The Carbon Disclosure Project is a global survey of 500 companies worldwide, studying their greenhouse gas emissions and climate change strategies.
A Climate Disclosure Leadership Index is compiled from this study of the top 68 companies that showed distinction in their class.
"Cadbury Schweppes was judged among the best in its sector, and distinguished by the disclosure of its strategic awareness of the risks and opportunities of climate change, as well as the quality and effectiveness of programmes put in place to reduce emissions," the company claimed yesterday.
The company unveiled a programme in July this year to cut down on its use of energy, packaging and water in response to climate change, following regulatory and consumer pressures for the food industry to make changes.
This meant the company became one of the first major food and drink manufacturers to commit to taking action throughout its operations, with its pledge to reduce net absolute carbon emissions from its manufacturing sites by 50 per cent by 2020.
"Cadbury Schweppes is absolutely committed to tackling climate change," Steve Driver, the company's president of global supply chain said yesterday.
"Reducing our use of energy across the business is good for the environment and supports our commercial success."
In its Purple Goes Green strategy, the company targets a 10 per cent reduction in packaging used per tonne of product and a 25 per cent cut in the more highly packaged and gift items.
Cadbury also aims to have 60 per cent of its packaging made from biodegradable materials and all of its secondary packaging as recyclable.
Water reduction programmes will be put in place in some of its sites, and the company said it will encourage employees to be 'green', Cadbury said in July.
"We have been working hard in this area, and this is reflected in the Carbon Disclosure Project's review of our answers and strategies, and their rating of our performance in comparison to other large companies," Driver added yesterday.
"However, we recognise that we still have a lot of work to do to meet our ambitious targets and will be working with partners and industry to achieve them."
In the EU, a "cap-and-trade" emissions trading scheme is in effect for manufacturing sites such as Cadbury's.
The scheme, which took effect from January 2005, sets limits on each manufacturer's CO2 outputs.
Plants that emit more CO2 than their allocation need to but allowances to cover the extra emissions.
Companies that emit less than their allocation are able to sell the allowances to companies that need them.