Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP) Series

ESG frameworks

The Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP) is aglobal non-profit initiative that pioneered environmental disclosure forcompanies. Founded in 2000 in London, CDP began by convincing 35 institutionalinvestors to request climate transparency from corporations. In its first yearof surveys, just 245 companies responded; today, CDP has grown into the world’slargest environmental reporting platform, with over 23,000 companies (over 66%of global market capitalization) disclosing their climate and environmental datain 2023. This evolution reflects CDP’s core belief: transparency drivesaction toward a sustainable economy.

2000 – Founding: CDP (formerly the Carbon Disclosure Project) was launched as the first organization using investor pressure to spur corporate environmental reporting. It held its inaugural Climate Change questionnaire in 2002-2003 with 35 investor backers and 245 companies participating. CDP’s early success demonstrated the demand for standardized climate-risk disclosure.
2009–2010 – Expanding Scope: Building on its climate focus, CDP introduced a Water Security questionnaire in 2009 (formally established by 2010). This enabled companies to report water-related risks and stewardship efforts, recognizing water as a critical sustainability issue.
2013 – Forests Program: CDP merged with the Global Canopy Programme’s Forest Footprint Disclosure initiative, launching an annual Forests questionnaire on commodities driving deforestation (timber, palm oil, cattle, soy). This integration brought forest impacts into CDP’s mainstream reporting, backed by investor demand to understand deforestation risks.
2011–2015 – Cities & More: CDP expanded beyond companies. A Cities program (launched 2011) and States/Regions platform enabled local governments to disclose climate data. By 2015 (the Paris Agreement), CDP had catalyzed over a 300% increase in corporate disclosures since 2015, establishing itself as the de facto platform for climate transparency.
2020s – Global Standardization: CDP aligned its questionnaires with frameworks like TCFD (Task Force on Climate-Related Financial Disclosures) and the emerging ISSB standards, ensuring that disclosures meet evolving regulatory requirements. In 2024, CDP consolidated Climate, Water, and Forests into a single integrated questionnaire, adding new topics (e.g. biodiversity, plastics) to reflect the interconnection of climate and nature. After 25 years, CDP’s investor network swelled to over 700 institutions – representing roughly a quarter of global institutional assets – all calling for environmental transparency.