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The CDP rating is a rating system established by the Carbon Disclosure Project.
DECATHLON is proud to have received an A rating from CDP (Carbon Disclosure Project) on Climate for the first time, joining the prestigious A-List.
This recognition signifies a key milestone in DECATHLON's ecological transition journey, confirming that its strategy is aligned with the Paris Agreement's objective of limiting global temperature rise to 1.5°C.
After six years of participating in the CDP's comprehensive environmental disclosure and scoring process, DECATHLON has achieved an A rating for its efforts in addressing climate change. This achievement reflects its commitment to reducing its carbon footprint and implementing industry best practices to meet its ambitious environmental goals.
For example, in 2023, DECATHLON achieved an 11.7% reduction in absolute CO2e emissions compared to the previous year, and 48.1% of the electricity consumed by its production sites came from renewable sources.
Additionally, the CDP questionnaire provides three separate scores corresponding to three environmental themes.
In 2024, DECATHLON received:
A for Climate
C for Forests
B- for Water Security
CDP is a non-profit organization that manages the global environmental disclosure system for investors, companies, cities, states, and regions, with over 23,000 companies disclosing in 2024. Its objective is to challenge companies on their climate strategies, assess their environmental performance, identify emerging risks and opportunities, and help them anticipate future regulations.
Each year, a questionnaire is sent out for each of the three themes (climate, forest, water).
The method is used to assess the level of detail of the responses, as well as the company's awareness of environmental issues, its methods, strategies and progress.
Companies that respond are assessed and graded with the grades ranging from A to D. Companies that do not respond are given an F by default.
To obtain an A grade, the company must demonstrate leadership (good practice in terms of strategy and action) in environmental matters.
It must also undertake other actions: creating a climate transition plan, auditing its value chain, validating SBTi commitments (in the shortterm and net zero in the longer term, developing water risk assessment strategies or reporting on the impact of deforestation for all operations, supply chains and commodities concerned, etc.).
The B grade corresponds to environmental management. In other words, companies take into account their impact on the environment and show signs of managing this impact. They are therefore taking action, without being leaders.
A C grade indicates a commitment to raising awareness.
A D grade is the starting point for organizations wishing to demonstrate that they have begun their environmental journey.
There are many reasons!
Firstly, to be as transparent as possible and to respond to growing environmental concerns.
But it also has other virtues: responding each year allows progress to be monitored. It's a bit like an annual report card. The score also allows us to compare ourselves with other companies.
The form also represents a great opportunity to stay as up to date as possible on these subjects. The new features for 2023, for example, include taxonomy. This is not yet a compulsory area of work, but it will become one in the future... The company can therefore also pick up a signal, a trend in a field that is not being worked on, or has not yet been worked on.
Last but not least, the CDP rating can also have an influence on the perception of stakeholders (investors, customers, business partners)... This is because the rating is given by an independent body, which complements (confirms or mitigates) the company's own statements.
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According to the Bank for International Settlements, sustainable finance taxonomies are "sets of criteria that can be used as the basis for an assessment of whether and to what extent a financial asset can support given sustainability objectives". The main aim of the taxonomies is to guide capital allocation towards sustainable activities, reduce greenwashing and enable simpler comparison.
At DECATHLON, it takes 4 months of work. Yes, that long! The level and expectations increase every year... And getting an A one year doesn't guarantee it for the following year, because scientific knowledge may have evolved, requirements may have increased, etc. Today's standard is probably not the same as tomorrow's!
Often a little obscure, these terms cover very concrete realities:
Scope 1 corresponds to direct greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from the company's own facilities (heating in the offices, emissions from the company's vehicles, the energy needed to run its warehouses, etc.),
Scope 2 relates to GHG emissions linked to the energy consumption required to manufacture the product (hence the importance of supporting our suppliers in decarbonising their activities).
Scope 3 covers indirect GHG emissions, such as the extraction of raw materials and travel by the company's employees and customers.
Scope 4 corresponds to emissions avoided when a product is used in place of other services. Using a bicycle instead of a car, for example.
- enables our internal and external stakeholders to better position the company on its environmental strategies and actions. Externally, it means placing our trust in an objective third-party organisation,
- is an opportunity to be evaluated, challenged, re-questioned... and, sometimes, to be ahead of the regulations: the CDP has had a significant influence on the standard currently being drawn up by EFRAG, which will become the European standard for CSRD. It enables us to prepare for this requirement.
In other words?
EFRAG (European Financial Reporting Advisory Group) is an international not-for-profit association created in 2001 with the encouragement of the European Commission to serve the public interest.
EFRAG has worked with the European Commission on the subject of CSRD.
The CSRD (Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive) will replace and extend the DPEF in 2024 (for listed companies and in 2025 for unlisted companies, including Decathlon). Companies will be required to provide detailed information on sustainability and climate change issues, and to assess the impact of their activities on the environment and society in general.
The NFRD (Non-Financial Reporting Declaration) is a company's sustainable development report. It is the document that quantifies and reports on everything that is not financial.
