dates are documented in CDP’s guidance for Supply Chain members rather than on the public calendar, which is why most disclosers never see them. Supplier Engagement Guide 2026

What having two calendars means in practice

Three practical points follow from having two calendars.

First, a customer may set an earlier internal deadline than CDP’s, so that it can review supplier responses before its own reporting closes.

Second, requests can be added after the Portal opens — they appear under a “For Review” tab and must be accepted or declined. Onboarding Guidance 2026

Third — and this one has cost companies a score — if you accept a new request after you have completed your questionnaire setup, you must manually resubmit the setup for the questionnaire to pick up that requester’s questions. Onboarding Guidance 2026

Lead time

Assurance is the dependency that decides whether September is achievable

Verification does not appear anywhere on CDP’s published calendar, and it is the constraint that most often makes the calendar unachievable.

CDP asks whether emissions data has been externally verified, and verification is a procurement exercise before it is a technical one.

An assurance provider has to be appointed, scoped and booked, and assurance capacity is seasonal in exactly the months CDP’s window occupies.

The chain that has to finish before the deadline

The sequence that has to complete before 16 September is longer than it looks.

Your reporting period has to close, and the underlying activity data has to be complete rather than merely available.

Emissions have to be calculated against the right factors — for UK operations, the DESNZ conversion factors, whose 2026 set was published on 11 June 2026, four days before CDP’s window opened. DESNZ, 2026 conversion factors

Scope 3 categories have to be assembled from suppliers who are themselves mid-cycle.

 

Then the assurance engagement runs, findings come back, and figures move.

Then governance has to sign off the moved figures, which usually means a committee that meets monthly.

Working that chain backwards from 16 September is the whole of the planning problem, and it is what the instrument above computes.

Why 2027 makes this harder

One structural point makes the squeeze worse in 2027 than in 2026.

Moving the scoring deadline to 23 June pulls the assurance window into the first half of the calendar year, which is the same period in which statutory audit work peaks for December-year-end companies. Disclosure Hub 2027

Assurance capacity is a shared resource, and CDP’s new dates put more demand on it at a busier time.

If external verification matters to your score, the conversation with a provider is a first-quarter conversation from 2027 onward, not a summer one.

We do not publish assurance lead times as a figure, because they vary by provider, scope and sector, and we have no primary source that would make a number honest.

What changed this year

What the 2026 questionnaire changed, and what it costs you in days

Questionnaire changes are usually written up as content news; read as calendar news, they tell you where this year’s extra work sits.

Ocean joins climate, forests, water security, biodiversity and plastics as a disclosure theme for the first time. CDP press release, ocean

Because ocean is optional and unscored in 2026, it costs you days only if you choose to spend them. Disclosure Hub 2026

Forests coverage widened with additional scored commodities, which is where new data-collection work genuinely lands for food, retail and consumer-goods disclosers. Disclosure Hub 2026

Where the new data collection lands

Water security questions were revised and tightened, and water data tends to sit with site operations rather than with the sustainability team, which lengthens the internal chain. Disclosure Hub 2026

Plastics and climate questions were revised, with adaptation and resilience layered further into the climate module. Disclosure Hub 2026

The SME questionnaire gains optional forest and water questions, which is the first year an SME can answer beyond climate. Disclosure Hub 2026

Is ocean scored in 2026?No. Ocean is new for the 2026 cycle and is optional and unscored in its first year, so it costs you preparation days only if you choose to spend them.

The IFRS S2 baseline underneath all of it

Behind all of it sits the alignment decision CDP took in June 2024, when it rebuilt its corporate questionnaire on the ISSB’s IFRS S2 as the foundational baseline for climate disclosure. IFRS Sustainability Standards Navigator

That is why a CDP response and an IFRS S2 disclosure now draw on the same measurement work, and why the two calendars are worth reading together — which is the next section.

Where this year’s extra days actually land

Read as a calendar, the 2026 changes distribute unevenly.

A climate-only discloser sees revised questions in a module it already answers, which is days of work rather than weeks.

A forests or water discloser sees genuinely new scope, and that is new data collection from operations and suppliers rather than new drafting. Disclosure Hub 2026

An SME answering beyond climate for the first time sees a new module entirely, though CDP has made those questions optional. Disclosure Hub 2026

A planning assumption you can use

The safest planning assumption is that a module you have never answered costs a reporting cycle to answer well, and a module you have answered before costs a few weeks.

The structure of the questionnaire itself is covered on the CDP reporting framework and CDP reporting standards.

If it slips

What actually happens if you miss a deadline

CDP’s Terms are unusually direct about this, and almost nobody quotes them.

If a response misses the Scoring Deadline, CDP reserves the right not to score it, and separately the right not to include its data in any report, data product or other analysis. Terms of Disclosure

CDP may elect at its sole discretion to score and use a response submitted before the Questionnaire Closure Date, but states that it is under no obligation to do so. Terms of Disclosure

What "at CDP’s discretion" means in practice

So the honest reading is that late is not simply unscored — it is unscored, and possibly unused.

Work out which of the three states you are in before you decide what to do about it.

The three states, plainly

The three states are worth naming plainly.

Submitted by 16 September — eligible for a 2026 score, and any amendment before that date is scored with it.

Submitted between 17 September and 28 October — on the record, not scored, and CDP’s use of the data is at its discretion. Terms of Disclosure

Not submitted by 28 October — the questionnaire is closed and there is no 2026 disclosure at all; the next opportunity is the 2027 window, which opens on 14 April 2027. Disclosure Hub 2027

There is no penalty, no fine and no enforcement, because CDP disclosure is voluntary and market-driven rather than a statutory UK requirement. Terms of Disclosure

The consequence is commercial instead: the investor or customer who requested the data sees that you were asked, and sees what arrived.

Against the UK calendar

Where CDP’s cycle sits against the UK’s reporting year

CDP is voluntary, and it is still the earliest hard date in most UK sustainability teams’ year — which is why it is worth mapping against the regimes that are not voluntary.

None of the pages currently ranking above this one make that map, so here it is.

Statutory, annual
SECR
Streamlined Energy and Carbon Reporting sits inside your directors’ report, so its deadline is your accounts filing deadline, not a separate one. SI 2018/1155 · SECR requirements
Phase 4
ESOS
The Energy Savings Opportunity Scheme runs on four-year compliance phases with their own qualification date, entirely independent of CDP’s window. GOV.UK, ESOS guidance · ESOS Phase 4
Since 2022
TCFD-aligned disclosure
Climate-related financial disclosure obligations sit in the annual report, and CDP’s climate module draws on the same governance, strategy, risk and metrics structure. TCFD reporting
Published 25 February 2026
UK SRS S1 and S2
DBT published the UK Sustainability Reporting Standards for voluntary use; S2 is the UK’s adoption of IFRS S2, which is the baseline CDP’s climate questionnaire is built on. GOV.UK, UK SRS S1 and S2 · UK SRS
Consulted 30 January – 20 March 2026
FCA CP26/5
The FCA has proposed — not yet made — rules requiring UK SRS S2 climate reporting by listed issuers for accounting periods beginning on or after 1 January 2027, with the Policy Statement expected in autumn 2026. FCA, CP26/5
Published 11 June 2026
DESNZ conversion factors
The factors every UK calculation runs on landed four days before CDP’s response window opened, which is the tightest coupling between the two calendars. DESNZ, 2026 conversion factors · UK emissions factors
16 September 2026
CDP Scoring Deadline
Voluntary, and still the first externally-imposed date most teams meet each year — which is why it tends to become the internal forcing function for everything above it. Terms of Disclosure
 

Measure once, to the highest standard any of them requires

The pattern worth taking away is that one set of measurement now feeds four nested frameworks: the activity data behind SECR is the activity data behind CDP, behind a TCFD-aligned disclosure, and behind UK SRS S2 if and when the FCA makes its rules.

That is an argument for measuring once, early, to the highest standard any of them requires, rather than four times to four deadlines.

A caution about status

One caution belongs with that argument, and it is about status rather than measurement.

CDP is voluntary and CP26/5 is a consultation, so nothing above turns a CDP deadline into a legal obligation or an FCA proposal into a rule.

What is true is narrower and still useful: the same underlying data serves all of them, and the earliest externally-set date in the year is usually CDP’s.

The broader UK picture is on ESG reporting requirements in the UK.

Published July 2026

The 2027 CDP disclosure cycle moves almost three months earlier

In July 2026 CDP published the 2027 calendar, and it is the largest change to the shape of the cycle since 2024.

The 2027 CDP disclosure cycle is the first in three years to return to a spring response window.

Request lists open on 24 February 2027 and close on 7 April. Disclosure Hub 2027

The response window opens on 14 April 2027 — two months earlier than 2026. Disclosure Hub 2027

The scoring deadline falls on 23 June 2027, almost three months earlier than 2026’s 16 September. Disclosure Hub 2027

The final response deadline is 25 August 2027. Disclosure Hub 2027

CDP aims to “deliver scores to Disclosers in September, publish the public score release in November”, with exact dates to be confirmed. Disclosure Hub 2027

CDP disclosure cycle 2027 — request lists 24 February, window opens 14 April, scoring deadline 23 June, final deadline 25 August
The 2027 cycle in full, as CDP published it in July 2026.

Ten weeks, not thirteen

The arithmetic that matters is the length of the window rather than its position.

2026 gives roughly thirteen weeks between the Portal opening and the Scoring Deadline; 2027 gives about ten, because CDP has moved the opening later relative to the deadline as well as moving both earlier. Disclosure Hub 2027

2027 response window, against 2026~10 weeks of ~13

CDP’s stated reasons

CDP states the reason plainly: stakeholders in its post-disclosure survey “consistently told us they prefer the response window to open earlier in the calendar year”, and the 2027 milestones are “more aligned to the response window timeframes CDP practiced prior to 2024”. Disclosure Hub 2027

Its justification for the shorter window is improvements to the copy-forward function, a new AI-enabled response suggestion feature, and “no major changes expected to the questionnaire”. Disclosure Hub 2027

What did not change

CDP has also confirmed that “the key dates for this year’s 2026 cycle remain unchanged”, so nothing above this section moved when 2027 was announced. Disclosure Hub 2027

One further consequence is already visible in the 2026 calendar: CDP brought this year’s scores release forward specifically to give disclosers time to understand and act on 2026 scores before the 2027 cycle opens. Disclosure Hub 2027

Who feels the compression

Two groups feel that compression differently.

A repeat discloser gets CDP’s copy-forward and its new response-suggestion feature, so ten weeks may genuinely be enough. Disclosure Hub 2027

A first-time discloser gets neither, and meets a shorter window with nothing to carry forward into it.

What it means for a December year end

Read together with the reporting-period rule above, the practical effect is stark: a December-year-end company disclosing FY2026 data in the 2027 cycle has to be submission-ready by late June 2027, roughly six months after its year end.

The shape over time

How the CDP 2027 timeline compares with the cycle it replaces

The CDP 2027 timeline is best understood against the one it replaces, rather than on its own.

Two cycles, side by side, is the clearest way to see what actually moved.

CDP 2027 timeline compared with 2026 — every milestone moves earlier and the window shortens
Every 2027 milestone lands earlier than its 2026 equivalent, and the response window is about a month shorter.
Milestone20262027Shift
Request lists openWeek of 27 April24 February~2 months earlier
Request list deadlineNot separately published7 AprilNewly published
Response window opensWeek commencing 15 June14 April~2 months earlier
Scoring deadline16 September23 June~3 months earlier
Final response deadline28 October25 August~2 months earlier
Scores to disclosersWeek commencing 30 NovemberSeptember (exact date to follow)~2 months earlier
Public score releaseWeek commencing 30 NovemberNovember (exact date to follow)Broadly unchanged
Length of the response window~13 weeks~10 weeksOne month shorter

The row that matters most

The row that matters most is the last one.

Every other line moves the same work to a different part of the year, which is an inconvenience you can plan around in one cycle.

A window that is a month shorter is a permanent change in how much runway the cycle gives you, and CDP is explicit that it is relying on product improvements rather than on disclosers working faster to absorb it. Disclosure Hub 2027

Sources: 2026 milestones — CDP Terms of Disclosure, CDP FAQs and CDP Supplier Engagement Guide 2026; 2027 milestones — CDP Disclosure Hub 2027. “Shift” is our arithmetic on CDP’s published dates, not CDP’s own characterisation.

 

CDP has said that any subsequent change to the response window will be “validated with our customers and communicated well in advance”, so 2027 is not presented as a permanent shape. Disclosure Hub 2027

Three cut-offs in 2026.
One of them, in September, is the whole of it.

After 16 September your 2026 CDP disclosure can still change, but your score cannot.

The dates worth writing down

16 September 2026
The Scoring Deadline. The last day anything you submit affects your 2026 score.
29 September 2026
The last day to request an On-Demand Extension, for a response filed by 30 September. Paid, capped and discretionary.
28 October 2026
The Questionnaire Closure Date in CDP’s Terms. Its Hub calls it the week commencing 26 October.
w/c 30 November 2026
2026 scores reach disclosers through the CDP Portal.
23 June 2027
Next year’s scoring deadline. Almost three months earlier than this year’s.
Ten weeks
The 2027 response window, from 14 April to 23 June. About a month shorter than 2026.
Free, if only your customers asked
A Supply-Chain-only request costs nothing. A Capital Markets request brings the admin fee.
Your last completed year
A 2026 disclosure reports your most recent closed reporting period, not calendar 2026.

Work out which side of 16 September your organisation is on, then plan the next cycle backwards from 23 June.

Build your backward plan Read the complete CDP guide →
The sourced record

The 2026 disclosure cycle in full

Every milestone CDP has published for the 2026 cycle, with what each one means for an organisation preparing a response.

DateMilestoneWhat it means for you
Week of 20 April 2026Questionnaire and guidance publishedThe full question set is readable two months before the Portal opens. This is the earliest honest start date for a first-time discloser.
Week of 27 April 2026Scoring methodologies publishedYou can see which questions carry points before answering any of them.
Week of 27 April 2026Requesters begin building request listsWhether you will be asked to disclose is being decided now, not in June.
Week commencing 15 June 2026Response window opensThe CDP Portal opens for disclosers. CDP describes the cycle as opening in June for four months.
16 September 2026Scoring DeadlineThe cut-off for a response to be eligible for a 2026 CDP score. Later edits are accepted and are not scored.
29 September 2026On-Demand Extension request-by dateA paid, limited, discretionary extension for a response submitted on or before 30 September.
28 October 2026Questionnaire Closure DateThe true cut-off. CDP’s Terms name the day; its Disclosure Hub describes the week commencing 26 October.
Week commencing 30 November 20262026 scores and A Lists releasedScores reach disclosers through the CDP Portal in the same week.
Our read. Treat 16 September as the deadline and 28 October as the safety net, not the other way round. A plan built to the later date produces an unscored disclosure, which is the outcome almost nobody actually intends.

Planning backwards from the scoring deadline

The order of work that has to complete before a response can be submitted, and where each piece usually stalls.

WhenWhat has to happenWhere it usually stalls
From AprilRead the published questionnaire and scoring methodology; identify which modules applyWaiting for the Portal to open in June, and losing two months of runway
April to JuneClose the reporting period and assemble activity dataData that sits with finance, facilities or procurement rather than with the reporting team
June to JulyCalculate emissions against the current conversion factorsScope 3 categories that depend on supplier responses that have not arrived
July to AugustExternal verification, where you are seeking itAssurance capacity in the months when every discloser wants it at once
By early SeptemberGovernance review and sign-off, then submissionA committee that meets monthly and has one meeting left before the deadline
Our read. The binding constraint is almost never the questionnaire. It is the last governance meeting before 16 September, and that date is usually fixed a year in advance.

Reporting period, and the cycle after this one

A 2026 disclosure reports on your organisation’s most recent completed annual reporting period, not on calendar year 2026 itself.

Confirm the precise period rules for your organisation in CDP’s own guidance, because they differ by questionnaire type and by whether you answer on behalf of subsidiaries.

The 2027 calendar was published by CDP in July 2026 and is set out in full above: request lists open 24 February, the response window opens 14 April, the scoring deadline is 23 June and the final response deadline is 25 August 2027. Disclosure Hub 2027

Our read. The 2027 dates are the reason to finish 2026 properly rather than late. A December-year-end company has roughly six months between closing FY2026 and needing a scoreable 2027 response, and the second half of that window is April to June.

CDP reporting timeline: frequently asked questions

What is the CDP deadline for 2026?

There are two dates that matter.

The scoring deadline — the cut-off for a response to be eligible for a CDP score — is 16 September 2026.

Edits can still be made after that, until the final deadline in the week commencing 26 October 2026, after which responses and amendments are no longer accepted.

CDP’s Terms of Disclosure name that closing date precisely as 28 October 2026. Terms of Disclosure

When does the 2026 CDP disclosure cycle open?

CDP’s 2026 disclosure cycle response window opens in the week of 15 June 2026.

The questionnaire, guidance and scoring methodologies are published earlier in the year — in the weeks of 20 and 27 April — so companies can prepare. CDP FAQs

What is the difference between the scoring deadline and the final deadline?

The scoring deadline of 16 September 2026 is the point by which a response must be submitted to be eligible for a CDP score.

You can continue to submit edits after that, but they will not be scored.

The final deadline, in the week commencing 26 October 2026, is the true cut-off.

CDP also reserves the right not to score a late response at all, and separately not to include its data in any report or data product. Terms of Disclosure

Can I get more time to disclose to CDP?

Yes, in limited cases.

CDP offers a paid On-Demand Extension, granted at CDP’s discretion, which moves an individual company’s scoring deadline to 30 September 2026.

It must be requested by 29 September 2026.

CDP states that only a limited number of on-demand scores are available in 2026, so a request may not be granted. Terms of Disclosure

When are CDP scores released in 2026?

Both 2026 scores and the 2026 A Lists are released in the week of 30 November 2026, on the CDP Portal and CDP’s public site.

That is earlier than the 2025 cycle managed, and CDP says it brought the release forward to give disclosers time to act on their scores before the 2027 cycle opens. Disclosure Hub 2027

How early should a company start preparing for the CDP deadline?

For first-time disclosers, meaningful preparation should begin well before the response window opens in June.

The most common cause of weak scores is leaving data collection — especially Scope 3 and finance-owned figures — until the disclosure window itself.

The questionnaire and the scoring methodology are both published in April, which makes April rather than June the earliest honest start date. CDP FAQs

Has CDP published the 2027 timeline yet?

Yes. CDP published the 2027 disclosure cycle dates in July 2026, on a dedicated 2027 Disclosure Hub.

Request lists open on 24 February 2027 and close on 7 April; the response window opens on 14 April 2027; the scoring deadline is 23 June 2027; and the final response deadline is 25 August 2027.

CDP has confirmed that the 2026 cycle’s key dates are unchanged by that announcement. Disclosure Hub 2027

What is the CDP deadline for 2027?

The 2027 scoring deadline is 23 June 2027 — almost three months earlier than 2026’s 16 September.

The final response deadline is 25 August 2027.

The response window runs from 14 April to 23 June for a scoreable response, which is about ten weeks rather than the thirteen the 2026 cycle allowed.

CDP aims to deliver scores to disclosers in September 2027 and to publish them in November, with exact dates still to be confirmed. Disclosure Hub 2027

Do I have to pay to disclose to CDP?

It depends entirely on who asked you.

A company requested only by its customers — a Supply Chain request — discloses free of charge.

A company that also has a CDP Capital Markets (investor) request pays the admin fee, which in 2026 is £2,450 at Foundation tier and £5,985 at Enhanced tier for UK-headquartered organisations, excluding taxes.

The fee is payable before you submit, and cities, states and regions are exempt. CDP FAQs · CDP cost & admin fees

Which financial year does a 2026 CDP disclosure cover?

Your most recent completed annual reporting period, not calendar year 2026.

For a company with a 31 December year end, the 2026 cycle is where FY2025 figures are disclosed.

For a 31 March year end it is usually FY2025/26, closed in March 2026 and disclosed in the window that opened that June.

Confirm the precise rules for your organisation and questionnaire type in CDP’s own guidance. CDP, How to Disclose

The cycle’s vocabulary, in plain English

CDP’s Terms use defined terms that mean something narrower than the everyday words they resemble.

Scoring Deadline
The date by which a response must be submitted to be eligible for a score. 16 September 2026, per CDP’s Terms of Disclosure.
Questionnaire Closure Date
The date the questionnaire shuts entirely. 28 October 2026 in CDP’s Terms; described as the week commencing 26 October on its Disclosure Hub.
On-Demand Score
A paid, limited, discretionary score for a response submitted after the Scoring Deadline but on or before 30 September 2026, requested by 29 September.
Response window
The period the CDP Portal accepts responses. Week commencing 15 June to 28 October in 2026; 14 April to 25 August in 2027.
Request list
The list of organisations a requester asks to disclose. Built from late April in the 2026 cycle.
Capital Markets request
A request made by a CDP Capital Markets Signatory through the Letter to the Board. This is the request type that brings the admin fee.
Supply Chain request
A request made by a purchasing organisation to its suppliers. A company requested only this way discloses free of charge.
Admin fee
CDP’s disclosure fee, payable before submission. £2,450 Foundation and £5,985 Enhanced for UK-headquartered organisations in 2026, excluding taxes.
A List
CDP’s top band of scored companies. 899 companies, 5% of those scored, in the 2025 cycle.
Triple A
An A score across climate change, forests and water security in the same cycle. 27 companies achieved it in 2025, per CDP’s Scores and A Lists page.
Reporting period
The completed financial year a disclosure covers. A 2026 disclosure reports the most recent closed period, not calendar 2026.

Primary sources

Every date and figure on this page is linked to the document it comes from.

Where CDP states the same thing two different ways, both statements are cited rather than reconciled silently.

  1. CDP — Terms of Disclosure. The governing document. Defines the Scoring Deadline as 16 September 2026 and the Questionnaire Closure Date as 28 October 2026, sets out the On-Demand Score, and states what CDP may do with a response filed after the Scoring Deadline.
  2. CDP — Disclosure Hub 2026. The cycle’s key-dates page, the admin-fee exemption for cities, states and regions, the 2026 questionnaire changes and the 2025 participation figures.
  3. CDP — Disclosure Hub 2027. The 2027 cycle dates published in July 2026, CDP’s stated reasons for moving them, and its confirmation that the 2026 dates are unchanged.
  4. CDP — How to Disclose. The step-by-step disclosure route, and the “week commencing October 26” framing of the final deadline.
  5. CDP — FAQs. The April publication dates, the four scoring bands, the 2026 admin fee table by region and tier, and what each fee tier includes.
  6. CDP Help Centre — KA-01079. What happens to submissions and amendments after the scoring deadline, including the reopen-without-resubmitting rule, and the 29 September extension request date.
  7. CDP Help Centre — KA-01037. The approximately 5% global increase in admin fees for 2026 and the requirement to pay before submission.
  8. CDP — Onboarding Guidance for Suppliers, 2026 (PDF). Portal opening in the week commencing 15 June, registration routes, the rule that a Supply-Chain-only request is free while a Capital Markets request brings the fee, and the requirement to resubmit questionnaire setup after accepting a new request.
  9. CDP — Supplier Engagement Guide 2026 (PDF). The requester-side calendar, and 2026 scores reaching the Portal in the week commencing 30 November.
  10. CDP — Request Data. Who can request data through CDP, and the difference between a Supply Chain request and a Capital Markets request.
  11. CDP — Scores and A List. The scoring bands and the published score data.
  12. CDP — “CDP A List 2025”, 8 January 2026. 23,100+ disclosers, 22,100+ companies, nearly 20,000 scored, 899 on the A List (5%), 27 Triple A, the market-by-market A-List shares, and the 2023–2025 growth in A scores.
  13. CDP — ocean joins the disclosure system. The first year of ocean questions.
  14. IFRS Foundation — Sustainability Standards Navigator. IFRS S2, the ISSB climate standard CDP’s corporate questionnaire has been built on since June 2024.
  15. GOV.UK — UK Sustainability Reporting Standards (UK SRS) S1 and S2. Published by DBT on 25 February 2026 for voluntary use.
  16. FCA — CP26/5 (PDF). The consultation proposing — not yet requiring — UK SRS S2 climate reporting by listed issuers for accounting periods beginning on or after 1 January 2027.
  17. legislation.gov.uk — SI 2018/1155. The SECR regulations, whose reporting sits inside the directors’ report.
  18. GOV.UK — Energy Savings Opportunity Scheme (ESOS) guidance. The four-year compliance phases that run independently of CDP’s cycle.
  19. DESNZ — 2026 greenhouse gas reporting conversion factors. Published 11 June 2026, four days before CDP’s 2026 response window opened.
  20. GOV.UK — Government conversion factors for company reporting. The full collection, including prior years.

Verified 22 August 2026. CDP reserves the right to notify alternative dates during a cycle; confirm against its Disclosure Hub before relying on any date here.

Two ways forward

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