The CDP (formerly Carbon Disclosure Project) questionnaire is one of the world’s most influential environmental disclosure frameworks, used by investors, customers, and regulators to assess how organisations manage climate- and nature-related risks and opportunities. As expectations continue to rise, preparing early for your 2026 CDP submission is critical to protecting credibility, improving scores, and supporting long-term business resilience.
This blog explains what the CDP questionnaire is, how it has evolved, what to expect for 2026, and how organisations can prepare effectively.
What is the CDP questionnaire?
In 2024, CDP consolidated its four separate questionnaires into one integrated questionnaire, covering multiple environmental themes within a single structure. While integrated, the questionnaire is still organised into distinct thematic sections, with questions tailored based on company activities, sector, and supply-chain role.
CDP is more than a reporting exercise. It is a strategic disclosure and scoring system designed to help organisations understand their environmental impacts, identify gaps and opportunities, and embed climate and nature considerations into governance, strategy, and decision-making.
CDP scored over 22,100 corporates in 2025 and has spent more than 25 years shaping corporate climate action and disclosure transparency. Its public scoring system creates accountability, enables peer comparison, and increasingly influences capital allocation, procurement decisions, and supplier engagement.
The main sections of the CDP questionnaire
Climate Change (Core Questionnaire)
The Climate Change section forms the foundation of CDP disclosure and requires organisations to report on:
- Scope 1, 2, and 3 greenhouse gas emissions
- Energy use and transition planning
- Climate-related risks and opportunities
- Governance and strategy integration
- Value-chain mapping and supply-chain engagement
- Emerging topics such as biodiversity and plastics
Supply Chain Questionnaire
The Supply Chain module mirrors many Climate Change questions but is targeted at organisations responding to requests from major customers. It focuses on supplier emissions, risk exposure, and performance transparency within corporate value chains.
Water Security
This section assesses:
- Current and future water-related risks
- Water withdrawal, consumption, and discharge
- Water governance and strategy
- Water reduction targets and performance
Forests
The Forests module focuses on deforestation-related commodities, including:
- Timber and pulp
- Palm oil
- Cattle products
- Soy
It assesses exposure to deforestation risks, traceability, supplier engagement, and mitigation actions.
Why CDP disclosure matters beyond reporting
CDP disclosure helps organisations move beyond reporting to strengthen how climate and nature considerations are embedded within the business. It enables companies to identify material climate- and nature-related risks within their business model, strengthen governance and strategic decision-making, and improve data quality and internal accountability, particularly across Scope 3 emissions. By creating a clearer, more consistent evidence base, CDP also supports more effective decarbonisation and transition planning.
At the same time, CDP disclosure allows organisations to demonstrate leadership through transparent, comparable, decision-useful data that is trusted by external stakeholders. Public CDP scores increasingly act as an industry benchmark, shaping reputation, investor confidence, and competitive positioning across markets and supply chains.
What to expect from the 2026 CDP questionnaire
While CDP is not expected to introduce major structural changes in 2026, organisations should expect incremental refinements aligned with CDP’s overarching goal: greater accountability, consistency, and transparency.
Greater alignment with global reporting frameworks
The 2025 questionnaire is strongly aligned with the International Sustainability Standards Board (ISSB), using IFRS S2 Climate-related Disclosures as its baseline. It is also partially aligned with:
- European Financial Reporting Advisory Group (EFRAG) / ESRS
- Global Reporting Initiative (GRI)
- Taskforce on Nature-related Financial Disclosures (TNFD)
Future updates are likely to strengthen this alignment, supporting a “report once, disclose everywhere” approach and reducing reporting burden over time.
Expanding focus on planetary boundaries
CDP increasingly emphasises that climate change sits within a broader environmental system. Plastics and biodiversity were introduced in 2024, and questions on these topics may expand in 2026 and become scored in future cycles. Organisations should prepare by developing holistic climate and nature strategies, not siloed responses.
More sector- and activity-specific disclosure
CDP’s Activity Classification System determines which questions organisations see and how they are scored. Expect gradual refinements that increase sector comparability and introduce more activity-specific datapoints.
Deeper focus on governance and social factors
Governance updates in 2024 strengthened expectations around oversight, accountability, and decision-making. Future questionnaires may explore links between environmental performance and social or governance factors, including leadership structures and incentive mechanisms.
These changes are indicative, not guaranteed, and reflect CDP’s current strategic direction.
How to prepare for your 2026 CDP submission
To prepare effectively, organisations should:
- Conduct a CDP gap analysis against 2025 requirements
- Strengthen emissions and ESG data management, particularly Scope 3
- Align CDP responses with ISSB, CSRD/ESRS, and SBTi where relevant
- Clarify governance, strategy, risk management, and targets as a coherent narrative
- Engage internal stakeholders early across sustainability, finance, operations, and procurement
Early preparation reduces risk, improves data quality, and significantly increases the likelihood of strong CDP scores. The CDP questionnaire is no longer just a disclosure requirement—it is a strategic tool for sustainability-led business transition. Organisations that treat CDP as an integrated part of governance, strategy, and decision-making will be best positioned to meet rising expectations in 2026 and beyond.
If you need help with your 2026 CDP submission then please speak to a member of the team or take a look at our CDP hub where you’ll find more information on CDP disclosure.
