CDP

What CDP does

CDP (formerly Carbon Disclosure Project) is a London-headquartered global organization that operates the world's only independent environmental disclosure system, founded in 2000. It runs an annual disclosure cycle in which over 22,000 companies, cities, states, and regions across 130+ countries submit standardized data on climate change, water security, and forests through its cloud-based CDP Portal. Capital markets signatories — 700+ institutional investors and asset managers representing $142 trillion+ in assets — formally request this disclosure and use the resulting data for investment decision-making, stewardship engagement, and regulatory TCFD/CSRD-aligned reporting, making the investor base the primary revenue anchor.

The core platform comprises the CDP Disclosure System and Questionnaire infrastructure, the Capital Markets Signatory Dashboard (licensed subscription access for investors), the Government Dashboard for public authorities, the Open Data Portal for free public access, the CDP Disclosure API for authorized software partners, and CDP Scores (the widely recognized environmental performance ratings). The company has added AI capabilities through the Adaptation and Action Explorer — a public-purpose platform co-developed with Google.org that integrates CDP disclosure data with Google Earth Engine hazard layers for climate adaptation planning by subnational governments — alongside AI-powered Response Suggestion Services for questionnaire pre-filling and a Water Use Efficiency Index co-developed with Ecolab.

CDP generates revenue through three streams: subscription fees from Capital Markets Signatories (the primary driver), annual administrative disclosure fees from disclosing organizations (with waivers for smaller entities and those in developing economies), and commercial data licensing via API to third-party ESG data providers. Distribution is anchored by an enterprise field sales motion with investor-led demand creation, supplemented by a 200+ partner solutions-provider ecosystem and self-serve data portals. In June 2026, CDP underwent a major restructuring: private equity firm Permira acquired a majority stake in a new commercial CDP entity, while the newly established independent CDP Foundation retained a minority equity stake with board representation, signaling a strategic shift from a pure non-profit model toward a hybrid commercial/charitable structure with dedicated growth capital.

Name

CDP

Legal name

CDP Worldwide

Website

https://cdp.net

Company type

Private

Founded year

2000

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

501–1,000 employees

Short description

CDP operates the world's only independent global environmental disclosure system, enabling 22,000+ companies, cities, and regions across 130+ countries to report standardized climate, water, and forest data to 700+ institutional investors representing $142T+ in assets.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Environmental Disclosure & ESG Data Platform

NAICS

Computing Infrastructure Providers, Data Processing, Web Hosting, and Related Services (518), Information (51)

SIC

Services-Computer Programming, Data Processing, Etc. (7370), Services-Computer Processing & Data Preparation (7374)

akta.pro primary industry

Customer Data Platforms (CDP) & Identity Resolution (BPAFAFAD)

akta.pro secondary industry

Customer Data Platform (CDP) & First-Party Data Enablement Services (MPAAAIAE)

Keywords

• Environmental disclosure system
• ESG data platform
• Climate reporting
• Corporate sustainability data
• Investor-grade ESG data

Headquarters

HQ city

London

HQ country

United Kingdom

HQ region

Europe

Offices7 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Software

Cost components

Personnel, Technology or R&D, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Capital Markets Signatory Subscriptions: Institutional investors and asset managers that use CDP data to inform capital allocation decisions pay subscription fees for access to the Capital Markets Signatory Dashboard and related services. Signatories represent over $142 trillion in assets, creating a large paying audience. This is the primary revenue driver.
2. Disclosure Administration Fees: Companies and subnational governments submitting environmental disclosures to CDP pay annual administrative fees. Fee structures vary by organization size and type, with waivers available for smaller organizations in developing economies. This sustains the disclosure infrastructure.
3. Data Licensing and API Access: Third-party platforms, data providers, and licensed partners pay for API access and data licensing agreements to embed CDP disclosure data in commercial products and services. Revenue is derived from distribution agreements with data vendors and financial information providers.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion3 records

Distribution channels6 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

CDP operates a global, cloud-based environmental disclosure platform that enables companies, cities, states and regions to submit standardized questionnaires on climate change, water security and forests. It aggregates, validates, scores and distributes this environmental data to institutional investors, supply chain buyers and governments through dedicated dashboards and APIs. The platform underpins an annual disclosure cycle used by over 22,000 organizations across 130+ countries, serving as the de facto global standard for corporate environmental disclosure.

Product overview

CDP operates the world's only independent global environmental disclosure system, running an annual disclosure cycle where companies, cities, states and regions report environmental data through standardized questionnaires. The core offering consists of the CDP Disclosure System and CDP Portal for questionnaire submission, with supplementary platforms including the CDP Adaptation and Action Explorer (AI-powered climate risk tool), Capital Markets Signatory Dashboard, Government Dashboard, and Open Data Portal. CDP provides scoring services (CDP Scores) to assess environmental performance, and operates data products including the Water Watch - CDP Water Impact Index and Corporate Environmental Action Tracker. The 2026 restructuring splits operations into CDP (commercial entity) and CDP Foundation (non-profit), united in shared ambition to enable Earth-positive decisions.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• CDP Disclosure System Core environmental disclosure platform enabling companies, cities, states and regions to report environmental impacts through standardized questionnaires covering climate change, water security and forests.
• CDP Portal Online portal where disclosing organizations log into user accounts to submit responses to environmental questionnaires and access information relating to their disclosure submissions.
• CDP Adaptation and Action Explorer AI-powered platform that helps cities, states and regions understand physical climate and nature risks, link risks to current actions, and identify effective adaptation pathways, integrating CDP disclosure data with Google Earth Engine hazard data.
• Capital Markets Signatory Dashboard Online dashboard for capital markets signatories to track which disclosing organizations have submitted environmental responses and access service data, scores and CDP reports.
• CDP Government Dashboard Portal for government entities including cities, states and regions to access and manage their environmental disclosure submissions to CDP.
• Cities, States and Regions Open Data Portal Public data portal offering complete datasets of public responses to CDP's Cities and States and Regions questionnaires, including climate-related risks, emissions, mitigation, adaptation, energy and water data.
• Disclosure API Application programming interface that enables disclosing organizations to submit questionnaire responses through authorized API Software Partners, facilitating automated disclosure submission.
• CDP Scores Environmental performance scores assessing the level of detail, comprehensiveness, awareness and management of environmental issues among disclosing organizations across climate change, water security and forests categories.
• Water Watch - CDP Water Impact Index Open data database providing water impact information and indicators related to environmental disclosure, available for non-commercial use with attribution requirements.
• Corporate Environmental Action Tracker Open data tracker allowing users to copy, distribute, and build upon corporate environmental action data for non-commercial purposes with proper attribution to CDP.
• Supply Chain Membership Service enabling companies to request environmental disclosure from suppliers within their supply chain, supporting supply chain sustainability engagement and emissions management.
• Capital Markets Signatories Membership service for financial institutions and investors to access corporate environmental disclosure data for investment decision-making and engagement purposes.
• Accredited Solutions Providers Network of authorized third-party software and service providers that help disclosing organizations complete their CDP questionnaires through integrated software solutions.
• Water Use Efficiency Index Sector-specific water efficiency benchmarking tool developed with Ecolab, enabling companies to measure and compare water use efficiency against industry peers.

Quantifiable outcome

• Over 22,000 organizations disclosed environmental data through CDP in 2024, with nearly 25,000 responses to disclosure requests.
• +3 more outcomes

Named customers9 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles5 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

Yes

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration6 records

AI capability5 records

Feature6 records

Partnerships

Three partnerships are on record, tiered flagship and core.

• Google.orgflagshipStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2024Google.org partnered with CDP to develop the AI-powered Adaptation and Action Explorer, a tool that helps organizations discover and implement climate adaptation strategies. This is a co-development partnership bringing Google's AI capabilities to bear on CDP's environmental data infrastructure.
• CDP FoundationcoreOthers · 1 January 2024The CDP Foundation is a newly established non-profit foundation created to support and fund CDP's mission. It serves as an institutional vehicle for philanthropic capital to sustain and expand CDP's global environmental disclosure infrastructure. The foundation was established as part of CDP's organizational evolution following the Permira investment.
• EcolabflagshipStrategic or Co-development PartnerEcolab partnered with CDP to develop the Water Use Efficiency Index, a sector-specific benchmarking and scoring framework for water stewardship. This co-developed tool enables companies to measure, compare, and improve their water use efficiency against industry peers, integrating Ecolab's water expertise with CDP's disclosure infrastructure.

Scale indicators8 records

Recent moves13 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Broad incumbents

• Bloomberg (Bloomberg ESG Data): Bloomberg provides ESG data products that overlap directly with CDP's investor-facing offerings. Both serve institutional investors with environmental and climate data, but Bloomberg operates as a much larger financial data incumbent bundling ESG with broader market data.
• MSCI ESG Research: MSCI ESG Research provides ESG ratings, data, and analytics to institutional investors, directly competing with CDP's signatory services. MSCI offers a broader ESG framework but CDP's standardized disclosure data underpins portions of the MSCI methodology.
• S&P Global Sustainable1 (formerly Trucost, S&P ESG): S&P Global offers Trucost environmental data and Sustainable1 ESG products that compete with CDP's environmental dataset. S&P integrates ESG with broader corporate and market intelligence, and is also a data integration partner of CDP.
• Refinitiv (LSEG) Sustainability: Refinitiv (now part of LSEG) offers ESG data products serving institutional investors, comparable to CDP's capital markets offerings. LSEG is a much broader financial data incumbent but competes directly for ESG data spend.

Direct peers

• Sustainalytics (Morningstar): Sustainalytics provides ESG risk ratings and data used by institutional investors, closely comparable to CDP's investor-facing services. Both organizations transform corporate ESG disclosures into investor-grade analytics and benchmark companies on environmental performance.
• ISS ESG: ISS ESG provides ESG data, ratings, and analytics for institutional investors and corporates. Both organizations serve the same primary customer base (asset managers and asset owners) and produce overlapping environmental performance assessments.
• EcoVadis: EcoVadis operates a sustainability ratings platform focused on supply chain, sharing the supply chain disclosure use case with CDP's Supply Chain Membership. Both provide standardized sustainability assessments requested by large buying organizations across global supplier networks.
• Workiva: Workiva provides a cloud platform for ESG and sustainability reporting that overlaps with CDP's disclosure submission workflow. Companies use Workiva to compile ESG data, which is often then submitted through the CDP platform.

Emerging players

• Persefoni: Persefoni is a climate management and accounting platform enabling companies to measure and report carbon footprints. It overlaps with CDP's corporate disclosure workflow as an alternative or complementary carbon reporting tool for disclosing organizations.
• Watershed: Watershed provides a carbon accounting and climate platform for enterprises, serving overlapping use cases with CDP disclosure preparation. Both organizations help corporates measure, manage, and disclose emissions data.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat6 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/cdp
• YouTubeyoutube.com/channel/UCriW4gZMiuZsq51iLSRXdTQ
• LinkedInuk.linkedin.com/company/cdp-worldwide
• Facebookfacebook.com/carbondisclosureproject

Compliance1 record

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

Subsidiaries7 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds1 record

Investors1 record

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments2 records

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about CDP