CDP (formerly the Carbon Disclosure Project)

Background

CDP was founded in 2000 as the Carbon Disclosure Project by ESG (environmental, social, and corporate governance) activist and corporate spokesperson Paul Dickinson. ²

As of 2023 it has offices all over the world and split into three main divisions: CDP Worldwide Group, CDP Europe AISBL Group, and CDP North America. Its global headquarters is in London, England; CDP Europe’s headquarters is in Berlin, Germany; and its North American branch headquarters is located in New York City. ³

Activities

CDP encourages companies to measure their carbon emissions and make this information publicly available in the name of mitigating the risk of climate change. It claims to have over 700 institutional-investor signatories involved with its project. ⁴

CDP offers readers informational resources on climate change and carbon emissions. Its “Carbon Pricing” report uses carbon data from corporations to create estimates of the alleged “hidden costs” of greenhouse gas emissions, claiming that such emissions cost corporations and governments more money in the long run. Its recommendations include “best practice” advice for companies looking to disclose their data, strategies for banks and other investors seeking to invest in “climate-related opportunities and risks,” and a guide for corporations looking to set internal carbon prices to limit their carbon output. ⁴

CDP releases an annual “A List” of governments and businesses to showcase which ones cooperate the most on carbon disclosure and data transparency. ⁵ The score is based on both the entities’ rate of disclosure and their environmental “performance.” ⁶

Opposition to Nuclear Energy

In July 2022, CDP issued a news release that opposed a decision by the parliament of the European Union to allow nuclear energy to be counted as acceptable within the EU’s net-zero carbon emissions taxonomy. The CDP news release said the EU decision “risks the integrity of the EU’s sustainable finance action plan, its obligations under the Paris Agreement and will severely hinder Europe’s efforts to adhere to its own European Climate Law, which sets a legally binding target of net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050.” ¹

Nuclear power plants produce no carbon dioxide or other greenhouse gas emissions, and as of 2021 accounted for 19 percent of American electricity production—the largest source of zero carbon electricity in the United States. ⁷ An October 2018 proposal from The Nature Conservancy noted that zero-carbon nuclear plants produced 7.8 percent of total world energy output and recommended reducing carbon emissions by increasing nuclear capacity to 33 percent of total world energy output. ⁸

Funding

CDP is funded by nonprofits, partners, and government grants. It also sustains itself by providing services for clients and by charging administrative fees. It receives funding through three separate legal entities: CDP Worldwide Group, CDP Europe AISBL Group, and CDP North America. ⁹

In 2023, CDP’s revenue across its three entities amounted to more than $30 million, with nonprofit funding making up 32 percent, government grants making up 12 percent, and service-based membership making up 30 percent. ⁹

According to its website, some of its notable key supporters include Biogen Inc, CCL Industries, China Mengniu Dairy Company Limited, DTS Corporation, DWF Group, Exelon Corporation, Fonterra Co-operative Group, Gibson Energy, Klarna Bank AB, Kohl’s Corporation, Logitech Europe S.A., Pfizer, Prudential plc, Rothschild & Co., Royal Bank of Canada, Samsung Biologics Co Ltd, T Mobile USA, Texas Instruments Incorporated, the Hershey Company, the Kraft Heinz Company, the Walt Disney Company, Tractor Supply Co., Twitter, Wuxi Biologics (Cayman) Inc., Yelp, and Zijin Mining Group. ⁹

Controversy

On July 28, 2025, the Florida State Attorney General James Uthmeier announced his office would be issuing subpoenas to CDP as well as to environmental policy group Science-Based Targets Initiative (SBTi) to investigate whether both groups, “violated state consumer protection or antitrust laws by coercing companies into disclosing proprietary data and paying for access under the guise of environmental transparency.” ¹⁰ The press release also alleged, “Radical climate activists have hijacked corporate governance and weaponized it against the free market…Florida will not sit back while international pressure groups shake down American companies to fund their ESG grift.” ¹⁰

Leadership

Paul Dickinson is the founder and chair of CDP. He founded the organization in 2000 with the intent to create, in the words of his biography, “a global economic system that operates within sustainable environmental boundaries and prevents dangerous climate change.” ² He is the co-founder of Rufus Leonard Corporate Design and the videoconference booking service EyeNetwork. He is the author of Beautiful Corporations, which he claims is responsible for introducing the notion of “sustainability product marketing” to the business world. He is the chair of ShareAction, a trustee of the Findhorn Foundation, an advisor to Influence Map, and a trustee of the grantmaking organization Friends Provident Foundation. ²