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Businesses are earning measurable financial returns from acting on environmental risk, according to a new report from CDP, the non-profit that runs the world's largest environmental disclosure system. Its second annual report, The Disclosure Dividend 2026, finds that every US$1 spent responding to environmental risk generates a median return of US$8.
The findings draw on 2025 disclosure data from more than 11,260 large and mid-sized companies, together accounting for around two-thirds of global market capitalisation. Emissions reduction delivers strong returns too: every US$1 invested generates an average of US$2.4, rising to US$7 over the lifetime of some projects.
More than 8,000 companies reported active emissions reduction initiatives during the reporting year. A typical initiative delivers a 142% lifetime return on investment, and 69% of those assessed are profitable. For 41%, the payback period runs to less than 3 years. Waste reduction and material circularity is among the most profitable, returning US$3.9 for every US$1 invested with a median payback of 1.3 years.
Disclosure itself helps protect long-term value. Research by CDP and Intercontinental Exchange (ICE) finds that companies disclosing through CDP are projected to carry around 35% less transition risk than comparable companies by 2050 — a gap that represents more than US$1 trillion in protected enterprise value across the group. Transition risk covers the financial exposure tied to the shift to a net-zero economy.
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Companies are also building environmental data into financial decisions with greater precision. The share identifying substantive environmental risks rose from 46% in 2018 to 80% in 2025, and 88% now run a formal risk assessment process. Revenue is the metric most often exposed, cited by 47% of respondents.
The report also quantifies the cost of standing still. Companies project a high likelihood of US$1.24 trillion in cumulative losses from environmental risks by 2030, and recorded US$30.6 billion in materialised losses in the reporting year alone.
Taken together, the findings frame environmental leadership as an economic strategy in its own right. In CDP's analysis, companies that act on their environmental data are better positioned to grow and compete.
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