At a time when climate transparency is becoming a strategic lever, the CDP (formerly the Carbon Disclosure Project) is establishing itself as a global benchmark for environmental disclosure. Today, Completing the CDP questionnaire is much more than a formality: it is an opportunity for each company to assess its actions, gain credibility with investors and strengthen its CSR commitment.
Firstly, it is vital to completely understand CDP's expectations. The questionnaire is based on a rigorous rating structure, which evaluates companies according to their transparency, their management of climate risks, and their concrete actions.
The CDP mainly covers three subjects:
An in-depth reading of the sector-specific requirements is essential for a relevant and effective response to the CDP questionnaire. The CDP assesses companies taking into account the climate issues specific to their sector of activity. Ignoring these specificities can lead to incomplete responses or responses that are not aligned with the expectations of the questionnaire, which can have a negative impact on the final score.
These requirements make it easier to identify material risks and opportunities, to formulate suitable objectives and to strengthen the credibility of responses in the eyes of investors. By meeting the expectations specific to their sector, companies demonstrate a detailed understanding of the climate issues that are specific to them, whether in terms of supply chain emissions, dependence on natural resources or vulnerability to extreme weather events. This not only improves the relevance of climate strategies, but also facilitates decision-making by external stakeholders.
The success of your reporting largely depends on your team. A team that understands what is being asked of them will be the one that reports and consolidates information with full awareness. But the work doesn't stop there.
Collecting numbers just to fill in boxes has little impact. It is essential to involve your company in thinking about environmental issues. They need to not only understand why they are collecting this information, but also how it will be used and how their efforts will contribute to a concrete outcome: a better CDP score, reduced emissions by 2030, or a positive impact on the environment.
Raising awareness among your teams goes beyond setting objectives. Initiatives where they have direct experiences and truly understand the purpose behind the targets often have the greatest impact and leave a lasting impression. For example, local hikes led by an expert or a talk on recycling IT equipment can spark their interest in these issues.
Internally, initiatives can vary: team challenges with rewards, quarterly or annual progress tracking linked to incentives (such as an internal sustainability award). The reality is that it’s the combination of internal and external activities that will drive the best results from your teams.
Coordination between different teams is also essential for successful CDP reporting. As mentioned earlier, data collection points are spread across several departments.
The communication and centralisation of this data thus constitute the second pillar of effective reporting.
ESG (Environmental, Social, and Governance) teams can often serve as a bridge between different departments within an organisation. However, it's cross-functional collaboration between the various business lines that will produce concrete results. While the ESG team can oversee objective tracking, communication, etc., it's the data provided by other teams that will drive the initiatives forward.
Here are two key actions to implement:
The success of your reporting largely depends on your teams. A team that understands what you're asking of them will be a team that reports and consolidates information mindfully. However, there are several further aspects to this work.
Collecting data just to tick boxes has little impact. It's crucial to involve your teams in thinking about environmental issues. They should not only know why they're collecting this information, but also what it will be used for and how their efforts will contribute to a concrete outcome: a better CDP score, a reduction in emissions by 2030, or a positive environmental impact.
Educating your teams isn't just about objectives. Initiatives where they have a direct experience and understand the purpose of the goals often have the strongest impact and leave a lasting impression. For example, organising local hikes with an expert or a conference on recycling IT equipment can raise their awareness of these topics.
Internally, initiatives can vary: challenges and rewards between teams, quarterly or annual tracking of objectives linked to incentives (like an internal sustainability award). The reality is that a combination of internal and external activities will yield the best results from your teams.
The quality of the environmental data submitted directly influences your CDP score. Therefore, it's essential to rely on rigorous methods and appropriate tools.
CDP provides an online platform where, in summary, data from the entire year will be evaluated.
The questionnaire has a total of 10 sections, plus a verification step. Across these different sections, data ranging from gross consumption to company-calculated emissions must be reported. While the required information often already exists within the organisation, the challenge lies in consolidating this data.
Information related to our energy consumption and purchases, for example, is generally easily accessible via site teams or finance departments, depending on the organization's structure. This data is often available in internal systems, in the form of monthly payments (electricity bills, recurring purchases, etc.). Yet, the consolidation of this data into a single report is often left until the last minute.
Delaying this task until the last minute exhausts teams, increases the risk of human errors, and transforms the sustainability process (and the CDP questionnaire) into a daunting obligation rather than a constructive exercise.
The solution? Identify relevant KPIs that will help teams regularly meet CDP requirements.
Whether it's quarterly or semi-annual reports will depend on the organization and the structure of its existing teams.
The CDP questionnaire is extensive and demanding. If data centralisation and early collection is handled well, the quality of your responses will determine the effectiveness of your reporting. Therefore, an early start and rigorous verification of both quantitative and qualitative data are essential to ensure their consistency.
Key points to consider when answering these sections:
The goal of this exercise is to maximize your score with every answer. Therefore, it's crucial to track not only the responses provided in the previous year but also the initiatives carried out during the current reporting year.
Initiatives related to emissions reduction and energy efficiency will generally require quantitative data to support them. Therefore, don't just rely on your green certificates and audits; also be able to quantify these initiatives in kWh or tCO2e. To optimise your CDP score, the ideal approach is to combine two strategies: develop initiatives genuinely tailored to your organisation, while also drawing inspiration from companies in your sector that have achieved better results.
Analysing their responses allows you to identify transferable best practices, better understand evaluators' expectations, and enrich your own reporting—without simply replicating elements unsuitable for your context. This approach of critical observation, coupled with tailor-made implementation, fosters both continuous improvement and the authenticity of your approach.
The CDP questionnaire should be seen as a tool for evaluating your position on climate action. But submission doesn't mark the end of the process: the results, published several months later whether they meet your expectations or not represent an opportunity for continuous improvement of your sustainable initiatives.
The next steps involve:
At ClimateSeed, we support companies, whether they're responding to the CDP questionnaire for the first time or have done so previously, to significantly improve their score. Our experts guide you step-by-step: from analyzing your past responses to simulating your score, all the way to fully optimizing your reporting according to the latest CDP standards. Discover the details of our support here.
Looking to strengthen your climate strategy and improve your CDP score? Don't hesitate to contact us.
The CDP represents far more than a simple reporting exercise: it's a strategic lever for structuring and showcasing your climate approach. By following these five key steps, from understanding the criteria to continuous improvement post-submission, you transform the questionnaire into a genuine tool for progress.
The challenge? To combine methodological rigor (early data collection, relevant KPIs, cross-functional coordination) with a long-term vision (sector benchmarking, internal awareness, integration into CSR). Remember, the ultimate goal goes beyond the score itself: it's about embedding a culture of environmental accountability, where each CDP response becomes a concrete milestone towards decarbonization. Transparency, when coupled with measurable actions and collective commitment, transforms into an accelerator for sustainable performance.
We also invite you to read our article on how to never make a mistake on your CDP form again.