CDP Announces 2022 Disclosure Scores, Welcomes COP15 Final Agreement

The report on CDP disclosure scores reveals that only 12 companies, or 1.3% of the 900+ companies, were awarded Triple A for their transparency and action across climate change, forests, and water security, down from 14 in 2021. The report shows that 330+ global companies worth nearly USD 11 trillion in market capitalization have been named on CDP’s annual A List, out of which 280+ companies scored an A for their climate change disclosures (a 34% increase since 2021). While progress remains slow on deforestation and water security, there was only a 4% increase in the number of forests A Listers and a 12.7% decrease from 118 in 2021 to 103 in 2022 in the number of water security A Listers. The report findings show that companies on CDP’s annual A List are better equipped to create and implement climate transition plan which aligns with a 1.5°C world, verification of deforestation and/or conversion-free commodity volumes, and verification of water data. The findings show that 59% of companies scored between D- and C, meaning they are beginning to recognize their environmental impacts and are at the start of their disclosure journey. However, 66% of companies with D- to A- scores remain stagnant by not improving their scores in 2022.

CDP welcomed the agreement reached at COP15, which commits countries to protect 30% of land and sea; cut, phase out, and reform environmentally harmful subsidies; and increase finance flows for protecting and restoring nature. The agreement includes a requirement to ensure that all large companies assess and disclose their risks, impact, and dependencies on nature by 2030, under Target 15. COP15 has set the world on the pathway to making biodiversity-related disclosure a business norm, as has been achieved for climate-related disclosure. CDP received 87% response rate on their invitation to businesses to disclose biodiversity data in 2022 and with the implementation of Global Biodiversity Framework, CDP further expects to increase the participation of businesses in biodiversity-related disclosures. This will be critical in scaling action to protect and restore biodiversity and nature loss across the global economy.

Keywords: International, Banking, Securities, ESG, Climate Change Risk, Disclosures, Reporting, COP15, Global Biodiversity Framework, Sustainable Finance, Environmental Risk, CDP