CDP: how to answer the questionnaire and improve your score

What CDP is, and why your company was invited

CDP is the leading global platform for environmental disclosure. Created in 2000, it offers a standardised system for companies, cities, states and regions to report their environmental impacts, risks and opportunities. The invitation to answer the CDP questionnaire usually comes from one of two sources: investors managing risk and looking for opportunities in their portfolios, or customers and partners in your supply chain who want greater transparency and alignment with their own sustainability commitments.

CDP's reach is significant. In 2023, more than 23,000 companies, representing over US$130 trillion in assets, disclosed environmental data through CDP. That is the scale of its influence, and it has made CDP a market standard. Institutional investors, banks and pension funds use the data to assess how material environmental risk is to the financial performance of their portfolios. Sector leaders, likewise, are asking their suppliers to disclose through CDP, folding environmental performance into value chain management. The CDP page details the questionnaire and how much each section weighs in the score.

The three questionnaires

CDP runs three main questionnaires, each focused on a critical environmental dimension and designed for a different audience and information need.

• Climate Change. The most comprehensive and most widely answered. It focuses on greenhouse gas emissions, climate-related risks and opportunities, mitigation and adaptation strategies, climate governance and transition plans. It is relevant to virtually every mid-sized and large company, because the climate agenda cuts across every sector. Reporting is annual and requires continuous data tracking.

• Water Security. This questionnaire covers water use, water risk (scarcity, flooding, pollution), water management strategies, and the company's impact on water resources in the basins where it operates. It matters particularly to water-intensive sectors: food and drink, textiles, mining, energy and agriculture. Reporting is also annual and demands a deep understanding of operations and their water context.

• Forests. This questionnaire examines a company's impact on deforestation and forest degradation, especially where its supply chain uses deforestation-risk commodities (palm oil, soy, beef, timber products). It assesses commodity origin, anti-deforestation policies, traceability and certification. It is essential for consumer goods, retail, agribusiness, and pulp and paper. Reporting is annual.

Which questionnaire your company answers depends on the scope of the invitation received and on how material each environmental theme is to your operations and value chain. Many companies are invited to answer more than one.

The scoring system (D- to A)

CDP uses a D- to A scale to assess the maturity of a company's environmental management. Understanding it is essential to planning improvement. The score reflects not just disclosure but the quality and depth of the action taken. The levels are:

• D / D- (Disclosure). The entry level. Companies here are disclosing some information about their environmental operations, but the disclosure is incomplete or inconsistent. A D or D- means the company is only beginning to understand and report its impacts. Many gaps remain.

• C / C- (Awareness). At this level the company shows some awareness of the environmental risks and opportunities relevant to its business, and starts collecting and reporting data in a more structured way. There is understanding of the impacts, but management action is still early-stage or unsystematic.

• B / B- (Management). Companies at B or B- are actively managing their environmental impacts. They have policies, strategies, targets and indicators to address risks and opportunities, and they are implementing actions to reduce them. Senior management is engaged, and data informs decisions.

• A / A- (Leadership). The highest level, reserved for companies demonstrating environmental leadership. They not only manage their impacts but set ambitious targets (often aligned with climate science, such as SBTi targets), implement innovations, engage their value chain and communicate progress transparently and verifiably. A-list companies are seen as references in environmental governance and performance.

Each level demands progressively deeper governance, strategy, risk management, metrics and targets. Reaching the top levels requires not just disclosure but action and concrete results.

Gap analysis: finding where you lose points

Experience across many companies shows that points are lost at CDP not for lack of data, but because of how the data is structured, presented and contextualised in the answers. An effective gap analysis is the backbone of a robust scoring strategy.

Our method starts with a detailed review of the previous year's questionnaire (where applicable) and the score received, or a pre-analysis of the current questionnaire based on available information. We identify the critical questions, which often carry more weight and are essential to moving between levels (D to C, C to B, and so on).

High-scoring critical questions generally focus on:

• Governance: how climate, water or forest risks and opportunities are built into the governance structure, including board and executive committee oversight.
• Strategy: how those risks and opportunities are integrated into long-term business strategy, including scenario analysis.
• Risk management: the processes for identifying, assessing and managing risks and opportunities.
• Targets and performance: setting targets for emissions reduction, water use or deforestation, and progress against them. Accurate measurement of Scopes 1, 2 and 3 is fundamental.
• Value chain engagement: how the company engages suppliers and customers on environmental issues.

Where Brazilian companies typically lose points:

• No climate scenario analysis. Many companies have still not run climate scenario analysis as recommended by the TCFD, which hits the strategy modules.
• Weak Scope 3 accounting. The complexity of measuring Scope 3 (indirect, value chain) emissions is a common challenge and leaves gaps in the emissions modules.
• Insufficient governance. Building environmental oversight into board and executive level is still developing for many companies.
• No science-based targets. The number is growing, but many Brazilian companies still lack SBTi-validated emission reduction targets, a key driver of higher scores.
• Water risk not addressed at board level. In Water Security, a lack of board engagement in overseeing water risk directly hits governance.
• No traceability or certification in forest supply chains. For the Forests questionnaire, missing concrete data on commodity origin and robust certification is a frequent weakness.

These gaps are not merely lost points on a questionnaire. They mark the areas where environmental management can be improved, with operational and strategic benefits attached.

A three-cycle improvement strategy

The path to a leadership score at CDP is a continuous journey, not a one-off event. We propose a three-cycle improvement strategy, designed to run over two to three years depending on your starting maturity.

Cycle 1: complete disclosure (aiming at D/C)

• Objective: make sure every relevant question is answered, with consistent and clear data. The aim is to leave the lowest level behind and reach at least awareness (C).
• Actions:
  • Map the data. Identify and collect all available environmental data (GHG emissions, water use, energy use, existing policies).
  • Understand the questionnaire. Analyse each question in detail, understanding what CDP is looking for in each answer.
  • Fill in the basics. Focus on direct, factual answers, even where the underlying actions are not yet mature.
  • Engage internally. Involve the key areas (operations, finance, procurement, HR) in collecting and validating the data.
  • Run the first gap analysis. After the first submission, analyse the score in detail and identify the main shortfalls.
• Timeline: reporting year 1.

Cycle 2: management and targets (aiming at B)

• Objective: show that the company not only knows its impacts but actively manages them. The aim is the Management (B) level.
• Actions:
  • Develop policies and procedures. Formalise environmental management policies and procedures (energy, water, waste).
  • Set metrics and targets. Establish clear, measurable targets for reducing impacts (a GHG reduction target, a water efficiency target).
  • Deepen risk and opportunity analysis. Run more robust analyses of environmental risks and opportunities, including scenario work.
  • Launch improvement projects. Start and report on energy efficiency, water reduction and waste optimisation projects.
  • Integrate into governance. Begin building environmental oversight into board and executive forums.
  • Audit and verification (optional, strongly recommended). Consider external verification of GHG inventories and other data.
• Timeline: reporting year 2.

Cycle 3: leadership and innovation (aiming at A)

• Objective: position the company as a reference in environmental management, going beyond compliance towards innovation. The aim is the Leadership (A) level.
• Actions:
  • Science-based targets (SBTi). Develop and submit GHG reduction targets for SBTi validation. See the SBTi page.
  • Innovation and R&D. Invest in research and development of low-carbon or lower-impact products and services.
  • Value chain engagement. Implement robust supplier and customer engagement programmes on environmental issues, encouraging their own CDP disclosure.
  • Advanced scenario analysis. Take climate scenario analysis further and integrate it into strategic planning.
  • TCFD reporting. Align reporting with TCFD principles.
  • Transparent disclosure. Go beyond the CDP questionnaire and publish integrated sustainability reporting.
• Timeline: reporting year 3 and beyond.

This cyclical plan lets a company build its reporting and management capability organically, demonstrating the continuous, consistent progress CDP values.

The relationship between CDP and SBTi

The relationship between CDP and the Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi) is symbiotic, and crucial to reaching the top scores in CDP Climate Change. CDP asks specifically whether your company has SBTi-validated emission reduction targets.

Having a validated SBTi target is not a bonus, it is a fundamental requirement for companies aiming at the A leadership level in the climate module. SBTi provides the methodology and the scientific stamp confirming that corporate reduction targets align with what is needed to limit global warming to 1.5°C under the Paris Agreement.

Citing an SBTi target in a CDP response demonstrates serious commitment and alignment with global climate best practice. It lends credibility to your reduction strategies and plans. Mangue Tech can support your company through the process of setting and validating SBTi targets, keeping the two frameworks in step.

How Mangue Tech prepares your answers

At Mangue Tech we understand that responding to CDP is complex and takes a combination of technical expertise, knowledge of the questionnaire and an efficient platform for managing the data. Our approach works as follows.

1. A structured data management platform. We use a robust platform to collect, organise and structure all of your company's environmental data. That includes GHG inventories (Scopes 1, 2 and 3), water and energy consumption data, waste management information, environmental policies, improvement projects and governance information. The platform is built to make entering, updating and retrieving information easy, keeping the data feeding the questionnaire consistent and traceable.

1. Tailored gap analysis. We run a deep analysis of the current year's questionnaire, or a simulation based on prior data, identifying where your company can improve its score. That analysis goes beyond spotting unanswered questions: it flags the quality and completeness expected in each answer, against CDP best practice and sector benchmarks.

1. Strategic advisory support. Our CDP specialists work alongside your team. That support covers:
   1. Interpreting the questions. We help decode CDP's specific language so that your answers meet exactly what the questionnaire is looking for.
   2. Optimising the answers. We help frame responses, focusing on clarity, concision and the key elements CDP values at each scoring level.
   3. Identifying scoring opportunities. We advise on what additional information can demonstrate maturity and leadership, such as KPIs, project results and evidence of senior leadership engagement.
   4. Internal validation. We review the answers with your team to confirm accuracy and alignment with the company's sustainability strategy.
   5. Continuous improvement recommendations. Beyond filling in the form, we deliver a report with practical recommendations for improving internal processes and data collection, with an eye on the next cycle's score.

Our aim is to turn CDP from an obligation into a strategic opportunity. We want your company not only to reach a leadership score, but to see the disclosure process translate into real value for environmental management, reputation and market value. How we support the response is set out under CDP services.

CDP rewards companies that treat the questionnaire as a portrait of management that already exists. Companies that build the management in order to answer the questionnaire reach level C and stop there.