The carbon performance score is given as a banded score. Indicative descriptions of the bands follow and are for guidance only. The drivers of any individual company score may vary across a number of different indicators. As such, data-users should read individual company responses to understand the context for each business. Care should be taken when comparing performance across companies.
Band A/A- (>70%)
Fully integrated climate change strategy driving significant maturity in climate change initiatives An "A" signifies that in addition to achieving a score of more than 70, the company has met the additional criteria for entry into the Carbon Performance Leadership Index (see below). An "A-" signifies that the company has achieved the high score, but not met the additional criteria.
Band B (>50%)
Integration of climate change recognized as priority for strategy, not all initiatives fully established.
Band C (>30%)
Some activity on climate change with varied levels of integration of those initiatives into strategy.
Band D (>15%)
Limited evidence of mitigation or adaptation initiatives and no/limited strategy on climate change.
Band E (>15%)
Little evidence of initiatives on carbon management potentially due to companies just beginning to take action on climate change.
No performance score is allocated below a disclosure of 50%, as there would be insufficient information on which to base a performance score.
Important to note:
That answers are considered equally, independent of sector.
While clear indicators of good performance emerge from the results, there are several factors to consider when evaluating where a company is ranked in comparison to its peers.
- The carbon performance ranking is based solely on information disclosed in a company’s CDP response. Any additional negative or positive actions that are not disclosed in a company’s CDP response are not considered in the application of the performance score methodology.
- CDP performance results should be considered in conjunction with other carbon metrics to provide a more comprehensive picture of a company’s performance on mitigating climate change.
It’s important for data-users to keep in mind that the CDP carbon performance score is not:
- An assessment of the extent to which a company’s actions have reduced carbon intensity relative to other companies in its sector.
- An assessment of how material a company’s actions are relative to the business or to climate mitigation;
- A measure of how low carbon a company is; the score simply recognizes evidence of action.
Not all company responses are scored. Some samples – which are groups of companies based on market capitalization – are not scored.