The Green Web Dataset is regularly updated as new providers are added, and those with outdated information are archived. This cycle of change is centered around our verification and reverification processes, which we have documented in several places across this website. An important part of these processes is that each hosting provider that is listed in our dataset have at least one representative from that organisation who is able to represent them through the reverification process or if we need clarification on other things.
Over the years of maintaining the Green Web Dataset, which has been going since 2006, some providers have been added to the dataset manually. Sometimes, this was the result of support requests that were made by members of the community. Other times, it may have been through direct contact with the providers themselves. In these instances, the providers added were missing an organisational representative, and so the onus of managing their listing and keeping it up to date fell upon our team, rather than being managed by those representatives directly.
Finding owners for all providers
Over the past year, we have set aside a significant amount of time to ensure all the providers in our dataset have a linked user who can manage their listing. For most providers, we were able to find representatives within the first round of contact, while others took a little longer.
We are now left with just 5 providers in our dataset without staff from those companies contributing updates to the Green Web Dataset via the platform. They are:
- Equinix
- AWS
- Microsoft
- Facebook/Meta
It’s unfortunate that these are among some of the largest providers in our dataset, representing a large portion of Green Web Check results, as well as having several other providers relying on them for their own verified status.
To date, our efforts to get action from them through private channels have not been successful. Which is why we are writing this blog post. This is our final attempt to find someone from those organisations who can act as a representative for them, and keep their listings in the Green Web Dataset up-to-date.
Why we need to find owners for all listings
In the past, when the Dataset was small, we were able to handle updating the information in our dataset for certain providers. However, over time our own requirements for verification have evolved to reflect changes in expectations from the industry, and the evolving regulatory landscape.
Examples of these broader changes include, but are not limited to:
- the RE100 updating their technical criteria for recognising renewable energy
- coming changes to making Green Claims in Europe, related to the EU Green Claims Directive
- our own response to a GHG Protocol’s consultation on counting electricity as ‘green’ under it’s Scope 2 guidance
- the work of the Green Software Foundation’s Real-time Cloud initiative
Our own requirements for verification have evolved in response to these changes, so in order for organisations to support the claims they make about using 100% green energy, we may need to rely on documents that only a representative from within an organisation can provide.
What happens if we can’t find owners?
We have set a deadline of March 15th, 2025 to find owners for these providers and have them create an account with us. If, at that time, the listing does not have an associated owner then we will archive their listing in our dataset. Once archived, they will not be considered a green provider until such time as they update their listing with us.
What impact will this have?
The impacts of archiving any of the hosting providers listed above will be felt by both users of the Green Web Check, as well as other hosting providers.
Green Web Check results
Green Web Check results for domains that are hosted on an archived provider will return with a “No evidence found” message. They would no longer be considered as “green hosted” by other tools that rely on our Dataset – like Website Carbon Calculator, Ecograder, or WebPageTest.
Other hosting provider listings
There are several hosting providers whose status as a verified provider in our Dataset is tied to their use of one of the providers listed above. We understand that this could put them in a difficult position, and have already reached out to them about the work we’re doing here.
If the provider they rely on is still archived at the time of their next reverification, then these hosting providers will have an increased onus of proof to retain their green status. This will mean they need to share copies of sustainability reports, green energy certificates, or other similar documents from their upstream provider as well as evidence proving their use of that provider’s services.
How you can help
If you are a customer of the providers listed, or an individual who deeply cares about their green status, then you can help us by:
Contacting them by email
Email the provider, encouraging them to take the actions we’ve described above. We’ve prepared a short email template that you can use, which includes links for the best ways they can contact us to get the ball moving.
If you have contacts within these organisations, you can also try contacting these people directly & share this blog post with them.
Give them a nudge on social media
You can also try giving them a nudge on social media, by mentioning them in a post that shares this blog post. We’ve prepared a short template you can use for this too.
Take action from within
If you’re reading this blog post and you work for one of the providers mentioned, you’re in a great position to help us. You can:
- Forward this post to the relevant team or person/s in your organisation.
Get in contact with us by email to start a conversation about how to update your organisation’s listing with us.
