In October 2026, we will be implementing the biggest changes to our green hosting verification criteria since the Green Web Foundation began. In this post, our Verification Manager Fershad Irani takes us through the key changes and shows how hosting providers can begin preparing for them.
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. In order to do this, we ask hosting providers and data centre operators to share evidence with us that allows us to verify that they are using clean energy to deliver their services.
In October 2026, we will be updating the verification criteria we use to assess these claims. Our current verification criteria dates back to 2019. Since it was published, we have seen significant changes to the sustainability landscape, with much clearer, robust standards being adopted, and improvements in evidence can be produced to meet these standards.
Following an initial public feedback consultation in January this year, we are working on updating our platform and website documentation to prepare for switching over to the updated verification criteria on October 1, 2026. In this post, we will summarise the key changes hosting providers should be aware of, and how they can prepare for the upcoming changes.
What’s changing?
We believe that the verification criteria updates we have drafted will modernise our criteria, and significantly enhance the ability of our Dataset to serve as an open, trusted and robust source of information for all those interested in tracking progress towards a fossil-free internet.
TL;DR
The 30,000 foot view of the upcoming changes is:
- The criteria we use align with what are, in our view, the most credible ways to make claims around using fossil free energy. These are ambitious, yet achievable, and have credible buy-in across the sector, following internationally recognised and respected standards. Go to section →
- Providers now have to share the actual disclosures (green energy certificates, fuel mix statements, PPA contracts etc.) which showing infrastructure is running on fossil-free energy. Go to section →
- Carbon offsets are no longer accepted as a means for claiming hosting infrastructure is fossil-free. Go to section →
- Providers in regions that generate a large amount of green energy will still need to show more detailed evidence of their energy consumption and equivalent retired energy attribution certificates. Go to section →
- Disclosure should be credible, meaning that they are timely, credible, deliverable, and exclusive. Go to section →
- Changes will take effect on October 1, 2026 and will apply to all new provider verification and reverification requests. Go to section →
- You can book some time with Fershad, our Verification Manager, to go through the changes and how they might impact you. Go to section →
The changes to our disclosure requirements for our verification have been chosen to align with existing standards such as the RE100 Technical Criteria and the 24-7 Carbon-Free Coalition (24-7 CFC) Technical Standard. Both are well established, agreed up standards to which many organisations (including data centre operators and hosting companies) are parties to.
The full updated verification criteria can be read at: https://greenweb.org/verification/disclosures
Show us the certificates
We will now ask providers to share the actual disclosures which show their infrastructure is running on fossil-free energy.
Previously
In the past, we have accepted documents like company annual reports, sustainability reports, or technical specifications as supporting evidence for green energy claims.
If there is no independent assurance statement, these will now no longer be accepted as disclosures that allow us to verify a provider is running on 100% fossil-free energy.
Updated criteria
Without a supporting independent assurance statement, we will now ask providers to share the actual documents which back up any claims of 100% fossil-free energy use which they make in sustainability reports or other documents. This can be in the form of:
- Power Purchase Agreements (PPAs)
- Green energy certificates (Guarantees of Origin, Energy Attribution Certificates)
- Information specific to self-generated renewable energy
Why this change?
This change makes our dataset more robust, with organisations listed as “verified hosting providers” backed by clear disclosures. Claims of 100% renewable energy use (or similar) that are made in sustainability statements are often presented in isolation of any meaningful supporting evidence.
Having providers share the underlying documents which support those claims allows those who use our dataset to make decisions about the hosting providers they choose to have greater certainty about the fossil-free energy claims a provider has made.
Carbon offsets 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.
Previously
In the past, we would ask providers to share information about the amount of fossil fuel energy they use and show an equivalent amount of credible carbon offsets being purchased.
Updated criteria
Carbon offsets cannot be used as a valid basis for verification. Instead of offsets, providers can purchase Energy Attribution Certificates (EACs) or Renewable Energy Certificates (RECs) that match the time and region for which they are making their claim.
Providers who rely on offsets can find EAC or REC providers from a number of sources, including these organisations:
Why this change?
While offsets may have value elsewhere, our focus is on the changing the energy being used to power hosting infrastructure, and removing sources of the carbon pollution, not undoing the damage after it is done. Offsets are not accepted under the Greenhouse Gas Protocol, nor under The Climate Group’s 24/7 guidance, and as we are seek to align our verification criteria with those existing, accepted standards we are removing them as an accepted basis for verification.
Certificate retirement required for green regions
Providers in regions that generate a large amount of green energy will still need to show more detailed evidence of their energy consumption and equivalent retired energy attribution certificates.
Previously
In the past, we have allowed providers who have operations in regions with high renewable energy generation or low overall grid-intensity to use that as a basis for verification. In this scenario, we would usually require evidence that the organisation is indeed based in the region they are claiming to be operating in.
Updated criteria
We will now ask providers who receive green energy by default (that is without any special ‘green tariff’ in place) to share disclosures which allow us to verify that the energy they have been delivered is not subsequently resold to other organisations through other market mechanisms.
What this means is that we would need providers to share documented disclosures from their energy supplier showing their organisation’s energy consumption and the retirement of Energy Attribution Certificates equivalent to that amount.
Why this change?
As with other changes, this aims to make the claims that hosting providers make through being verified in our dataset more robust. By asking for evidence that energy credits are being retired when that energy is delivered, we aim to avoid scenarios where fossil-free energy generation is effectively being sold twice.
Disclosures should be credible
Disclosure should be credible, meaning that they are timely, credible, deliverable, and exclusive.
Previously
We had looser requirements on what green energy could be claimed through different market mechanisms. For example, we would not explicitly check the region an Energy Attribution Certificate (EAC) was generated against the region the hosting provider was using the certificate to make a claim for. We would, however, require that the EAC be made out to the organisation making the claim.
Updated criteria
We now ask that all claims are:
- Timely: For the current or last calendar year
- Granular: At least based on annual claims (ideally hourly)
- Deliverable: Purchased in the same geographical region/market as it is being claimed, or with a clear means of energy delivery
- Exclusive: Dedicated solely to the organisation supplying the disclosure
We also anticipate that over the coming years we will begin the process of phasing out annually matched disclosures in favour of hourly matched disclosures. We do not expect this change to begin until sometime in 2028, and will communicate with all providers should we start moving towards it.
Why this change?
These changes help strengthen the credibility of claims made by hosting providers that they are delivering their services using fossil-free energy. We aim to remove loopholes that have existed where, for example, renewable energy generated in Norway can be used as the basis for green claims made by a hosting provider in Singapore, when there is no physical connection, or means to transmit the clean energy.
The credible claims requirements we are bringing in with this update pave the way for future changes that will see greater data granularity (hourly matching) in our dataset.
I’m already a verified provider, do I need to update my evidence right away?
The changes to our verification criteria will take effect on October 1, 2026. From this date, all new provider verification and reverification requests will be assessed based on the updated criteria.
If you are an existing verified provider, you do not need to update your listing right away. You will, however, be required to update complete annual reverification in February/March 2027 or June/July 2027. At this time, you will need to meet the updated criteria in order for your listing to be reverified.
I still have questions, how can I get help?
We’re here to help providers through this change. If you still have questions, or want to know how your provider currently sits with the upcoming changes, we have set up consultation sessions from August to the end of October. You can use this calendar link to book some time with Fershad, our Verification Manager, to go through the changes and how they might impact you.
