CDP 2025: Why the 2024 changes still matter

CDP 2025 maintains the same structure as in 2024 with only minor tweaks for clarity. But if you're submitting this year, you're still dealing with the major framework overhaul. Whether you navigated last year's changes or are facing them for the first time, understanding what shifted is essential for a strategic approach to the submission.

Here's what changed in 2024, why it's still impacting 2025 submissions, and how the most effective sustainability teams are adapting.

A single disclosure framework: more ambition, more complexity

In 2024, CDP merged its climate, water, and forests questionnaires into a unified disclosure framework. The 2025 questionnaire retains this overall structure, providing consistency for organizations. 

In theory: unified and efficient.
In practice: more work and uncertainty for most companies with limited upside.

What's different:

• Overlap between topics introduces duplicate answers in new sections
• Broad, catch-all questions make it harder to respond with nuance
• Sector-specific guidance is still evolving, leaving many unsure what applies

For industrial companies not directly managing forests or water basins, this adds non-material workload with little relevance.

New scoring logic introduced in 2024: fewer A's, more head-scratching

The 2024 CDP results caught many teams off guard with sharp score drops (read more about last year's scores here), even with better data and governance in place. This new scoring methodology continues into 2025, meaning teams are still grappling with these changes.

What's changed:

• Greater emphasis on granular evidence, quantitative metrics, and integration
• Strong narrative answers are no longer enough without linked performance indicators
• Heavier penalties for missing methodology-specific terms or framing

The frustration: Teams with mature programs are scoring worse, and no one knows why.

Paywalls, limited feedback, and reduced transparency

CDP now puts more behind a paywall:

• Score breakdowns
• Peer comparisons
• Historical answer analysis

That's made it harder to improve performance and harder to justify the effort internally. Several sustainability leads we've spoken to say this year's submission felt more like a shot in the dark. Read more about how sustainability teams are feeling now.

What sustainability leaders are doing now

Mapping materiality first: They align CDP effort with what matters for their business and stakeholders. Not every section deserves equal weight.

Using automation to handle structure, not strategy: Leaders use AI platforms like beSirius to pre-fill questions, track methodology changes, and cite data sources, freeing up their teams to focus on quality and positioning.

Treating CDP as output, not strategy: Submissions are a byproduct of solid internal data and impact work, not the starting point.

Questioning the value: Some teams are reassessing whether the time invested in CDP matches the business benefits given reduced transparency and higher complexity.

Final take

CDP still holds weight in certain circles. The major structural changes introduced in 2024 are here to stay, with 2025 maintaining consistency in most areas. But CDP needs to evolve quickly if it wants to remain relevant. Until then, top sustainability teams are taking control of their narratives, their disclosures, and their time.

Don't wait for CDP to fix itself. Start making it work for you.

Want to see how smart automation can cut your CDP time in half while increasing quality? Book a demo to try our CDP module on your real documents.

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👉 Read: What happened to the CDP 2024 scores?‍

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