CDP 2026: The Reporting and Scoring Changes Companies Should Prepare For Right Now

The world of sustainability disclosure is in constant motion, and for thousands of companies globally, the annual CDP reporting cycle is a critical measure of progress, action, and transparency. The 2026 disclosure cycle introduces significant changes to content, scoring and framework alignment, with new forward-looking themes and greater granularity across core areas presenting challenges and opportunities for reporting organizations.

Simply rolling forward last year’s submission will no longer suffice to maintain, let alone improve, your score. Success in 2026 requires a proactive, strategic approach grounded in a deep understanding of the new content, scoring mechanics, and the philosophical shifts driving them.

Based on our recent webinar, this guide takes you through the crucial updates for the 2026 CDP cycle and provides actionable steps to help teams navigate the changes, leverage them to strengthen internal reporting processes and elevate your company's environmental leadership.

The Big Picture: What’s Driving the 2026 CDP Updates?

The 2026 changes can be categorized into three main areas: new and updated content, adjustments to scoring, and deeper alignment with global frameworks.

This year, CDP continues to broaden its scope toward a comprehensive environmental reporting system. The introduction of new topics like oceans, the expansion of existing ones like forests and plastics, and the continued integration with standards like the ISSB’s IFRS S2, CSRD, and the Task Force on Nature-related Financial Disclosures (TNFD) underscore a clear message: environmental issues are interconnected, and corporate disclosure must reflect this reality.

The disclosure window opened the week of June 15th, 2026, with the critical scoring deadline in the week of September 14th. Given the scope of these changes, preparation must begin now.

A Deep Dive into the 2026 Content Updates

1. The Debut of Oceans: A New Frontier in Disclosure
   The most significant headline for 2026 is the introduction of questions on oceans. Integrated into the existing questionnaires, this new theme targets marine ecosystem impacts, risks, opportunities and dependencies.
   For this first cycle, the Oceans questions are unscored and optional. While it may be tempting to skip the topic entirely, doing so may be a strategic misstep,, especially for companies in high-impact sectors like shipping, coastal infrastructure, or offshore energy. CDP historically introduces complex new themes as unscored to give companies a zero-risk opportunity to build reporting maturity.
   Engaging with these questions now provides an opportunity to identify data owners, establish internal collection processes, and build reporting maturity before the requirements become more demanding… and the inevitable.
   Early disclosure provides a practice run, setting you up for success when the stakes are higher and demonstrating foresight to investors and stakeholders.
2. Expanded Forests and a Broader Commodity Focus
   The Forests module sees a major, scored change. CDP has expanded its list of high-risk commodities beyond the traditional four (cattle, palm oil, soy, and timber) to include cocoa, coffee, and rubber. If these commodities touch your supply chain, your disclosure on them will now be actively scored.
   This means a poor or incomplete response on just one of these seven commodities can negatively impact your entire aggregate Forests score. Mapping your supply chain is crucial, as is engaging with suppliers to ensure the underlying data is robust and targets are for all relevant commodities.
3. Key Updates to Climate, Water, and Plastics
   Across other themes, CDP is demanding greater granularity and a stronger focus on forward-looking strategy:

• Climate Change: The questionnaire has broadened its focus to better capture how organizations are addressing adaptation and resilience. You will be asked to disclose how these considerations are embedded in your governance, strategy, financial planning, and risk assessments. While CDP is not yet requiring quantitative disclosure aligned with the GHG Protocol’s new Land Sector and Removals Guidance for 2026, it signals a clear future direction.
• Water Security: Drawing closer alignment with the GRI 303 standard, the questionnaire now asks for more granular data on wastewater treatment, discharge volumes, and pollution management.
• Plastics: The unscored Plastics module has been expanded to better align with the Ellen MacArthur Foundation, capturing specific targets around different packaging formats, reuse models, and compostable designs.

Unlocking Your Score: Mastering the CDP Scoring Methodology

A common misconception is that a CDP score is a grade on your company’s “greenness”and environmental performance. It is not. The CPD score is a direct measurement of your level of action and environmental transparency. Improving it, therefore, requires a clear understanding of how responses are assessed..

Scoring is tiered across four levels: Disclosure (D), Awareness (C), Management (B), and Leadership (A). You cannot advance to a higher level without clearing minimum thresholds at the one below. For example, a world-class environmental strategy at the Management level will not get you a ‘B’ if your basic data completeness at the Disclosure level is lacking.

Beyond this, two key aspects of the methodology can have a significant effect on your score::

1. Essential Criteria: These are mandatory scoring hurdles within the questionnaire. Missing even a single essential criterion will cap your score at the band just below it, regardless of how well you perform elsewhere. Small changes have been made for 2026, so it’s vital to review the methodology at a question level to ensure you aren’t being held back by a simple oversight.
2. Question-Level Scoring: CDP uses different scoring approaches. Some questions use proportional scoring (points based on completion percentage), while others use a "best row" or "best question" approach, where only your strongest answer in a set is evaluated. Understanding which methodology applies to each question can help companies avoid losing points unnecessarily. 

Actionable Success Strategies: Preparing for the 2026 Disclosure Cycle 

Navigating this complexity requires a clear plan. Treat your CDP disclosure not as a once-a-year reporting exercise, but as a continuous cycle of preparation, disclosure, and reflection. Teams can turn CDP requirements into a repeatable reporting process by assigning every question to a named data owner and reusing the same verified data from one cycle to the next.

During Preparation (Now):

1. Understand the Methodology: Before you write a single answer, familiarize yourself and your team with the 2026 scoring guidance. Understand why each question is being asked and how it will be scored.
2. Organize Your Data and Team: CDP rewards "decision-grade," verified data. Get your data structured and organized long before the portal opens. Secure your internal team early—data owners, subject matter experts, and reviewers across the business. Set clear expectations, responsibilities, and deadlines.
3. Conduct a Gap Analysis: Compare your 2025 submission against the 2026 questionnaire. Identify the new data points you’ll need for oceans, the expanded forest commodities, and the more granular water and climate questions.

During Disclosure (June-September):

1. Prioritize Completeness: Instead of leaving a field blank if you don't have the "perfect" answer, selecting "No" with a clear explanation and a forward-looking plan can still earn you points.
2. Mind the Details: Ensure all qualitative responses are submitted in a supported language (English, Spanish, Portuguese, Japanese, or Chinese) or they won’t be scored.
3. Don’t Just Copy-Paste: With the numerous scoring and content changes, simply carrying over your 2025 disclosure is a recipe for a lower score. Review every response in the context of the 2026 guidance.

After Disclosure (Post-September):

1. Leverage the Insights: Don’t treat CDP as a mere compliance exercise. Use the gaps identified in your disclosure to inform your sustainability strategy. The questionnaire is a roadmap for best practices; use it to develop internal processes that will strengthen your performance and, in turn, your future scores.
2. Monitor Framework Alignment: CDP is always improving its alignment with key standards and regulations. Keep an eye on what’s relevant to your business—whether it’s TNFD, CSRD, or SBTN—as alignment with these frameworks will almost certainly translate to an improved CDP score in the future.

The Enduring Value of CDP in an Era of Mandatory Reporting

With the rise of mandatory sustainability reporting regimes, some question the value of voluntary disclosure platforms like CDP. However, this view is short-sighted as mandatory and voluntary reporting serve different purposes. CDP provides a clear, comparable score that allows you to benchmark your performance against peers and demonstrate your commitment to investors—a feature mandatory frameworks lack.

CDP's growing alignment with global standards also increases the potential to reuse sustainability information across multiple reporting requirements.The data you collect for CDP can be repurposed to satisfy emerging regulations, making your overall reporting process far more efficient.

The 2026 changes are a clear signal that CDP is not only keeping pace, but is actively shaping the future of environmental transparency. By embracing this evolution with a strategic mindset, you can transform your reporting from a burden into a driver of sustainable business value, and build systems to support increasingly detailed, interconnected and reusable sustainability information that your business runs on. 

For help with your 2026 CDP reporting needs, book a call with one of our ESG experts today.