Taking forward the momentum from CDP's rebrand and Corporate Health Check launch at Davos, Shannon Joly, CDP Chief Marketing & Communications Officer, reflects on the power of “Earth-positive” actions.

One of the most troubling things about the state of our planetary crisis is not the solutions needed to move away from a carbon economy – we have those answers – but the most rapid deterioration of planetary resources we have ever seen, and the consequences that ensue.

We are losing our plant and animal species. Our oceans are not only warming but changing in chemical composition, as they absorb more greenhouse gas emissions going into the atmosphere with fewer trees and mangroves to do the job. This all matters and is connected to the issues that are front-of-mind for so many people – namely immigration, cost of living, social mobility, housing. Ecology and economics are not asynchronous – board members need more decision-relevant information to help avoid risks and maximize opportunities, and to lead in protecting the natural systems on which economic activity depends.

Brand leadership is important
So why would I start a blog about CDP rebranding in this way? Because leadership matters. Brand leadership is important – especially if it plays a critical role in driving systemic change amongst multiple stakeholder groups, worldwide. Twenty-five years after being founded, CDP’s environmental data disclosure system has been a proven tool to help investors, businesses and governments identify risks and opportunities that would otherwise remain hidden. Today, over 700 investors representing US$140 trillion in assets and 330 Supply Chain Members representing US$6.4 trillion in purchasing power utilize our disclosure system and data to manage risks, identify opportunities, and make smarter, more sustainable business decisions.

CDP can further illuminate. Through our disclosure system, companies have already identified over US$16 trillion in climate and nature-related opportunities, highlighting the role sustainability plays in driving innovation and long-term profitability. We need to surface examples of opportunity, share progress being made against environmental goals by the most profitable companies on the planet, and connect capital flows to the opportunities to move quicker and at scale. By advancing transparency and Earth-positive action, CDP is helping to create a future where the best interests of the planet align with the best interests of business.

2024 was the hottest year ever recorded, according to NASA in the United States. The Planetary Health Check – the most comprehensive, science-based global initiative dedicated to measuring and maintaining the Earth system – reports that six of the nine planetary boundaries have been breached and seven tipping point elements are at risk. This means the resilience of those systems and the safe operating space for humanity is now highly questionable if we do not reverse course and invest in carbon sinks (eg Nature) and move away from the source of CO2 emissions (eg fossil fuel extraction).

Bridging the gap between scientific trends and economic business action
This year at the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos, we launched the inaugural Corporate Health Check in collaboration with Oliver Wyman and the Center for Nature and Climate.

This 2025 snapshot of business progress shows the following:  

1. Too few companies are showing ambition.

Just one in 10 companies are embedding Earth-positive decision-making throughout their business models, with too many in the lowest level of the Health Check or just meeting the minimum.

2. Corporate transparency is leading to climate and nature action.

Health Check companies disclosing through CDP in recent years cut emissions by 2% per annum, even as global emissions rose 1% annually. Still, only a third of businesses are on track to meet their own emissions targets, with European companies ahead of those in other regions.

3. Bringing the planet into the boardroom is critical.

Companies making the most progress are those that most effectively pull key governance and strategy levers, including the eight in 10 frontrunners linking executive pay to climate goals.

4. Protecting the planet while pursuing profit is possible.

The market capitalization performance of companies on track with emissions targets has been mixed across sectors. Where climate frontrunners in the transportation, apparel and services sectors have outperformed those not on track, the reverse was true in some high-emitting industries.

Read more about how businesses can bring planetary health into the boardroom.

“Earth-positive” actions
CDP believes that disclosure can help reverse current trends and shift capital flows away from being “nature-negative” – which the U.N. Environmental Program estimates at roughly $7 trillion, or about 7% of the global GDP – to “Earth-positive” actions, by surfacing the information that will help leaders across business, finance and government better understand their choices, risks and opportunities.

“Earth-positive” means acting in ways that protect and restore the environment, and reduce negative impacts on the planet, alongside achieving business objectives.

    
CDP gives voice to leadership
While science and corporate decision-making run on different timelines, disclosure and leadership action can help align those timelines so that environmental science can be accessed and utilized by board members when they need this most, to make critical decisions. We know that increasingly powerful storms, droughts, fires and other extreme weather events significantly disrupt supply chains, workforce resilience, product planning and the future siting of facilities and back-up systems. We also know that investing in Nature and new renewable energy and power technologies can create jobs and economic prosperity.

Therefore, as companies seek to balance new environmental urgencies with corporate best practice, CDP disclosure and its data is a powerful tool, surfacing indispensable information with which to make sound decisions, both immediate and long-term. In our interdependent world, what is positive for our planet is, by definition, positive for economic and social stability.

As science gives voice to our planet, CDP disclosure gives voice to leadership. Our brand is your tool to drive business strategies forward with Earth-positive impact.