CDP Climate Change: Telefónica Responses 

The document CDP: Telefónica’s Responses in 2025 compiles the questionnaire submitted by Telefónica to CDP. In the latest edition (2024), we were recognized as a global leader both for corporate transparency and for the significance of our initiatives against climate change. This is evidenced by Telefónica being included for the eleventh consecutive year on CDP’s A List.

CDP has acknowledged Telefónica’s commitment to environmental sustainability, illustrated by significant reductions in its CO₂ emissions. Among Telefónica’s objectives, the most notable is achieving net-zero emissions before the end of 2040, a crucial milestone for remaining within the select (A List) group. 

For the eleventh consecutive year, Telefónica maintains its leadership in the fight against climate change and remains on CDP’s A List.

The results demonstrate the progress of this strategy: the Company achieved a 31.3% reduction in Scope 3 emissions in 2024 and remains on track toward its net-zero target. 

To ensure it meets its emissions-reduction goals, Telefónica has embedded them into its governance structure through the Climate Action Plan. This plan assesses the status of its current assets, operations, and business model against the most rigorous scientific recommendations on climate. In fact, Telefónica is already ahead of the 2050 net-zero objective proposed by the United Nations and the Paris Agreement. 

Likewise, CDP highlights that the companies on the A List are leading this transition through decisive initiatives to reduce emissions and negative environmental impacts within their value chains. 

Although A List companies show maximum transparency when disclosing the existence of issues such as climate change, deforestation, or water security—and their response to them—there is still a long way to go in this field. For this reason, Telefónica is determined to keep moving forward day by day. 

Leadership in the supply chain

As part of its commitment, Telefónica has developed a specific policy for its supply chain that promotes sustainability in general and climate action in particular—among its suppliers. Telefónica’s Supply Chain Sustainability Policy sets, among other aspects, minimum environmental criteria for all its suppliers. 

To ensure compliance, Telefónica categorizes suppliers by their contribution to the carbon footprint and invites approximately 180 key suppliers (representing 90% of its supply-chain emissions) to provide climate data through CDP Supply Chain and to receive training through the Supplier Engagement Programme, depending on the supplier’s maturity level. In addition, the company collaborates with other telecommunications operators in the Carbon Reduction Programme to identify carbon-intensive products and establish emission-reduction action plans for those products. 

In this vein, the company has achieved a 52% reduction in CO₂ emissions arising from its value chain since 2015. 

Thanks to these achievements, we have been recognized for the sixth consecutive year by CDP’s Supplier Engagement Assessment (SEA), highlighting the Company’s responsible management of its supply chain and its commitment to sustainability through its more than 8,400 suppliers. 

The operator is one of nearly 40 telcos worldwide and 39 Spanish companies to obtain this classification from among the almost 1,400 companies specifically analyzed in the supplier assessment. 

CDP and the challenge 

The non-profit organization CDP manages a global disclosure platform that enables different stakeholders to respond to the environmental impacts of their activities. Recognized as the world’s most important entity in this field, CDP has a very extensive database of business and urban initiatives. Its goal is to drive the implementation of a sustainable economy for the benefit of people and the planet, helping stakeholders assess and manage the magnitude of the impacts mentioned. 

CDP has the largest environmental database in the world, which this year has allowed it to analyze the performance of nearly 23,000 companies in relation to climate change.

There are more than 500 companies, Telefónica among them, that hold a leadership position in transparency and environmental initiatives related to climate change. 

How does CDP evaluate companies? 

CDP assigns the companies it analyzes a score on a scale from A to D- and helps them progress from mere disclosure to leadership, passing through awareness and responsible management. The system analyzes the depth of the data reported, recognition of and response to environmental risks, and the presence of best practices in this field, such as setting substantial and ambitious targets. 

The assessments and data published by CDP are crucial in helping companies improve their efforts in this area. 

To reach its leadership position, Telefónica had to submit to CDP a climate change questionnaire in which it answered a series of questions that we attach in the following document: