The CDP grades submissions in four, consecutively-evaluated and interdependent categories: Disclosure, Awareness, Management and Leadership. These categories rely on two general steps: getting your data in order and using your data to act.
Scope 5 will assist you with the first step by helping to ensure that you have complete, transparent and auditable data. The second step builds on this foundation, and there are tools in Scope 5 that will support you in the actions you choose to take.
Below are guidelines on how to leverage Scope 5 functionality to get your best possible score on the CDP Climate Change request.
Disclosure & Awareness
In the Disclosure and Awareness categories, submissions are evaluated on data quality, completeness and accuracy. CDP measures how thoroughly a company has assessed its impact and whether it has demonstrated awareness of how environmental issues intersect with business.
Audibility and transparency are woven throughout Scope 5. We recommend doing the following to get a good score in the Disclosure and Awareness categories:
- Annotate custom resources by filling out the Source and Description fields with details of the emission factors’ origins and any unique information.
- Identify each of the activities that are material for your business and track each of them.
- Implement the most recent emissions reporting protocols, such as the Greenhouse Gas Protocol’s Scope 2 Guidance. Please contact us for further guidance.
- Make sure all relevant data is included in your reports by addressing any warnings and exclusions on the Alerts sidenav.
- Disclose which data is estimated based on energy use intensity benchmarking figures (such as trackers that point to the CBECS Office Buildings library), and which data describes actual usage.
- Disclose when extrapolated data is included in a report. Scope 5 flags extrapolated data with a red chart icon next to the tracker name in the report view, and an X in column D of the report’s CSV download.
Management & Leadership
The Management and Leadership categories ask for a discussion of what you’ve learned from the data. CDP seeks to understand if the company has taken actions associated with good environmental management that are based on its impact and are appropriate for the company based on its industry.
Scope 5 offers functionality that surfaces opportunities and can be used to drive decisions. The following tools are available in Scope 5 to support you in taking strategic action, based on your data:
- Scope 5’s chart and report analytics can be used to identify outliers and areas of opportunity.
- Short-Term Targets can be used to implement and manage an Internal Carbon Fee.
- Projects functionality can be used to describe the actions you’re taking and identify their outcomes. CDP looks for ‘robust’ and ‘comprehensive’ projects.
- Long-Term Targets functionality can be used to define company goals and track progress towards them.
- Forecasting functionality allows you to evaluate how the projects you take on will affect progress towards company targets, and understand which projects will be most effective in reducing environmental impact.
- Use the Audit Trail and Change Log functionality to get your Scope 1 and Scope 2 emissions externally verified.
The Scope 5 team is available to assist in completing your organization’s CDP questionnaire and optimize your responses to improve your score.
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