CDP Disclosure Cycle: Changes to the Questionnaire, Scoring, and Deadlines

As of July 2026

The CDP disclosure cycle is entering a new round—and it’s changing significantly. For the current cycle, CDP has expanded the questionnaire, refined the scoring system, and set firm deadlines. This article outlines what’s new, what deadlines apply, and what companies should be doing specifically to prepare.

Key Points at a Glance

• One cycle, one integrated questionnaire: CDP combines climate, forests, water, plastics, biodiversity, and—for the first time—the ocean into a single questionnaire.
• Fixed Deadlines: Response window beginning the week of June 15, 2026; scoring deadline the week of September 14, 2026; final deadline for ungraded responses and corrections the week of October 26, 2026.
• Scoring remains focused: Only climate change, forests, and water security will continue to be evaluated. Biodiversity, plastics, and the ocean must be disclosed but will not be evaluated.
• More for small and medium-sized enterprises: The SME questionnaire now allows for an "A" rating in the climate section—in 2025, the highest rating for SMEs was "B."
• Alignment with EU reporting requirements: The questionnaire is based on the ISSB, ESRS, and TNFD; greenhouse gas data audits recognized under the ESRS are accepted

What is the CDP disclosure cycle?

The CDP disclosure cycle is the annual process through which companies disclose their environmental data via CDP: from the release of the questionnaires in the spring, through the response period in the summer, to the assessment and scoring in the fall. CDP has been operating this system since 2000 as an independent disclosure platform (Source: CDP, Disclosure 2026).

According to CDP, more than 23,100 organizations disclosed information in the 2025 cycle, including more than 22,000 companies and over 4,400 first-time reporters. For 2026, CDP’s Capital Markets signatories—more than 540 financial institutions with over 110 trillion U.S. dollars in assets under management—are calling on more than 43,000 organizations to disclose their data. If you’d like to learn more about the basics of disclosure, assessment, and questionnaires, you can find them in our guide “What Is the CDP?” We support companies with the practical implementation of the CDP rating process.

What are the deadlines for the 2026 CDP cycle?

The response window opens during the week of June 15, 2026. Anyone who wishes to receive a score must submit their response by the scoring deadline during the week of September 14, 2026. Unscored responses and corrections may be submitted until the week of October 26, 2026 (Source: KPMG, April 2026).

What's changing in the CDP questionnaire?

The 2026 questionnaire broadens the range of topics and guides companies more specifically toward the questions relevant to them. New additions include, for the first time, questions on the ocean, expanded reporting on forests, and revised questions on plastics, water security, and climate—including sections on adaptation and resilience (Source: KPMG, April 2026).

For forests, the assessment has been expanded to include cocoa, coffee, and rubber—in addition to the commodities already covered: beef, palm oil, soy, and wood. The questions regarding deforestation-free and conversion-free targets have been aligned with the Science Based Targets for Nature.

What Changes for SMEs in the SME Questionnaire?

For small and medium-sized enterprises, the SME questionnaire remains the more streamlined disclosure option. What’s new is that high-performing reporters can now achieve an SME-A rating in the climate section—previously, SME B was the highest possible rating in 2025. The SME questionnaire is available to companies with up to 1,000 employees and annual revenue of no more than $250 million (Source: KPMG, April 2026).

Two points are important to note for planning purposes: The new SME modules on forests and water security remain unrated, and RE100 members—regardless of size or revenue—are no longer eligible to complete the SME questionnaire, as the full questionnaire contains the data points required by RE100. To build a structured data foundation, it’s worth looking at corporate carbon footprint accounting.

CDP – A Brief Overview

CDP (formerly the “Carbon Disclosure Project”) has been operating an independent environmental disclosure system since 2000. Companies use an integrated questionnaire to disclose data on climate, forests, water, plastics, biodiversity, and the ocean. For climate, forests, and water, CDP assigns a score ranging from A to D–; the top performers make up the so-called A-List.

How is CDP related to CSRD and ESRS?

The CDP questionnaire is aligned with key frameworks: the ISSB standards, the European Sustainability Reporting Standards (ESRS), and the TNFD. For 2026, CDP is further strengthening its alignment with the TNFD, GRI, SBTN, the GHG Protocol, and the Ellen MacArthur Foundation’s Global Commitment on Plastics (Source: CDP, Framework Alignment).

Practical Implications: An audit of greenhouse gas data prepared in accordance with standards approved for the ESRS is recognized by CDP. Organizations already working on CSRD reporting can use the same data set and audit evidence for both purposes. We cover the details of the individual standards in our series on the ESRS.

What does the scoring system mean—and how do you make it onto the A-list?

In the 2026 cycle, the assessment will continue to focus solely on climate change, forests, and water security, with separate public scores for each topic. Biodiversity, plastics, and the ocean remain unrated, but their data is used by many stakeholders. No new “Essential Criteria” were introduced (Source: KPMG, April 2026).

We’ve provided a detailed breakdown of how the score is calculated and the role the Essential Criteria play in making the leap to the A-list: CDP Scoring and Essential Criteria. Part 2 of our CDP Guide also offers a concise overview of disclosure, assessment, and questionnaires.

Our Assessment

The current cycle confirms the direction: CDP is broadening its scope, but not indiscriminately. The topics are expanding, while the scoring remains deliberately focused on climate, forests, and water. For companies, this means separating effort from impact—prioritizing mandatory topics that affect the score, and engaging in voluntary disclosure where it provides strategic value.

There are two things we see time and again in projects: First, the quality of the data determines the outcome—not rushing to fill out the forms right before the deadline. Second, linking to the CSRD database is well worth the effort—those with ESRS-compliant figures and audit evidence can significantly reduce duplicate work with CDP. For small and medium-sized enterprises, the new SME-A option is a real game-changer: Ambitious SMEs can now make their climate performance more visible.

Conclusion

The CDP disclosure cycle is becoming more comprehensive, but scoring remains a clear priority. Those who are familiar with the deadlines, align their data with the CSRD, and address the topics relevant to scoring first will approach the cycle efficiently—and, for the first time, small and medium-sized enterprises have more leeway to showcase their climate performance thanks to the new SME-A option.

Here's how Five Glaciers Consulting helps

We support companies every step of the way—from data collection to submission and evaluation—in accordance with CSRD reporting requirements. Learn more about our support for the CDP rating, or contact us directly.

Sources

1. CDP: Disclosure 2026 – Hub page with key metrics and cycle (accessed in July 2026) — https://www.cdp.net/en/disclosure-2026
2. CDP: Alignment with Frameworks and Standards (accessed in July 2026) — https://www.cdp.net/en/about/framework-alignment
3. KPMG: CDP Releases 2026 Questionnaires and Deadlines (April 24, 2026) — https://kpmg.com/us/en/frv/reference-library/2026/cdp-releases-2026-questionnaires-deadlines.html
4. CDP: Key Changes to the 2026 Questionnaire (PDF, accessed in July 2026) — https://assets.ctfassets.net/v7uy4j80khf8/4nJknsPHADb8Titi2qH3WS/deec3c0416496b93ef2efbf985e7a414/Key_Changes_2026_Questionnaire.pdf