What You Need to Know About Corporate CDP Disclosure in 2025
- Jonathan Schwieger
- 2 days ago
- 3 min read
Public response window opens in June / Changes to CDP’s questionnaire and scoring methodology
The response window on CDP’s online platform will open in the week of June 16. Good news for companies looking to engage in voluntary CDP disclosure this year: CDP’s 2025 questionnaire and scoring methodology feature only slight changes compared to last year. Most updates are aimed at improving clarity and consistency. Companies need to stay up to date in preparation for the new cycle. In this latest blog, we will shed light on relevant changes and deadlines for the 2025 reporting season – here’s what your company needs to know to get started!
In 2024, CDP announced framework alignments and significant structural changes to the corporate questionnaire. Part of it was the launch of an integrated corporate questionnaire that combined the three disclosure themes Climate Change, Forests, and Water Security. According to CDP’s release of corporate scores and A lists in 2024, a record of more than 22.000 companies received a climate score by CDP.
Compared to the 2024 reporting season, the adjustments for this year are less comprehensive.
Improved scoring methodology, corporate and SME questionnaire
This year’s CDP scoring methodology and questionnaire mainly contain enhancements in wording for clarity, which helps make the scoring criteria more consistent. As in 2024, organizations completing the full corporate questionnaire will also have to respond to climate change-related questions, along with additional ones related to biodiversity and plastics (these topics will remain unscored by CDP). Questions regarding forests and water will continue to be directed at companies depending on how relevant these topics are for their business or on an opt-in basis. CDP scores for each of these environmental themes will continue to be separated from one another this year.
In 2024, alongside corporate scoring, CDP also introduced an SME questionnaire geared toward small and medium enterprises. This year’s questionnaire continues to follow the streamlined structure of the corporate questionnaire, keeping a reduced amount of data points, simplified question formats, and improved guidance. As CDP continues to refine their scoring methodology, in 2025, SME scoring thresholds are being reviewed and adjusted to better mirror the actual performance of small and medium-sized companies. As in 2024, the SME A level will not be scored this year, and companies completing the SME questionnaire will receive scores ranging from D to B. According to CDP, any data gathered in the course of the current reporting cycle will help create a robust scoring for SMEs in the future. The environmental disclosure system will continue to evaluate and revise the SME scoring methodology in the coming years, as it aims at increasing ambition for these stakeholders.
2025 Deadlines to keep in mind
CDP has also released details on the timeline for the 2025 disclosure cycle. Key dates to keep in mind are the following:
Week of June 9: Deadline for requesters (e.g. investors and clients) to submit their requests
Week of June 16: 2025 response window opens to all disclosers (official opening of the online portal)
Week of September 15: Scoring deadline (disclosure window closes)
Week of November 17: Deadline to submit unscored responses
As always, First Climate will continue to update you on evolving CDP requirements and what they mean for companies.
Get ready for 2025 CDP disclosure with First Climate Consulting
CDP scores play an important role in guiding companies from transparency to action – they give companies a clear picture of their environmental performance, empower them to make confident business, investment and procurement choices and help build more resilient business models. As CDP will open its platform mid-June, now is the time for companies to get ready. Become a leader in environmental transparency, sustainability stewardship and climate action!
Learn more about our CDP Reporting services or get in touch with us directly for expert support.
Contact us at impact@firstclimate.com!
Access CDP’s full methodology and other useful resources to start preparing for your climate disclosure this year on CDP’s Disclosure Hub website: https://www.cdp.net/en/disclosure-2025
About the Author
Jonathan Schwieger is a corporate climate strategy consultant and Head of First Climate’s Climate Strategies practice. In this capacity, he supports private sector clients in realizing their climate ambitions and leads the team’s activities related to carbon footprint assessments, target-setting, transition planning as well as voluntary and compliance climate-related reporting.
Prior to joining First Climate in 2015, Jonathan worked for the Clean Energy Trust (CET) in Chicago, a regional cleantech impact investor and business accelerator.
