7 Best CDP Consultants in 2026

Quick answer: If you have been asked to disclose to CDP and you are looking for help, the options worth knowing are Seedling (carbon management software with a dedicated carbon expert included, built for businesses up to around 2,000 employees), South Pole (a global CDP Gold consultancy partner), Anthesis (a global CDP Accredited Solutions Provider), SE Advisory Services, formerly EcoAct (a CDP Gold Partner, part of Schneider Electric), ClimatePartner (a European CDP Silver Consultancy Partner), Bureau Veritas (a global certification group and former CDP scoring partner), and Carbonology (a UK CDP-accredited verification specialist). The decision usually comes down to one question: do you want a full consultancy to run the disclosure for you, or software with an expert alongside you that keeps your carbon data in one place to reuse each year?  

What does a CDP consultant actually do?

A CDP consultant helps you respond to the CDP questionnaire, the environmental disclosure system used by over 24,000 organisations worldwide and backed by hundreds of financial institutions and major purchasers. A response is scored from D minus to A, and that score is increasingly read by investors, banks, and the large customers who ask their suppliers to disclose.

The work usually spans a few things: interpreting the questionnaire and the year's scoring methodology, gathering and validating the underlying data, drafting the governance, strategy, and risk narratives, and reviewing the response before submission. Some providers also verify your emissions data, which can lift your score because independent assurance meets additional CDP criteria. It is worth knowing what that involves in practice, though. A full consultancy engagement takes time and coordination from your team, can run into significant fees, and much of the work is repeated the next cycle rather than carried forward.

Which consultancy suits you, and whether you need one at all, comes down to a few things: your company size, your budget, and how complex your disclosure is. Larger organisations with complex operations often benefit from full consultancy support. If you are a smaller business completing CDP's SME questionnaire, or you mainly need an accurate footprint and a plan behind it, a full consultancy is likely more than you need. Below, we compare seven of the leading options, who each one suits, and where a supported platform can do the same job, so you can find the right fit for your business. 

The 7 best CDP consultants and alternatives

1. Seedling: carbon management software with a dedicated expert included  

Website: seedling.earth

Best for: SMEs and mid-market teams that want expert-guided carbon data, not a one-off consultancy project 

Seedling is carbon management software built for businesses of up to around 2,000 employees. Unlike a traditional consultancy, it pairs a platform you log into with a named carbon expert who works alongside you, so you get real guidance without a full consulting overhead. That expert support is led by a team that includes an SBTi Certified Expert, one of only a small number in the UK, so the person guiding you through your footprint and targets knows the science that CDP scoring rewards.

The focus is on the carbon data a CDP climate response is scored on: an accurate, full-scope footprint across Scopes 1, 2, and 3 measured to the GHG Protocol standard. Spend data has its place as a way in, but Seedling is designed around activity data, the real-world inputs like energy use, mileage, employee commuting, supplier responses, and material weights. That produces a footprint that mirrors what your business actually does, and figures that drop as you cut emissions rather than simply tracking invoices. Your expert then helps you set SBTi-aligned Net Zero targets and build a costed plan to reduce emissions, which is exactly the kind of evidence CDP rewards with a higher score.

Because everything sits in a platform you own, your footprint, targets, and reports are ready to update and reuse each cycle rather than rebuilt from scratch. Connections to Xero, Sage, and QuickBooks pull financial data in alongside your activity data, and a built-in supplier engagement tool helps you gather Scope 3 data, which CDP asks you to report across all 15 categories. Being asked to disclose by a large customer or investor is one of the most common reasons businesses come to Seedling, and the platform is built to turn that request into an accurate footprint and a credible response.

What it does well:

• Full-scope GHG Protocol measurement (Scopes 1, 2, and 3) built on activity data, not just spend estimates
• A dedicated carbon expert included as standard, with SBTi-certified expertise on the team
• SBTi-aligned target-setting and a costed reduction plan, the evidence a strong CDP climate response is built on
• Built-in supplier engagement tools for Scope 3 data collection
• Your data and reports stay in one place, ready to reuse for CDP and other frameworks year on year

How it compares: The other providers on this list respond to the CDP questionnaire for you as a consultancy service, usually as a one-off project priced per engagement. Seedling concentrates on the accurate carbon data and Net Zero plan your climate score depends on, delivered through a platform you keep and reuse with an expert alongside you. That makes each year's reporting faster and cheaper than starting fresh, and keeps your data ready for SECR, B Corp, and client requests too. If you specifically want a consultancy to draft every narrative section of the questionnaire for you, one of the others may be the better fit. 

2. South Pole: global climate consultancy and CDP Gold partner

Website: southpole.com

Best for: Corporates wanting full-process CDP support with pre-submission score modelling

Pricing: Available on enquiry 

South Pole is a global climate consultancy founded in Switzerland in 2006, with offices worldwide and an accredited CDP Gold climate change consultancy partnership. Its CDP offer spans the entire disclosure process: a gap analysis of previous responses against the latest scoring methodology, drafting of your response in line with current CDP guidance, a review of your draft before you file, and a simulation of your likely score using CDP's own criteria so you can see where points would be lost and prioritise accordingly. That last piece is genuinely useful, since it turns the submission into something you can improve before it counts rather than after.

The consideration is scale and fit. South Pole works with corporate and enterprise clients globally, and its process and pricing are calibrated for that market. A mid-market business whose main need is a first disclosure, or an accurate footprint to answer a customer request, may find the engagement broader than the task requires.

What it does well:

• Accredited CDP Gold climate change consultancy partner
• Full-process support from gap analysis through drafting to review
• Score simulation before submission, using CDP's scoring criteria
• Nearly two decades of climate advisory experience across global markets

How it compares: South Pole sits alongside Anthesis and SE Advisory Services at the large, full-service end of the market, and its pre-submission score modelling is a particular strength. Businesses whose gap is the underlying carbon data, rather than the writing of the response, will often get further faster with a focused platform or a boutique specialist, at a fraction of the engagement cost.

3. Anthesis: global sustainability consultancy and CDP Accredited Solutions Provider 

Website: anthesisgroup.com

Best for: Large organisations wanting deep, score-focused CDP expertise across every theme  

Pricing: Available on enquiry

Anthesis is one of the biggest sustainability consultancies in the world, with more than 1,400 experts across dozens of offices. It is a CDP Accredited Solutions Provider and supports over 80 CDP responses a year across every questionnaire theme, including more than ten A-List clients. Its service covers gap analysis, mock scoring to predict results before submission, response drafting, and alignment with wider frameworks like TCFD, ISSB, and CSRD. For a large organisation with complex disclosure obligations and the budget to match, that depth is hard to beat.

The thing to weigh up is scale. Anthesis is geared towards large and enterprise clients, and the process and cost reflect that. A UK mid-market business whose priority is a first CDP response, or a footprint to satisfy a customer request, may find much of that enterprise machinery goes unused.

What it does well:

• CDP Accredited Solutions Provider with deep, sector-wide experience
• Mock scoring and gap analysis to improve results before submission
• Alignment with wider frameworks including TCFD, ISSB, and CSRD

How it compares: Anthesis is built for the top end of the market. If you need enterprise-grade consultancy across every environmental theme, Anthesis is a strong choice. If you need an accurate footprint and Net Zero plan without an enterprise price tag, a supported platform will be more proportionate.

4. SE Advisory Services (formerly EcoAct): international climate consultancy, part of Schneider Electric 

Website: eco-act.com

Best for: Corporates wanting CDP support backed by deep energy and decarbonisation expertise

Pricing: Available on enquiry 

SE Advisory Services is an international climate consultancy, known until late 2025 as EcoAct, now operating as Schneider Electric's global consulting branch. It is a CDP Gold Partner, and its CDP offer is comprehensive: submission support including gap analysis and drafting, climate scenario analysis to quantify risks and opportunities, and checks on how a response aligns with CSRD. It also publishes client results, including a business reaching its first A rating. Sitting within Schneider Electric gives it serious depth in energy and decarbonisation.

As with Anthesis, the consideration is fit. It is built for large corporates carrying significant reporting obligations, so the scope and pricing are calibrated for that end of the market rather than a leaner mid-market need.

What it does well:

• CDP Gold Partner with end-to-end submission support
• Climate scenario analysis and CSRD alignment built in
• Backed by Schneider Electric's energy and decarbonisation expertise

How it compares: SE Advisory Services sits at the full-service, enterprise end of the market, much like Anthesis and Bureau Veritas. It offers end-to-end CDP delivery for large organisations with complex obligations and the budget to match. Smaller and mid-market businesses that mainly need an accurate footprint and a plan behind it, rather than a full submission run for them, will often find a lighter-touch consultancy or a supported platform more proportionate. 

5. ClimatePartner: well-known European climate consultancy

Website: climatepartner.com

Best for: Businesses operating across Europe that want guided support and a pre-submission check

Pricing: Available on enquiry

ClimatePartner is a well-known European climate consultancy and software provider, and an official CDP Silver Consultancy Partner. Its CDP service walks you from questionnaire to final rating, helps you generate the information the questions require, and includes an official response check before you submit. It also positions CDP as a way into a broader climate strategy rather than a standalone task, which is a sensible framing.

The point to weigh up is emphasis. ClimatePartner has historically been strongest in carbon neutrality and offsetting, so if your priority is a reduction-first strategy, it is worth checking that the engagement centres on measurement and target-setting rather than offsetting.

What it does well:

• Official CDP Silver Consultancy Partner with end-to-end support
• Pre-submission response check
• Strong European market presence and broad climate services

How it compares: ClimatePartner offers guided CDP support with the added reassurance of an official pre-submission check, which sets it apart from consultancies that hand back the response without a formal review step. Its historic strength in carbon neutrality and offsetting is worth weighing against providers that lead with reduction-first measurement, particularly if your priority is an accurate footprint and a credible plan to cut emissions rather than offset them. 

6. Bureau Veritas: global testing, inspection, and certification group

Website: https://group.bureauveritas.com/ 

Best for: Organisations that want to improve an existing score or add independent verification

Pricing: Available on enquiry

Bureau Veritas is a global testing, inspection, and certification group with a dedicated CDP reporting and verification team. Its standout credential is rare: it was the 2020 CDP Global Scoring Partner, scoring thousands of company responses, which gives it genuine insight into how disclosures are assessed. It supports first-time reporters, helps organisations whose scores have slipped, and independently verifies data disclosed to CDP, which can lift a score by meeting additional criteria.

The consideration is the nature of the organisation. Bureau Veritas is large and process-led, so engagements can feel more formal than working with a boutique team or a platform, which may or may not suit a smaller business.

What it does well:

• Former CDP Global Scoring Partner, with deep insight into scoring
• Independent verification that can strengthen a score
• Established support for both first-time and improving reporters

How it compares: Bureau Veritas stands apart on verification and scoring insight, having sat on CDP's side of the process as a former scoring partner, which few providers can claim. That makes it a strong option for an existing reporter looking to lift a score or add independent assurance. As a large, process-led organisation, though, its size could make engagements feel slower or impersonal, with less of the direct, responsive support a smaller business often needs to get a first disclosure over the line. 

7. Carbonology: UK CDP-accredited GHG verification specialist

Website: carbonologyverification.com

Best for: Reporters wanting to add independent verification and lift an existing CDP score

Pricing: Available on enquiry 

Carbonology is a London-based, woman-owned verification body and a CDP-accredited supplier, specialising in the independent assurance of greenhouse gas data to ISO 14064. Its focus is narrower than the consultancies on this list, and deliberately so: it verifies your Scope 1, 2, and 3 emissions, checks your data collection and reporting methods, and issues the assurance that CDP rewards with additional points. It publishes a client case study of a business travel firm that moved from a C to an A after verification corrected key data discrepancies, which is a clear illustration of what assurance can do for a score.

Verification is a specific piece of the picture rather than end-to-end disclosure support, so Carbonology suits a business that already has its footprint and response in hand and wants to strengthen credibility with independent assurance. If you still need to build the underlying footprint or draft the questionnaire, you would pair it with a measurement platform or a consultancy first.

What it does well:

• CDP-accredited independent verification of Scope 1, 2, and 3 data
• Deep ISO 14064 specialism and assurance expertise
• Published results improving client CDP scores through verification

How it compares: Carbonology occupies a different space from the consultancies and platforms on this list, focusing on assurance rather than measurement or disclosure writing. Independent verification can lift a score by meeting extra CDP criteria, so it complements the other options rather than replacing them: you measure and report first, then verify. For businesses whose data is already in good shape, that focus is a strength; for those starting from scratch, it is one step in a longer process.

FAQs

Do I need a CDP consultant to disclose?

No. A consultancy is only one route. CDP offers its own reporting support, including score feedback and gap analysis calls, and many businesses complete a response with internal resource. Others use a carbon platform to build and manage the data behind their disclosure, and some platforms, such as Seedling, include a dedicated carbon expert who guides you through the process, which gives you much of the support a consultancy offers without the one-off project cost. 

How much does CDP consultancy cost?

It varies widely. Global consultancies aimed at large and enterprise clients price accordingly, and a full-service submission can run into significant fees, particularly where scenario analysis and verification are involved. Boutique and specialist providers tend to be more accessible, especially where the scope is narrower, such as verification alone. Software with expert support, such as Seedling, works on a subscription rather than a per-project fee, which spreads the cost and makes each year's reporting cheaper than starting fresh. 

What score do I need on CDP?

CDP scores responses from D minus to A, moving through disclosure, awareness, management, and leadership levels. There is no universal target; the right score depends on what your customers or investors expect and where you are starting from. A first-time discloser is unlikely to reach the leadership band immediately, and that is normal. What matters more is an accurate footprint, credible targets, and visible progress year on year, which is what lifts a score over time.

Can Seedling help with CDP if it is not a consultancy?

Yes, in a specific and important way. A CDP climate response is built on a full-scope GHG Protocol footprint and a credible reduction plan, and that is exactly what Seedling delivers, with a dedicated carbon expert guiding you through it. Rather than writing your submission as a one-off service, Seedling gives you the accurate carbon data, SBTi-aligned targets, and reporting you need, all in a platform you own and can reuse for CDP and other frameworks each year.

What is the difference between spend-based and activity-based carbon accounting for CDP?

Spend-based methodology estimates emissions by multiplying what you spent on a category by an industry-average emission factor. Activity-based methodology uses the actual physical quantities involved, such as kilowatt hours of electricity or tonnes of materials. The GHG Protocol recognises both but is clear that activity data produces more accurate results. For CDP, more accurate data supports a stronger, more defensible response and shows real reductions over time rather than shifts in spending.

About Seedling

Seedling is carbon management software built for businesses that want accurate, expert-guided carbon accounting without the overhead of a consulting project or the limits of an unsupported tool. The platform covers full Scope 1, 2, and 3 measurement aligned with the GHG Protocol, going well beyond spend-based estimation to use the activity data that makes footprints accurate and reductions visible. Every customer works with a dedicated carbon expert who supports measurement, builds a quantified decarbonisation plan, and helps set SBTi-aligned targets, the foundation a strong CDP disclosure is built on. Outputs also cover SECR, B Corp, PPN 006, EcoVadis, and ISO 14064. We are a certified B Corp, trusted by 500+ businesses, with a 95% client retention rate. Book a demo at seedling.earth/book-a-demo.

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