Introduction to Scoring

CDP works with cities to motivate them to disclose their impacts on the environment and take action to reduce negative impacts. The scoring methodology is designed to incentivize actions that are to a certain extent applicable to all cities regardless of geography or level of development. Scoring assesses the level of detail and comprehensiveness of a city’s actions and planning as reported in the CDP questionnaire, and does not consider any other actions and plans that are not reported within the questionnaire.

In order to receive scores which accurately reflect a city’s adaptation and mitigation actions, it’s important that the questionnaire is answered as thoroughly as possible, with a high level of completeness.

Scoring cities responses to the CDP questionnaire enables us to provide feedback to cities on the completeness of their response and their performance on climate action. Scoring allows CDP to recognize leadership in city climate action and encourage cities to follow best practice. Cities can use their score as a tool to identify gaps and improve climate planning incrementally each year. Cities can also use their score to benchmark their performance against the average scores of other cities in the same region.

Scores remain private to cities, but we highlight the leadership of cities who receive an A score.

In 2020, 88 cities, representing a combined population of 125 million people, received an A score.

This document provides information about our scoring methodology and indicates the steps cities can take to improve their response.

This guidance is correct as of [13th May 2021]. The guidance is subject to change, but we will notify users by email of any changes.

Scoring bands

Cities are assessed across four consecutive levels which represent the steps cities move through as they progress towards environmental stewardship. The levels are:

• Disclosure (D- or D): A city in the Disclosure scoring band has just started the journey of understanding and reporting on climate impacts. These cities understand the value of collecting data to drive climate action but may not have structures or resources in place to obtain the necessary information. Cities in the Disclosure band report on the degree to which climate impacts and risks have been measured.
• Awareness (C- or C): A city in the Awareness scoring band is in the process of assessing the main risks and impacts of climate change. These cities have begun developing an assessment and measuring impacts to get a holistic understanding of the main effects climate change has on their city but is only beginning to take action to reduce them.
• Management (B- or B): A city in the Management band has understood the main risks and impacts of climate change and is taking action to adapt to and reduce these effects. These cities have worked collaboratively with key stakeholders to understand their risks and impacts and now have plans in place to mitigate and adapt.
• Leadership (A- or A): A Leadership city demonstrates best practice standards across adaptation and mitigation, has set ambitious but realistic goals and made progress towards achieving those goals. Cities in the Leadership band have strategic, holistic plans in place to ensure the actions they are taking will reduce climate impacts and vulnerabilities of the citizens, businesses and organizations residing in their city.

In order to progress form one level to the next, cities must pass the threshold at each scoring band. For example, a city must receive enough points in the Disclosure band to pass the threshold before they will be scored in the next scoring band, Awareness. Cities do not need to meet every criteria listed to pass the threshold of a particular scoring band. However, the more criteria they meet, the higher the chance that the city will be able to earn enough points to surpass the threshold and be scored in the following band.

Essential criteria

Management and Leadership bands have essential criteria which MUST be met in order to receive a score within those bands. This means that regardless of all other criteria met, if a city does not meet the essential criteria in Management, their score will be reduced to Awareness level. In order to receive a Leadership score, a city must have met all essential criteria in Management and Leadership.

Cities should ensure that they have attached all essential criteria documents before submitting their response to the 2021 questionnaire in order to receive a score which truly reflects their planning and actions.

The essential criteria for 2021 is as follows:

Management essential criteria:

• Cities must respond "YES" to having an adaptation plan in question 3.2 and ATTACH their adaptation plan in question 3.2a OR cities must respond "YES" to having an action plan in question 5.5 and ATTACH an action plan in question 5.5a
• Cities must respond "YES" to having a city-wide emissions inventory in question 4.0

Leadership essential criteria:


• Cities must respond "YES" to having a vulnerability assessment in question 2.0 and must ATTACH their assessment in question 2.0b
• Cities must respond "YES" to having an adaptation plan in question 3.2 and ATTACH their adaptation plan in question 3.2a
• Cities must respond "YES" to having an action plan in question 5.5 and ATTACH an action plan in question 5.5a
• Cities must have a fully reported GHG emissions reduction target either:

- Sector, base year, base year emissions, target year, percentage reduction target ALL complete AND target year in future if answering 5.0a/5.0c/5.0d.

- Sector, target year, target year emissions ALL complete AND target year in future if answering 5.0b.

A list essential criteria:

• Cities must ATTACH a city-wide inventory in question 4.5
• Cities must submit their response publicly

Scores cities will receive in 2021

Cities who submit a response to the full Cities 2021 questionnaire before the scoring deadline will receive:

• One overall letter score indicating the overall level of climate disclosure and performance as assessed by the information provided in the response;
• One Adaptation letter score indicating the level of climate disclosure and performance as assessed by the information provided in the response to questions falling under Adaptation;
• One Mitigation letter score indicating the level of climate disclosure and performance as assessed by the information provided in the response to questions falling under Mitigation.




The table below specifies which sections of the questionnaire are assessed in either the Adaptation or Mitigation sub-score.

Section of the Questionnaire	Inclusion in sub-scores
City details and governance	Both Adaptation & Mitigation
Climate hazards and vulnerability	Adaptation
Adaptation	Adaptation
City-wide emissions	Mitigation
Emissions reduction	Mitigation
Opportunities	Both Adaptation & Mitigation
Energy	Mitigation
Transport	Mitigation
Food	Mitigation
Waste	Mitigation
Water security	Adaptation

Changes to the scoring methodology since 2020

To support a reduction in the reporting effort to improve the disclosure experience, improve data quality and to facilitate year-on-year trend analysis the 2021 Cities questionnaire has undergone minor modifications. These changes inevitably result in slight alterations to the scoring methodology, though it remains broadly the same as in 2020.

In order to better align with the climate emergency we are facing, scoring of cities’ emissions reduction history and emissions reduction goals are being more heavily scored at Leadership level in 2021. In particular, this means that receiving a score which allows entrance onto the A list will be more dependent on a city’s ability to show a history of reducing emissions, and the existence of ambitious forward-facing targets to reach net-zero emissions. Although the 2021 methodology is a continuity of the 2020 methodology, these modifications may affect cities scores.


2021 Cities Scoring Methodology

The scoring methodology provides the full breakdown of the responses CDP is incentivizing within each scoring band for the CDP Cities 2021 questionnaire.

In the scoring methodology you will find for each scoring band:

• The responses that are needed to receive points in that band, broken down by questionnaire section;
• Any essential criteria that are required to achieve a score in that band.

Scoring criteria - City details & Governance

The questions in this section are scored under both Adaptation and Mitigation

Disclosure criteria

• Provides details of the city including administrative boundary, currency, current population and city geography
• Reports on which sustainability goals and targets are incorporated in your city's master plan and describes how each is incorporated

Awareness criteria

• Has already integrated, or is in the process of integrating sustainability into mainstream city planning

Management criteria

• Demonstrates specific sustainability goals which are already incorporated into mainstream city planning

Leadership criteria

• Provides a detailed description of the sustainability goals that are integrated in the main city plan

Scoring criteria - Climate hazards and vulnerability

The questions in this section are scored under Adaptation

Disclosure criteria

• Reports on the status of climate risk and vulnerability assessment being undertaken by the city
• If a risk and vulnerability assessment exists, details are provided such as the primary methodology and a description of the methodology, an attachment or weblink, the year of publication or approval from the local government, the boundary of the assessment, the areas/sectors covered, the primary author and whether the assessment identifies vulnerable populations
• If a risk and vulnerability assessment has not been undertaken, a reason is provided
• Reports on the most significant climate hazards faced by the city and indicates the probability and magnitude of the hazard, the social impacts and the most relevant assets/services that are affected
• Reports the factors that affect the city’s ability to adapt to climate change and whether these factors support or challenge the city’s ability to adapt
• Reports on whether the city is facing risks to public health systems associated with climate change

Awareness criteria

• Has a risk and vulnerability assessment or is working towards undertaking an assessment
• If a risk and vulnerability assessment exists, the methodology and boundary of the assessment are reported. If the assessment does not cover at least the city boundary, an explanation is provided
• If a risk and vulnerability assessment has not been undertaken, a reasonable response is provided
• Reports both the current and future probability and magnitude of climate hazards facing the city as well as the social impact of the hazards
• Reports the level of degree to which factors challenge or support the adaptive capacity of the city and provides a description on how the factor challenges or supports the adaptive capacity of the city

Management criteria

• Has a risk and vulnerability assessment that includes vulnerable populations
• Reports on the areas/sectors covered by the risk and vulnerability assessment
• Reports the future change in frequency, future change in intensity, future expected magnitude, social impact as well as which services in the city will be most affected by the climate hazards facing the city
• Identifies the vulnerable populations affected by reported climate hazards

Leadership criteria

Essential criteria: Must attach a risk and vulnerability assessment in question 2.0b

• Attach a risk and vulnerability assessment
• Water supply and sanitation is one of the areas covered by the risk and vulnerability assessment
• Understands the future change in frequency and intensity of all reported climate hazards
• Provides a detailed description of how the reported climate hazards are expected to impact in the future

Scoring criteria - Adaptation

The questions in this section are scored under Adaptation

Disclosure criteria

• Reports on the status of actions being taken to reduce the city’s vulnerability from climate change impacts
• Reports on the status of a city-wide adaptation plan being undertaken by the city
• If a city-wide adaptation plan exists, details are provided such as the title, year of adoption, boundary, stage of implementation and primary author
• If a city-wide adaptation plan does not exist, a reason is provided
• Reports on any adaptation goals the city may have

Awareness criteria

• Reports the actions being taken to reduce the city’s vulnerability from climate change impacts and the sectors that the adaptation action applies to
• Understands the co-benefit areas of the actions being taken by the city
• Has a city-wide adaptation plan or is working towards undertaking one
• If a city-wide adaptation plan exists, the type of plan and boundary of the plan are reported. If the plan does not cover at least the city boundary, an explanation is provided
• If a city-wide adaptation plan does not exist, a reasonable response is provided
• Reports the target year of the goal for the city's main adaptation efforts

Management criteria

Essential criteria: Must attach a city-wide adaptation or action plan at question 3.2a or 5.5a

• Actions being taken against climate hazards in the city are at least in the pre-implementation stage and the feasibility of finance has been undertaken on these adaptation actions
• Reports relevant methods that will be used to support the implementation of the adaptation actions
• Provides evidence of a climate adaptation plan covering at least the city boundary
• Reports the implementation status of the plan and the sectors/areas covered by the plan
• Has assessed or is in the process of assessing the synergies and trade-offs between adaptation and mitigation actions in the plan
• Provides a description of the stakeholder engagement processes in the plan
• Describes the metrics/indicators used to track the city’s adaptation goals

Leadership criteria

Essential criteria: Must attach a city-wide adaptation plan at question 3.2a

• Demonstrates action being taken on 100% of the climate hazards identified in the city
• Describes how the actions being taken by the city have or will reduce the impact of the climate hazards as well as the scope and timescale of the actions
• Provides evidence of a climate adaptation plan which has been implemented or is in implementation
• Has assessed the synergies and trade-offs between adaptation and mitigation actions in the plan and gives a detailed description of what these trade-offs are
• The city has at least one adaptation goal that is reducing the vulnerability to a climate hazard which has a current or future expected magnitude of ‘Medium High’ or ‘High’
• The city has at least three adaptation goals addressing their climate hazards
• Describes metrics/indicators that clearly relate to the adaptation goals the city is monitoring and evaluating

Scoring criteria - City-wide emissions

The questions in this section are scored under Mitigation

Disclosure criteria

• Reports on the status of a city-wide emissions inventory

If an inventory does exist:

• Reports the accounting year, boundary, primary protocol and gases included in the inventory
• Provides the city-wide inventory title and population in the inventory year. Indicates the inventory format and level of confidence associated with the total emissions figure
• Reports the total (Scope 1 + Scope 2) emissions calculated in the emissions inventory
• Reports a breakdown of emissions as per the relevant emissions methodology (e.g. by sector and scope) or where no breakdown is available, an explanation is provided
• Reports on whether there has been a change in emissions since the last emissions inventory and an explanation for the change
• Reports on the status of a consumption-based inventory being undertaken by the city
• Reports on the status of external verification on the emissions data reported
• Reports on whether any previously submitted inventories have changed due to recalculations

Awareness criteria

• Has a city-wide emissions inventory or intends to undertake a city-wide emissions inventory

If an inventory does exist:

• Reports a 12-month accounting period and the inventory covers the city boundary. If the inventory does not cover the city boundary, an explanation is provided
• Reports the specific emissions Protocol used, and which emissions factors and global warming potentials have been used in the calculation of the inventory
• Reports total emissions, total Scope 1 and Scope 2 city-wide emissions
• Explains how and why emissions have changed compared to previous inventories (if any)

Management criteria

Essential criteria: Must have a city-wide emissions inventory at question 4.0

• The city-wide emissions inventory includes CO2, CH4 and N2O gases
• Attaches evidence of a city-wide emissions inventory and has a medium or high overall level of confidence associated with the total emissions figure reported
• Has a reduction in emissions compared to previous inventories, or if emissions have increased, provides a reasonable explanation such as improved data accuracy
• Details on historical and base year city-wide emissions inventories are provided, such as the scopes/boundaries covered by the inventory, the previous emissions and the methodology used to develop the inventory

Leadership criteria

Essential criteria for A list: Must attach a city-wide emissions inventory at question 4.5

• The latest city-wide emissions inventory should have an accounting year within the last 4 years and includes the main Kyoto Protocol gases (CO2, CH4, N2O, HFCs, PFCs, SF6, NF3)
• The city-wide inventory provided corresponds to the accounting year reported
• Reports relevant emissions from Scope 3 sources and sector breakdown of emissions covering the main sources of emissions as defined by the relevant protocol
• Emissions have reduced since the last inventory due to actions, plans or policies put in place. A description on how actions have resulted in reductions is provided, including the amount of emissions reduced
• Has undertaken or is intending to undertake a consumption-based inventory
• Emissions have been verified and provides evidence of the verification certificate
• Details on the base year city-wide emissions inventory are provided

Scoring criteria - Emissions reduction

The questions in this section are scored under Mitigation

Disclosure criteria

• Reports on the status of a city-wide emissions reduction target
• If a target exists, details are provided such as the sector, base year, year of target introduction, base year emissions, percentage reduction target (or target year absolute emissions for fixed level targets), target year and boundary of target
• If a target does not exist, a reason is provided
• Reports on the actions being undertaken by the city to reduce city-wide emissions, the means of their implementation and their implementation status
• Reports on the status of a climate action plan for the city
• If a climate action plan exists, details are provided such as the title, year of adoption, boundary, stage of implementation and primary author
• If a climate action plan does not exist, a reason is provided

Awareness criteria

• If a city-wide emissions reduction target exists, details are provided such as target year, base year and target year introduction. The target should at least cover the city boundary
• If a city-wide emissions reduction target does not exist, a reasonable response is provided
• Provides a description of the action and the implementation progress
• Has a climate action plan or is working towards undertaking one
• If a climate action plan exists, the focus area and boundary of the plan are reported. If the plan does not cover at least the city boundary, an explanation is provided
• If a climate action plan does not exist, a reasonable explanation is provided

Management criteria

Essential criteria: Must attach a city-wide action or adaptation plan at question 5.5a or 3.2a

• Reports city-wide targets that demonstrate at least 2% annual emissions reductions
• Actions being taken to reduce city-wide emissions are at least in the pre-implementation stage
• Feasibility of finance has been undertaken on emissions reduction actions
• Provides evidence of a climate action plan covering at least the city boundary
• Reports the implementation stage of the plan and the areas covered by the plan
• Has assessed or is in the process of assessing the synergies and trade-offs between adaptation and mitigation actions in the plan

Leadership criteria

Essential criteria: Must attach a city-wide action plan at question 5.5a and a fully reported emissions reduction target at question 5.0a/b/c/d

• Has set ambitious emissions reduction targets for all emissions in the city inventory which aim to reduce emissions by at least 80%
• Has set a base year emissions reduction target or a fixed-level target, rather than just an intensity target or a BAU baseline target
• Shorter-term emissions reduction target demonstrates at least 5% annual reduction and the target is on track to being achieved
• If a city has a long-term target (2040-2050), intermediary targets have also been reported
• Reports the estimated emissions reduction of mitigation actions
• Describes the scale and resultant impact expected from mitigation actions
• Provides evidence of a city-wide action plan that has been implemented or is in implementation

Scoring criteria - Opportunities

The questions in this section are scored under both Adaptation and Mitigation

Disclosure criteria

• Reports on whether the city has identified any economic opportunities as a result of addressing climate change
• Reports on the level of collaboration with businesses in the city on sustainability projects
• If collaboration with business exists, the area of collaboration is reported
• Reports on any project areas that the city hopes to attract financing

Awareness criteria

• Understands which opportunities exist as a result of addressing climate change
• Collaborates or intends to collaborate with business on sustainability projects
• If collaboration with business exists, the type of collaboration is reported
• If relevant, reports on project areas that the city hopes to attract financing and the stage of project development

Management criteria

• Collaborates or is in the process of collaborating with business on sustainability projects
• If relevant, reports on project areas that the city hopes to attract financing and their financial requirements, such as the status of financing and the total cost of the project

Leadership criteria

• Provides examples of collaboration with business which includes what business or type of business was partnered with and describes how the collaboration will improve sustainability within the city

Scoring criteria - Energy

The questions in this section are scored under Mitigation

Disclosure criteria

• Reports on the status of a renewable energy or electricity target for the city
• If a renewable energy or electricity target exists, details are provided such as the scale, type, energy/electricity types covered by the target, base year, target year, total renewable energy/electricity covered by target in target year and percentage renewable energy/electricity of total energy or electricity in target year
• If a renewable energy or electricity target does not exist, a reason is provided
• Provides information on the source mix of electricity consumed in the city
• Reports on the scale of the electricity mix data provided
• Provides information on the installed renewable energy capacity within the city boundary
• Reports on the status of an energy efficiency target for the city
• If an energy efficiency target exists, details are provided such as the scale, energy efficiency type covered by target, base year, target year, total energy consumed/produced covered by target in target year and percentage of energy efficiency improvement in target year compared to base year levels
• If an energy efficiency target does not exist, a reason is provided

Awareness criteria

• Reports on whether the city has renewable energy or electricity targets
• If a renewable energy or electricity target does not exist, a reasonable response is provided
• Total source of electricity mix breakdown is reported as well as the scale of the data
• Reports on whether the city has energy efficiency targets
• If an energy efficiency target does not exist, a reasonable response is provided

Management criteria

• If a renewable energy or electricity target exists, the scale is city-wide, the target covers consumed energy/electricity and the percentage of target achieved has been reported
• The scale of the electricity mix data reported is either local government operations or city-wide
• An energy efficiency target exists, the scale is city-wide, the target covers consumed energy and the percentage of target achieved has been reported

Leadership criteria

• If a renewable energy or electricity target exists, the scale is city-wide and aims to have >80% renewable energy/electricity of total energy or electricity in the target year
• Current electricity mix is over 80% from renewables (does not include nuclear)
• If scale of electricity mix is city-wide, over 50% is from renewables (does not include nuclear)
• If an energy efficiency target exists, the scale is city-wide and the percentage of energy efficiency improvement in target year compared to base year is>30%

Scoring criteria - Transport

The questions in this section are scored under Mitigation

Disclosure criteria

• Reports on the availability of transport mode share data in the city
• Reports any information on total fleet size of different modes of transport in the city
• Reports on the status of a low or zero-emission zone in the city
• If a low or zero-emission zone exists, the size of the zone is reported

Awareness criteria

• Has information available to report on passenger mode share data in the city
• Provides a breakdown of passenger mode share data in the city
• Provides information on the total number of vehicles per mode of transport in the city

Management criteria

• Reports on whether a low or zero-emissions zone exists in the city
• If a low or zero-emissions zone exists, details are provided such as the size of the zone, stipulations and any plans to expand

Leadership criteria

• Reports a breakdown of all mode share for passenger and freight transport in the city
• >15% of the city’s buses and >20% of the municipal fleet are made up of low carbon vehicles
• City's with a population of above 1 million have a low or zero-emission zone in the city

Scoring criteria - Food

The questions in this section are scored under Mitigation. This section currently has few scoring criteria as it is a new section of the questionnaire.

Disclosure criteria

• Reports on whether there are any policies relating to food consumption within the city

Management criteria

• The city has policies relating to food consumption

Scoring criteria - Waste

The questions in this section are scored under Mitigation. This section currently has few scoring criteria as it is a new section of the questionnaire.

Disclosure criteria

• Reports details on the amount of solid waste generation in the city and the year the data applies to

Scoring criteria - Water security

The questions in this section are scored under Adaptation

Disclosure criteria

• Reports the sources of the city's water supply
• Reports the percentage of the city's population who have access to potable water supply
• Reports on whether the city is aware of substantive risks to the city’s water security
• If there are substantive risks, details are provided such as what the risk drivers are, the anticipated timescale, estimated magnitude and probability of impact as well as a description of the risk
• If there are substantive risks, details are provided on the action and status of action being taken to reduce these risks to the city’s water supply
• If the city does not perceive there to be any substantive risks, a reason is provided
• Reports on the status of a publicly available Water Resource Management strategy
• If a Water Resource Management strategy exists, the title and stage of implementation are provided
• If a Water Resource Management strategy does not exist, a reason is provided

Awareness criteria

• Understands whether there are substantive risks to the city's water security
• If there are substantive risks, details are provided such as the anticipated timescale of the risks
• If there are substantive risks, a description of the actions being taken to reduce the risks to the city’s water supply is provided as well as the status of these actions
• If the city does not perceive there to be any substantive risks, a reasonable response is provided
• The city is intending to undertake a publicly available Water Resource Management strategy
• If a Water Resource Management strategy exists, the city reports on whether the strategy includes sanitation services
• If a Water Resource Management strategy does not exist, a reasonable response is provided

Management criteria

• If substantive risks to the city’s water supply exist, the estimated magnitude and probability of these risks are provided
• If substantive risks to the city’s water supply exist, the actions being taken to reduce the risks are at least in the pre-implementation stage
• The city has or is in progress to having a publicly available Water Resource Management strategy
• If a Water Resource Management strategy exists, evidence is provided in the form of a web-link or attachment and the strategy has been implemented or is in implementation

Leadership criteria

• If substantive risks to the city’s water supply exist, all anticipated risks have been addressed with an action. The actions reported are in operation and a description of the actions are provided which include the scale of the action
• If the city does not perceive there to be any substantive risks to the city’s water supply, an explanation is provided or the city is able to claim that their water supply is secure
• Provides evidence of a publicly available Water Resource Management strategy in the form of a web-link or attachment, the strategy has been implemented or is in implementation and includes sanitation services