Summer, Holidays and CDP Submissions

CDP submissions are more manageable in 2025 thanks to the questionnaires’ consistency with 2024, but the guesswork on the final outcome remains.

With warmer weather and well-deserved summer holidays on the horizon, it's easy for CDP submissions to fall down the priority list. But for many companies, this time of the year marks an important sprint before the submission deadline in mid-September. The question most in-house teams are grappling with - even if our response is robust, will it be recognised accordingly?

CDP in 2025: not just box-ticking

Underestimating the complexity of CDP submissions and treating them as simple form-filling is a common reason companies seek external support.  Although aimed at reducing duplication and improving accessibility, the questionnaire updates introduced in 2024 failed to make the scoring system less opaque with many companies experiencing a decrease in score. What our team repeatedly hears from clients is that the challenge of CDP submissions is not just in the burden of data collection, but the lack of clarity on how the submission will land.

The hidden challenge: less is more?

The lack of clarity doesn’t stop at the final score. Many in-house teams struggle to strike the right balance between disclosing enough to demonstrate action and progress, and exposing commercially sensitive information. After all, any well-funded competitor could gain access to your report. In addition, those submitting information to CDP often find themselves caught between the valid but differing views of the internal and external communications, investor relations, legal and sustainability teams on what should and should not be included. So what’s the solution?

P for priorities

There’s no “one size fits all” solution, as it depends on your level of readiness, data maturity and availability of information. However, our proprietary scoring tool and complete understanding of the CDP scoring methodology allows us to provide our clients with clear guidance on the scoring implications, including on sensitive disclosures such as the financial quantification of risks and opportunities. We are able to outline exactly what is required to obtain the maximum score, removing the risk of over disclosing sensitive information, and providing the trade-off (scoring impact) between disclosing or not.

It is true that when used strategically, rather than robotically, the detailed data and methodologies used for the submission can help inform other reporting and sustainability frameworks such as CSRD and ISSB. The key to unlocking your best potential with this framework lies in understanding your company’s individual sustainability priorities and aligning those with the CDP methodology. This is where our CDP scoring tool comes in: providing scoring indication throughout the submission window, identifying material gaps and potential improvement areas to build a smarter, sharper submission.

CDP disclosure does not have to feel like a guessing game. With the right preparation, internal clarity and support it can become a valuable part of your sustainability strategy. If you are navigating this year’s CDP cycle or are thinking about planning for next year, we’d love to help.

About CEN Group

Founded in 2018, CEN Group is a leading, UK-based sustainability and investor communications consultancy. We help businesses to engage more effectively by providing practical sustainability and investor communications solutions that make our clients' lives easier. Find out more at www.cen-grp.com.

Follow CEN Group on LinkedIn