CDP’s Activity Classification System (CDP-ACS)
The CDP Activity Classification System (CDP-ACS) is a classification system developed and maintained by the CDP (formerly known as the Carbon Disclosure Project) to provide sector-specific questions to organizations participating in the CDP's annual reporting process. The CDP-ACS groups companies according to their revenue-generating activities and their associated environmental impacts across three areas: climate change, water security and deforestation. The CDP-ACS has three levels of aggregation, ranging from broadly defined "CDP Industries" to more detailed "CDP Activities".
Metadata
| Publisher type | Commercial |
| Publisher(s) | |
| Jurisdictions | Global |
Current Version: CDP-ACS 2024
CDP-ACS 2024 was published for the CDP's 2024 reporting year.
Changes between CDP-ACS 2022 and CDP-ACS 2024
There were no changes between CDP-ACS 2022 and CDP-ACS 2024.
Structure of CDP-ACS 2024
CDP-ACS is structured into three levels, as follows:
CDP Industries: 13 CDP industries such as Apparel, Fossil fuels, Manufacturing, and Transportation services. This is the broadest classification level of the CDP-ACS 2024.
CDP Activity Groups: 64 CDP Activity Groups. For example, the Manufacturing industry has 11 Activity Groups including "Electrical & electronic equipment" and "Leisure & home manufacturing".
CDP Activities: 211 CDP Activities. For example, in the Manufacturing industry, the "Electrical & electronic equipment" Activity Group comprises five activities including "Electrical equipment" and "Semiconductors". This is the finest level of detail in CDP-ACS 2024.
The CDP-ACS is not numerically coded as is the case with government industry classification systems such as ISIC and NACE where there are two-, three- or four-digit industries. The table below gives a breakdown of each of the 13 Industries of CDP-ACS 2024. At the finest level, the Manufacturing industry has the highest number of activities followed by "Food, beverage & agriculture" and "Materials". At the other end of the spectrum, the Apparel and "Biotech, health care & pharma" industries have the lowest number of activities.
CDP Industry | CDP Activity Groups | CDP Activities |
Apparel | 1 | 3 |
Biotech, health care & pharma | 3 | 5 |
Food, beverage & agriculture | 5 | 34 |
Fossil fuels | 5 | 6 |
Hospitality | 2 | 5 |
Infrastructure | 4 | 15 |
International bodies | 4 | 8 |
Manufacturing | 11 | 39 |
Materials | 7 | 27 |
Power generation | 5 | 11 |
Retail | 3 | 21 |
Services | 9 | 26 |
Transportation services | 5 | 11 |
Total | 64 | 211 |
Previous versions
CDP-ACS 2022
CDP-ACS 2022 was published for the CDP's 2022 reporting year.
Changes between CDP-ACS 2021 and CDP-ACS 2022
There were no changes between CDP-ACS 2021 and CDP-ACS 2022.
Structure of CDP-ACS 2022
CDP-ACS is structured into three levels, as follows:
CDP Industries: 13 CDP industries. This was the broadest level of the CDP-ACS 2022.
CDP Activity Groups: 63 CDP Activity Groups.
CDP Activities: 211 CDP Activities. This was the finest level of detail in CDP-ACS 2022.
CDP-ACS 2021
CDP-ACS 2021 was published for the CDP's 2021 reporting year.
Changes between CDP-ACS 2020 and CDP-ACS 2021
CDP-ACS 2021 dropped six activities from CDP-ACS 2020 and added 12 activities, six of which were in the "International bodies" industry were the new activities included "Agencies local", "Agencies national" and "Agencies regional". In the Apparel industry, the "Apparel design & manufacturing" activity was created in place of the CDP-ACS 2020 activities "Apparel & footwear design" and "Apparel & footwear". Another prominent change was the transfer of the "Biofuel supply" activity from the Retail industry in CDP-ACS 2020 to the "Food, beverage & agriculture" industry in CDP-ACS 2021.
Structure of CDP-ACS 2021
CDP-ACS 2021 was structured into three levels, as follows:
CDP Industries: 13 CDP industries. This was the broadest level of the CDP-ACS 2021.
CDP Activity Groups: 63 CDP Activity Groups.
CDP Activities: 205 CDP Activities. This was the finest level of detail in CDP-ACS 2021.
CDP-ACS 2020
CDP-ACS 2020 was published for the CDP's 2020 reporting year.
Changes between CDP-ACS 2019 and CDP-ACS 2020
After their removal in CDP-ACS 2019, the Retail, Services, and Transportation services industries were re-added in CDP-ACS 2020.
Structure of CDP-ACS 2020
CDP-ACS 2020 was structured into three levels, as follows:
CDP Industries: 13 CDP industries. This was the broadest level of the CDP-ACS 2020.
CDP Activity Groups: 61 CDP Activity Groups.
CDP Activities: 208 CDP Activities. This was the finest level of detail in CDP-ACS 2020.
CDP-ACS 2019
CDP-ACS 2019 was published for the CDP's 2019 reporting year.
Changes between CDP-ACS 2018 and CDP-ACS 2019
The Retail, Services, and Transportation services industries from CDP-ACS 2018 were dropped in CDP-ACS 2019. In the Hospitality industry, an "Entertainment services" activity group was created composed of two activities - "Gambling" and "Recreation & entertainment facilities".
Structure of CDP-ACS 2019
CDP-ACS 2019 was structured into three levels, as follows:
CDP Industries: 10 CDP industries. This was the broadest level of the CDP-ACS 2019.
CDP Activity Groups: 43 CDP Activity Groups.
CDP Activities: 149 CDP Activities. This was the finest level of detail in CDP-ACS 2019.
CDP-ACS 2018
CDP-ACS 2018 was published for the CDP's 2018 reporting year. This is the first edition of the CDP-ACS.
Structure of CDP-ACS 2018
CDP-ACS 2018 was structured into three levels, as follows:
CDP Industries: 13 CDP industries. This was the broadest level of the CDP-ACS 2018.
CDP Activity Groups: 59 CDP Activity Groups.
CDP Activities: 206 CDP Activities. This was the finest level of detail in CDP-ACS 2018.
Where is it used?
The CDP-ACS is mainly used by organizations reporting environmental data to the CDP. The CDP-ACS determines the questionnaires that organizations are required to complete as part of the annual reporting process. The CDP-ACS therefore plays a key role in the CDP in assessing companies' environmental impacts, particularly in terms of climate change, water security, and deforestation.
The CDP itself uses the CDP-ACS for various analytical purposes. It forms the basis of tools such as CDP's water impact classification (Water Watch) and forests impact classification. Adapted versions of the CDP-ACS have also been created for specific analytical purposes in CDP publications. An example is the "Climate Change Hybrid" classification which is a subset of the full list of activities in the CDP-ACS.
Upcoming version
The CDP-ACS has been published annually since its introduction in 2018. Another one can therefore be expected for the 2025 CDP reporting year. Except in 2021 when there were some notable changes to the previous version, the structure and categories of the system is stable between versions.