In 2026, we are updating our criteria for the first time in 5 years. Our aim is to ensure our verification criteria remains aligned with the goal of phasing out fossil fuels while also reflecting a growing sophistication in the public discussion around what people refer to as green energy, and how people build digital services. In this post, our verification manager Fershad Irani takes us through some of the key changes we have planned, how you can review them, and where to leave us feedback.
Since 2006, we have been building the world’s largest database tracking the transition of the internet away from fossil fuels – the Green Web Dataset. Hosting providers and data center operators get verified with us to become included in the Dataset as a way to publicly show their commitment towards the mission of a fossil free internet by 2030. In order to do this, we ask those organisations to share evidence with us that allows us to verify their green claims.
Our Green Web Dataset has gone from strength to strength in recent times. For example, it receives over 7 million requests per day, and is essential infrastructure for major projects like the HTTP Archive Web Almanac, Website Carbon Calculator, Ecograder, and WebPageTest. Providers listed in our Dataset are also shown on our Green Web Directory. The Directory is used by thousands each month, find verified green hosting options in their country, to help them phase fossil fuel use out of their technology stack.
Our current verification criteria
Our current verification criteria, which details the kind of disclosures we ask providers to share with us, dates back to 2019. You can read our current verification criteria at What we accept as evidence of green power.
In it, we ask providers to show that they are taking steps to avoid, reduce, or offset the greenhouse gas emissions caused by using electricity to provide their service/s. We have asked for information to be shared with us at an organisational level on an annual basis. As such we have accepted a wide variety of documents such as green energy certificates, utility bills, company reports, and more from providers.
Limitations of our current criteria
Our current verification criteria has allowed our dataset to grow over the years, but in the last six years we’ve seen significant changes to the sustainability landscape. Our current verification criteria allows for providers to use carbon offsets as a means to claim green energy use. At the time our current verification criteria was written, we wanted to provide a mechanism for places where it was not practical or realistic to directly support cleaner energy on the grid. Since that time, there have been changes in market conditions which mean that in the overwhelming majority of cases there are better options available which directly decarbonise energy on which claims can be based.
The extremely wide range of document types we accept as disclosure from providers also makes managing our dataset a challenge. Each verification request that comes in requires careful, manual validation by a member of our team who not only understands the verification criteria but has an implicit knowledge of the kinds of evidence that has been accepted in the past.
In addition, we’ve seen the start of a shift in the industry towards hourly-based matching for carbon-free energy, as well as growing consensus about the nature of disclosures and documentation that are required to support these claims.
For these reasons, we feel that now is the time to update the disclosures we ask providers to make as part of being verified in our Dataset, and at the same time use the opportunity to update our Provider Platform and other tools as well.
Updating our verification criteria
After a year of research, discussion, and internal review we are ready to share our vision for the future of our verification criteria. We believe that these updates will significantly enhance the ability of our Dataset to serve as an open, trusted source of information for all those interested in tracking progress towards a fossil free internet.
The changes we have planned for our verification criteria are currently open for public feedback, and will come into full effect from October 1, 2026.
The remainder of this section will provide a high-level overview of the most significant changes that are planned and why we believe they are worth doing.
Give us feedback on our updated verification criteria
You can read the full draft of our updated verification criteria at the link below:
DRAFT: What disclosures do we accept for verification
If you have feedback or questions about the updated verification, you can create a public issue in our GitHub repository or send us an email via our Support Form.
The deadline for public feedback is February 28, 2026.
What’s changing in our verification criteria?
The full version of our revised verification criteria can be found on our website at DRAFT: What disclosures do we accept for verification. Below is a summary of the major changes in the revision when compared with our current criteria. These changes will impact the types of evidence that providers are required to share with us and so we want to take this opportunity to give greater visibility to them.
- A more robust commitment to running on fossil free energy
- Offsets are no longer accepted
- Public disclosure of upstream provider relationships
- Standardising disclosure requirements
A more robust commitment to running on fossil free energy
Providers will be asked to share a link to a publicly available statement or document which clearly states their commitment to phasing out fossil fuels from their digital supply chain, and achieving 100% hourly matched energy for the hosting infrastructure they use/sell by a given date.
This will be optional, although providers who do not share a public commitment will no longer be shown in our Directory, and websites they host may no longer have Green Web Badges generated.
Why make this change?
We have seen many large providers, like Google and Microsoft make visible public commitments to running entirely on hourly matched fossil free energy by 2030 – Google announced this in 2020 calling it “24/7 by 2030”, Microsoft call “100/100/0” – 100 for “percent of our electricity consumption, 100 percent of the time, matched by zero carbon energy purchases by 2030”. They were rewarded with positive press coverage, and business from customers who have used it as a basis in their decision to use them in their supply chain.
By asking providers to share this as part of the verification process, it allows us to give users of our dataset better visibility of commitments like this. It can be used to see providers who are explicit in their commitments and the deadlines they have set, and crucially, whether they are keeping them from year to year. Where companies are not sharing information each year about their commitments we will reflect this in our results and data.
We believe this information will also be useful for:
- existing and potential customers who have existing commitments, that rely on continued ambition from companies in their supply chain
- governments who have their own legally binding targets on decarbonisation, some who spend billions with these providers
- other groups who seek to hold tech companies to account for the claims they make in the public sphere
This is the first step in a move towards aligning around additional, timely and deliverable principles for fossil free energy.
It’s easier in some parts of the world to see if the power you buy runs on hourly fossil free energy than others – Matched.energy makes this much easier to see in the UK for example, but it’s not available everywhere yet. For this reason, to begin with we still accept evidence that demonstrates the use of annually matched fossil free energy, but we want the direction to be clear.
Our longer term goal aligns with existing initiatives like the UN 24 / 7 Energy Compact, the Climate Group 24 / 7 Coalition, the EnergyTag standard, the public, open source and independently verifiable energy models by respected research groups and the demands of civil society.
| Now (2019-Present) | Next (2026-2028) | Later (After 2028) | |
| Where | Global | Regional | Regional |
| When | Annual | Annual | Hourly |
Offsets are no longer accepted
As part of the updates to our verification criteria, we will no longer accept carbon offsets as a means of claiming that a provider is 100% fossil free.
Why make this change?
While offsets may have value elsewhere, they do not decarbonise the energy being used to power hosting infrastructure. Given that we are focused on phasing out fossil fuels, we feel that continuing to allow providers to use offsets to make green claims about their services would reduce the meaningfulness of our dataset and compromise its credibility.
In recent years there has also been significant conjecture around the quality, reliability, and trustworthiness of many carbon offsetting programs. A recent report from the SBTi (Science Based Targets Initiative) examines the use of carbon credits and offsets and their ineffectiveness as measures towards a meaningful energy transition (full report). This has led to questions being asked both internally within our organisation, and externally from members of our community, about the validity of sustainability claims that are based on offsets.
What does this mean for our Dataset?
We understand that there are a number of providers in our dataset who will be impacted by this change. Instead of offsets, we advise these providers to purchase unbundled Energy Attribution Certificates (EACs) or Renewable Energy Certificates (RECs) that match the time and region for which they are making their claim.
For example, a provider making a claim for the 2025 calendar year should use a REC with a vintage from that year. Likewise, a provider making a claim for the region of Singapore can use an EAC that is issued from a recognised provider in that region.
See Appendix D in the 24-7 Carbon-Free Coalition Technical Standard for accepted EACs by country.
Give us feedback on our updated verification criteria
You can read the full draft of our updated verification criteria at the link below:
DRAFT: What disclosures do we accept for verification
If you have feedback or questions about the updated verification, you can create a public issue in our GitHub repository or send us an email via our Support Form.
The deadline for public feedback is February 28, 2026.
Public disclosure of upstream provider relationships
Hosting providers who want to be verified based on their use of another verified provider (for example resellers, or providers who use colocation) will need to agree to the public disclosure of their relationship with other verified providers.
Why make this change?
Currently, providers who rely on another upstream provider for their verification in our dataset often have no public disclosures associated with their listing in our Dataset. This leads to some confusion amongst people using our Dataset, who question why certain providers are listed without public evidence.
To remove this uncertainty, and help provide greater transparency throughout the digital supply chain, and that it should be clear when a provider is claiming to be 100% fossil free based on the efforts of an upstream provider.
Standardising disclosure requirements
The disclosure required from providers is now based on the 5 approaches outlined in the Climate Group’s 24/7 Carbon-Free Electricity technical criteria. We cover these in more detail, but briefly, they are:
- Self generation – you generate your own fossil free energy.
- Direct procurement – you buy directly from a fossil free energy project via a dedicated power purchase agreement.
- Green tariffs – you actively procure a fossil free energy tariff via electricity suppliers
- Unbundled certificates – you buy certificates of fossil free generation separate from the power you buy, when you or your supplier can’t use one of the 3 ways above.
- Passive procurement – you operate in a place where certificates for fossil free generation are by default bundled with the power you buy, and not sold on.
We would also allow for third-party limited assurance to be used in cases where disclosures cannot be shared directly.
Why make this change?
This change brings our requirements for verification in line with current standards for reporting that are being adopted by most organisations and legislation. It aligns the terminology used, as well as aligning the types of documents and data required. We hope that this streamlines the process of verification for providers who are already gathering and reporting evidence based on these standards.
Give us feedback on our updated verification criteria
You can read the full draft of our updated verification criteria at the link below:
DRAFT: What disclosures do we accept for verification
If you have feedback or questions about the updated verification, you can create a public issue in our GitHub repository or send us an email via our Support Form.
The deadline for public feedback is February 28, 2026.
Appendix A: Our transition timeline
Below is a timeline representing the transition from our current verification criteria to the proposed updated criteria.
2025
- January – September:
- Research into carbon free standards
- Drafting of updated criteria
- October – November:
- Internal Green Web Foundation review
- December:
- Initial closed group review of updated criteria
2026
- January:
- Initial closed group review of updated criteria
- Updates to criteria following initial reviews
- January – February:
- Public request for feedback (we are here)
- March:
- Finalise wording & publish updated criteria
- March – October:
- Provider Portal development
- Transitioning existing providers to new criteria
- October 1, 2026:
- New verification criteria take effect.
- Current verification criteria retired.
