CDP disclosure is becoming the benchmark for measuring companies’ environmental performance and assessing supply chain risk. As the number of small- to medium-sized businesses (SMBs) being asked to make a CDP disclosure continues to grow, so does the competitive advantage of companies that respond. Working with the best CDP consultants can help your company maximize its environmental reporting and performance.
However, each year, thousands of SMBs fail to respond, potentially missing opportunities to build B2B relationships and expand their business. Many of these SMBs don’t have the internal capabilities to disclose to CDP, or don’t know where to start. That’s where the CDP consultants come in.
CDP is the world’s largest environmental disclosure system, used by investors, customers, and governments to assess corporate performance on climate, water, forests, biodiversity, and plastics.
Each year, CDP collects environmental data in a standardized questionnaire from tens of thousands of companies globally on behalf of:
Most organizations report to CDP to answer a request for data from a customer.
In 2024, more than half of the companies that reported to the CDP were small businesses, defined as having fewer than 500 employees and under US$50 million in annual revenue.
This reflects a growing trend: more small companies than ever before, nearly 45,000, were asked by their customers to disclose through CDP. These companies are increasingly required to report because they:
A strong CDP response helps smaller companies:
Despite these benefits, in 2024 alone, more than 4,000 US companies failed to respond to data requests through the CDP.
External reporting services are most valuable for companies responding to the CDP for the first or second time and lack the internal capabilities to collect data and map it to the CDP questionnaire. Or, have reported and want to build the systems, governance, and policies to improve scores. This is where experienced CDP support providers add disproportionate value.
Unlike other voluntary sustainability reporting frameworks, CDP maintains a publicly available database of most companies that report or fail to report, and what their score is (A-D).
Therefore, to ensure a high-quality outcome, it is essential that a provider collects your data promptly, accurately, and comprehensively to achieve the highest possible score.
When evaluating CDP support providers, look for:
1. Practical CDP experience
Teams that have supported multiple disclosures across the factors that you plan to report on (climate, water, forests, etc.) and in the sector you work in.
2. Mid-market depth
Companies that price and measure their services directly to help mid-market companies disclose to the CDP will be best suited. CDP has an SME questionnaire, which is a lighter version of the full one. Consultants with experience with the lighter version will help them meet your needs with their service.
3. Strong quantitative and qualitative alignment
CDP questionnaires require both qualitative and quantitative answers. A service provider that has both experts to write the narrative parts and is supported with software to simplify and streamline the data part works best.
4. Regulatory and framework fluency
The best partners help companies collect data once and report everywhere. Using CDP’s integration with other reporting frameworks, like the ISSB, TCFD, or TNFD. Or, with regulations, like the California climate rules, or others based on the ISSB.
5. Software-enabled workflows
Software enabled to automatically calculate carbon in the way CDP questionnaire requires and can save data for audit trails and year-on-year tracking, dramatically simplify calculations, data storage, and reduce workloads.
This list prioritizes firms that regularly support small and mid-sized companies with CDP disclosure under the real-world constraints of a growing business, rather than enterprise-specific or accreditation-led providers.
1. Good.Lab
Good.Lab supports mid-market companies navigating CDP disclosure alongside regulatory and customer-driven climate reporting. With a focus on right-sized services, Good.Lab helps teams respond to CDP efficiently without overbuilding their sustainability programs.
Its combined software + advisory model enables:
Good.Lab is frequently selected by companies responding to the CDP for the first time, especially under supplier pressure.
👉 See how they helped their client, CISCRP, report to CDP in record time.
2. Positive Planet
Positive Planet works with growing companies to embed sustainability into operations and report their performance in a practical, execution-focused way. Their CDP disclosure support focuses on providing SMBs with carbon accounting, climate strategy, and supplier engagement assistance.
Rather than treating CDP as a standalone exercise, Positive Planet helps companies strengthen the underlying policies, data, and decision-making processes that CDP scores reward, making it well-suited for SMBs building credibility over time.
3. Greenway Carbon
Greenway Carbon provides carbon accounting and climate disclosure support to mid-sized companies, with a strong focus on practical implementation. The firm supports CDP responses by helping organizations establish emissions baselines, document governance processes, and connect climate data to business operations.
Its focus on the industrial, manufacturing, and metals sectors (typically the sectors with the most CDP data requests) makes it a strong partner for SMBs reporting to the CDP in response to a request for data.
4. Trinity Consultants
Trinity Consultants brings deep technical expertise in environmental compliance, carbon management, and emissions data collection. This experience has allowed them to support companies across more than a dozen sectors in responding to CDP data requests
Trinity’s technical, scientific, and business expertise ensures clients’ CDP submissions are technically sound, defensible, and repeatable across other disclosure frameworks and regulations.
5. Emitwise
Emitwise is a carbon management platform with strong Scope 3 and supply chain capabilities, an area where many CDP respondents struggle. The platform helps companies organize emissions data and supplier inputs to support CDP reporting requirements.
Emitwise is particularly useful for mid-sized companies with complex value chains that need better visibility into purchased goods and supplier emissions. They promise accurate and fast CDP reports ideal for SMBs with tight CDP reporting deadlines.
6. Action Sustainability
Action Sustainability supports companies across all aspects of sustainability, particularly those aligned with CDP expectations. The firm helps organizations improve policies, processes, and documentation that underpin strong CDP responses, and through its carbon calculator, can help SMBs get the emissions data they need to report.
Its experience working with supplier-facing teams makes it a strong fit for SMBs responding to CDP requests from large customers.
7. ClimatePartner
ClimatePartner combines advisory services with software tools to help companies measure emissions, set targets, and communicate climate performance. These capabilities support SMBs through their CDP disclosures.
ClimatePartner is often selected by European SMBs seeking a structured yet accessible approach to climate data and reporting, which also supports them with reporting elsewhere to EU rules, like the CSRD, for example.
CDP disclosure is becoming a baseline expectation for suppliers. With limited time and one chance per year to submit, having the right support can make all the difference, and one of the best CDP consultants can help your company do that effectively.
Don’t let your B2B relationships fall by the wayside. Connect with Good.Lab today to quickly collect data, satisfy your biggest customers, and get the highest CDP score possible.
Disclaimer: Good.Lab does not provide tax, legal, or accounting advice through this website. Our goal is to provide timely, research-informed material prepared by subject-matter experts and is for informational purposes only. All external references are linked directly in the text to trusted third-party sources.
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