Whether you are navigating the CDP assessment for the first time or working towards an A List score, this blog provides a practical roadmap to help you prepare for CDP 2026 with greater clarity, consistency, and efficiency.
What You’ll Discover
Who This Is For
CSR / ESG managers, QHSE directors, climate and sustainability reporting leads, and executives of SMEs and mid-sized companies engaged in a structured environmental performance approach.
How Does CDP Work?
Founded in 2000 in the United Kingdom, CDP (Carbon Disclosure Project) is a non-profit organization that operates the world’s most widely used environmental disclosure system for companies, cities, and governments.
In practical terms, CDP collects environmental data through a standardized questionnaire completed annually by organizations. Since 2024, this questionnaire has brought together three major environmental themes such as climate, water, and forests within a single, unified format, replacing the three separate questionnaires used in previous years (as well as the Plastics and Biodiversity themes, which are no longer assessed).
In an increasingly uncertain climate landscape, CDP provides a trusted and widely recognized framework that enables organizations to measure, benchmark, and continuously strengthen their climate and environmental performance.
CDP – Annual Disclosure Cycle
CDP follows a structured annual disclosure cycle with defined milestones that organizations should plan for in advance. For the 2026 cycle, the questionnaire and guidance are expected to be published in the week of April 20, followed by the scoring methodology and opening of the request submission window in the week of April 27.
The response window in the CDP portal is scheduled to open in the week of June 15, giving organizations a defined period to prepare and submit their disclosures.
The key submission deadline for responses eligible for scoring and evaluation is the week of September 14, while non-scored responses or amendments can be submitted until the week of October 26. The 2026 scores and A Lists are expected to be published in the week of November 30.
Understanding these milestones early allows organizations to plan data collection, stakeholder inputs, reviews, and approvals systematically rather than rushing to meet deadlines.
Benefits Of Submitting The CDP Assessment
- International Recognition and Access to Sustainable Capital
- Managing and Reducing Environmental Risks
- A Foundation for Continuous Improvement
- Investor Benefits and Reputation Costs
What’s New In The 2026 CDP Assessment?
CDP aims for a comprehensive reporting landscape where organizations manage all land-related dependencies and risks. The questionnaire is broadening its coverage of forests to include commodities with significant deforestation and conversion impacts.
Modules 4 and 5 expect explicit treatment of how the organization prepares for physical climate impacts, including extreme weather, resource scarcity, and supply chain disruption.
Companies can no longer mark a Scope 3 category as “not relevant” with an open-text justification.
Low-carbon electricity now sits in a separate line from heat, steam, and cooling. A new line also captures non-renewable zero-emission sources such as nuclear and carbon capture and storage.
How To Prepare For The 2026 CDP Assessment
Preparing for the CDP 2026 assessment requires more than simply filling out the questionnaire. Organizations need to bring together accurate environmental data, relevant stakeholders, supporting evidence, and previous reporting information to build complete and consistent responses.
Starting early can help identify data gaps, clarify ownership, strengthen documentation, and reduce the pressure of last-minute preparation.
Credibl ESG’s Offerings For CDP Reporting
Preparing the CDP questionnaire requires coordinated data collection, multiple stakeholder inputs, and consistent, reliable responses. Credibl ESG helps streamline this process by bringing data, tasks, and contributors into one structured platform, reducing manual effort, improving collaboration, and making each reporting cycle more efficient.
Preparing a strong CDP response goes beyond collecting data; it requires a clear understanding of the questionnaire, consistent disclosures, and well-supported responses.
Top 5 Frequently Asked Questions
1. How do organizations disclose through CDP?
Disclosers (companies, cities, states or regions) can respond to requests to disclose through CDP and disclose in the CDP Portal. These requests may be made by a customer (a ‘Supply Chain request’), CDP’s Capital Markets Signatories (a ‘capital markets request’ via the Letter to the Board), a bank, or an initiative of which they are a part.
2. Can an organization volunteer to disclose?
Yes, organizations can ‘self-disclose’ to CDP as a ‘Self-Selected Company’ (SSC) if they have not received a request to disclose but wish to do so.
3. Is there a fee to disclose?
The CDP admin fee is the fee that companies pay in order to disclose through CDP. This year, admin fees will increase by approximately 5% globally, reflecting inflationary pressures and rising operational costs.
4. Can I add a consultant as a user?
Currently, consultants can act as contributors, which means they can access their clients’ CDP responses and support them with the disclosure process.
5. My parent organization already responds. Should my (subsidiary) organization respond too?
The preferred approach is for parent companies to submit a consolidated response to CDP that includes all subsidiary data.
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