CDP Monitoring of the Global Biodiversity Framework (GBF) Target 15.1

This work surfaces comparable data to track the Target 15.1 Headline Indicator: Number of companies disclosing their biodiversity-related risks, dependencies and impacts.  

The sample used for this work is a subset of responses submitted through CDP’s full corporate questionnaire in 2024 and comprises 5,210 organizations. The sample consists of organizations that:

• disclosed on question 2.2.2; and

• disclosed on at least one of the nature-related CDP themes, namely forests, water and biodiversity.

Company responses are voluntary and driven by requests for disclosure from large buyers and capital market actors, as well as companies who disclose without having received an official request.

The methodology applied to assess the Target 15.1 Headline Indicator builds on question 2.2.2 in the 2024 CDP full corporate questionnaire that is dependent on a positive response to questions 2.2 and 2.2.1.

Question 2.2.2 requests organizations to disclose details of their processes for identifying, assessing and managing environmental dependencies, impacts, risks and/or opportunities. Per nature-related theme, it was assessed whether a company has such a process that covers dependencies, impacts and risks. Having such a process for at least one nature-related theme and disclosing this information publicly is categorized as having achieved the Target 15.1 Headline Indicator.

This work will be updated with each disclosure cycle through to 2030, enabling interested stakeholders to track, assess and report on progress over time.

The CDP platform and questionnaire allow for further breakdown of the responses, by assessing the extent of the supply- and value chain stages covered by the processes, types and frequencies of such assessment, and much more. To learn more about this, please reach out to: policy@cdp.net.

CDP has developed a separate questionnaire for Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs) to increase disclosure by offering a simplified, less resource-intensive version of our environmental disclosure process. This simplified format allows qualified SMEs – based on employee count and revenue thresholds – to provide relevant information in a clear structure, making CDP reporting more accessible for smaller businesses while still managing their environmental impact.

While the data surfaced through the CDP SME questionnaire isn’t aligned with the Target 15.1 Headline Indicator, it can supplement CDP data derived from the 2024 full corporate questionnaire. The sample used for this work is a subset of responses submitted through CDP’s SME questionnaire in 2024 and comprises 5,113 organizations. It comprises organizations that:

• disclosed publicly on question 15.1 in the 2024 SME questionnaire; and

• have an annual revenue below US$250 million.

The assessment highlights organizations that have an existing process for identifying, assessing and managing environmental risks and opportunities, without further specifying the environmental themes covered in such a process.

Organizations disclosing through CDP can decide to disclose publicly or non-publicly.

While the GBF Target 15.1 calls for transparent – and thus public – disclosure, non-public submissions can complement the picture, and provide a more comprehensive understanding of initial progress towards the target. For this reason, CDP’s assessment also provides country-level aggregated information on non-public disclosers against question 2.2.2 of the CDP full corporate and SME questionnaires in 2024.