We recently went through the process of completing CDP reporting, and let me tell you—it was rough. Not because the idea behind it is bad (it’s well-intentioned and pushes companies to improve), but because the actual onboarding process sets companies up to stumble rather than succeed.
Here’s why:
1. One-time “surprise test” vs. year-long prep
Completing CDP reporting isn’t something a company can just sit down and do in a week. Getting it right requires companies to change how they collect, measure, and manage data—sometimes across multiple departments. That takes time, capacity, and resources. Yet the current approach is: “Here’s the survey, good luck.”
What should happen? At least one year before reporting, companies should be onboarded with a 1:1 session. Walk through the survey. Answer questions. Explain the dropdown options. Provide tools to help collect the data. If companies had this preparation, they could actually build the systems needed instead of scrambling.
2. The language is confusing
Even when you think you know what a question means, the phrasing often leaves room for misinterpretation. And the dropdowns? Endless. Sometimes answering one triggers a whole new cascade of questions you’ve never seen before. That’s not a learning opportunity—that’s a setup for frustration.
3. The website is not user-friendly
Trying to fill out the CDP survey feels like playing Tetris on two monitors at once. The tables are massive, the conditional questions make it easy to miss things, and scrolling right/left constantly makes the process clunky. For a system meant to streamline sustainability reporting, it ends up being a barrier.
4. The hidden requirement: bandwidth
It’s not just about knowing your data—it’s about having the staff and time to collect and report it properly. Small and mid-sized companies especially are set up to fail here. Without dedicated staff, even well-meaning companies will struggle to keep up.
The bottom line
If CDP (and similar initiatives) really want companies to improve, the process has to shift from a one-time annual test to a year-long capacity-building journey. Otherwise, the companies most in need of improvement won’t even be able to get through the door.