CDP (Carbon Disclosure Project) scores explained: what A to D- measures, and what it doesn't

Published 2 November 2026

What is a CDP score?

A CDP score is a letter grade from D- to A that CDP, the Carbon Disclosure Project, gives a company for its response to CDP's annual questionnaire on climate change, forests or water security. It grades how complete the response is and how well the company shows it understands and manages the issue. CDP's own guidance says the score reflects "disclosure quality and maturity, rather than absolute environmental performance".

For the 2026 cycle, CDP scores companies that completed the full questionnaire on climate change, forests or water security. The SME questionnaire is scored for climate change only.

What do the four CDP scoring levels mean?

CDP groups its grades into four levels, each with a minus and a plain grade. The descriptions below are CDP's own, from its scores explained page.

A company that was asked to respond and gave no response, or too little to score, is marked "Did not disclose". Older cycles show this as an F, which CDP says "is not a reflection of a company's environmental stewardship."

The headline grade is not the only score CDP gives. A company's score report breaks it down further, and supply chain engagement gets a rating of its own.

A strong category score for Scope 3 Emissions grades how fully the company accounted for and reported its Scope 3. It still carries no figure for what that Scope 3 is.

So a B means the company has reached the Management level: its response shows processes and action to manage climate issues. It says nothing about how much the company emits.

Does a CDP score tell you a company's emissions?

No. A CDP score carries no tonnes of CO2e, no emissions intensity and no trajectory. Two companies with the same grade can be hundreds of times apart in what they emit, and one can be on track against its target while the other falls behind.

The emissions figures sit elsewhere: in the company's reported Scope 1, 2 and 3, which appear in its CDP response, its annual report or its sustainability statement. Three things are worth knowing about those figures. They are reported by the company itself, and CDP does not require them to be third-party assured, so the assurance statement in the company's own report is the place to check. Responders are not required to break Scope 3 out by category. And a response describes one reporting year, with nothing on the years ahead.

Why do most companies have no CDP score?

A company is scored only when it responds in full, and few do: CDP's public scores table lists 6,375 companies with a public climate score for 2025. Many companies are never asked by an investor or customer, and some that are asked do not respond. Others respond on a questionnaire or theme CDP does not score, or submit after CDP's scoring deadline. Many private companies, and most small and mid-sized ones, report their emissions through other channels: an annual report, a sustainability statement, a reply to a customer, a published product carbon footprint.

A company with no score can still have published its emissions. DitchCarbon holds verified emissions data for over 2 million organisations, built on primary emissions data wherever it exists, so a supplier with no CDP score can still have reported Scope 1, 2 and 3 figures on its profile, with the source document behind each one. That includes published GHG inventories and product carbon footprints, CDP responses, EcoVadis scorecards, SBTi targets and data suppliers declare on their own profiles. Where a company has published nothing, the profile carries an estimate and says it is one.

If you are choosing how to collect emissions data from your suppliers, CDP Supply Chain cost and alternatives compares the routes.

How do you read a CDP score next to a company's emissions?

Put the grade beside the reported figures and the target. Cemex, a cement maker, and Ono Pharmaceutical, a drug maker, both made CDP's climate A List in the 2025 cycle (Cemex, Ono). Here is what their DitchCarbon profiles show alongside that grade.

Figures as shown on each company's DitchCarbon profile on 2 November 2026.

The two grades are identical. The emissions are about 400 times apart, and one company is on track against its nearest target while the other is flagged at risk. None of that is in the letter.

A buyer needs all three readings. The CDP grade tells you the company discloses and manages climate issues to a high standard. The reported figures tell you how much of your footprint it accounts for. The target status tells you whether those figures are heading where the company said they would. The DitchCarbon score sits on the same profile and is built in the open: disclosure, targets and whether they are validated, third-party verification, and progress against commitments, each shown as earned or not, with the source documents one click away.

How do you check a company's CDP score?

CDP scores for the 2026 cycle are published in the week of 30 November 2026.

To see what a company emits, search the DitchCarbon organisation directory. Each profile puts the reported Scope 1, 2 and 3, the targets and their status, the score with its criteria and the source documents on one page, for any company, whether or not it has a CDP score. For how that data is built and where it comes from, see supplier and portfolio emissions data.

Common questions about CDP scores

What does a CDP B score mean?

A B is CDP's Management level. CDP awards it when a company's response shows evidence of action and processes to manage climate issues. It sits above Awareness (C) and below Leadership (A). A B grades the disclosure and how the company manages climate issues; it carries no figure for how much the company emits.

Is a CDP score the same as a company's emissions?

No. A CDP score grades the completeness and maturity of a company's response to CDP's questionnaire, and CDP says it does not measure absolute environmental performance. A company's emissions are its reported Scope 1, 2 and 3 figures, found in its CDP response, annual report or sustainability statement, and on its DitchCarbon profile with the source document.

Why does a supplier have no CDP score?

CDP scores only companies that respond in full. Many companies are never asked, some that are asked do not respond, and some submit after the scoring deadline or on a questionnaire CDP does not score. Many still publish emissions elsewhere, and a DitchCarbon profile shows those figures with their source, or an estimate marked as one.

How do I check a company's CDP score?

CDP scores for the 2026 cycle are published in the week of 30 November 2026. To see a company's reported emissions and targets, search the DitchCarbon organisation directory, where each profile links to its source documents.