What The Green Web Foundation does

The Green Web Foundation is a Netherlands-registered independent non-profit (Stichting) that tracks and accelerates the transition to a fossil-free internet, with a stated goal of reaching 100% fossil-free digital infrastructure by 2030. Its core technical platform consists of the Green Web Dataset (an open, continuously updated dataset of verified green hosting providers), the Greencheck API (which handles up to 7 million requests daily), CO2.js (an open-source JavaScript library for estimating digital carbon emissions using the Sustainable Web Design Model), carbon.txt (a proposed standard for machine-readable sustainability disclosures, extended in 2026 to include AI model cards), and the Grid-aware Websites toolkit (grid-responsive frontend APIs powered by Electricity Maps). The foundation runs browser extensions for Firefox, Chrome, and Safari that perform ~20,000 checks per hour, and it maintains the public Green Web Directory of verified green hosting providers.

The organization is funded primarily through grants and donations from a coalition of foundations (Ford, Mozilla, Internet Society Foundation, RIPE NCC, SIDN Fonds, Subak, Google Summer of Docs) and received a $495,000 ICANN grant in May 2025. Commercial revenue streams include paid training (Estimating Digital Carbon Emissions Workshop, 90-minute AI Environmental Impacts Briefing) and fiscal-sponsorship services for aligned projects; the core verification, dataset access, and tooling remain free. Its go-to-market is product-led and community-led: developers self-serve via APIs and open-source repositories, hosting providers self-submit for free verification, and the foundation distributes research through blog, podcast (Environment Variables, co-produced with Green Software Foundation), newsletter, and the State of the Fossil-Free Internet annual report.

Strategically, the foundation positions itself as an independent third party in the digital sustainability stack, holding Invited Expert seats at the W3C Sustainable Web Interest Group and co-developing the CEN-CENELEC CEN Workshop Agreement on Fossil Free Products (2025). Primary customer segments are hosting providers seeking third-party green-energy verification, developers and software teams needing carbon estimation tools, and organizations with digital products pursuing sustainability disclosure; secondary segments include healthcare (NHS England partnership, 2026) and policymakers/regulators. The foundation operates from Amsterdam (HQ) and Berlin, with Asia representation.

Name

The Green Web Foundation

Legal name

Stichting The Green Web Foundation

Website

https://thegreenwebfoundation.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

2011

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

The Green Web Foundation is a Netherlands-based independent non-profit that operates open-source tools (Green Web Dataset, Greencheck API, CO2.js, carbon.txt, Grid-aware Websites) to verify green web hosting, estimate digital carbon emissions, and set disclosure standards, serving hosting providers, developers, and digital organizations while developing EU sustainability standards.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Green Web Verification & Digital Sustainability Tools

NAICS

Environment, Conservation and Wildlife Organizations (813312), Environmental Consulting Services (54162)

SIC

Services-Commercial Physical & Biological Research (8731), Services-Educational Services (8200)

akta.pro primary industry

Methodology Development & Standard-Setting Support (Protocols, Tools, Updates) (EUABACAN)

akta.pro secondary industries

Voluntary Carbon Credit Verification & Validation (VCS/Gold Standard/ACR/CAR) (EUABACAA), GHG Monitoring Plans & Sampling Design (Field Protocols, QA/QC) (EUABACAE), Carbon Accounting, Verification & Registry Services (MRV, Audits, Certification) (IMAMAJAE)

Keywords

• Green hosting verification
• Digital carbon estimation
• Open sustainability datasets
• Web sustainability standards
• Carbon emission APIs

Headquarters

HQ city

Wageningen

HQ country

Netherlands

HQ region

Europe

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Software

Cost components

Personnel, Technology or R&D, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure, Others

Revenue model

1. Donations and Grants: The organization is funded through donations from individuals, grant-making organizations, and commercial supporters. Website explicitly solicits donations for commercial organisations, grantmakers, and individuals.
2. Training and Workshops: Commercial services including Estimating Digital Carbon Emissions Workshop (two-hour online hands-on session) and AI Environmental Impacts Briefing (90-minute online session).
3. Fiscal Sponsorship: Provides fiscal sponsorship services to other projects aligned with the mission of a fossil-free internet.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion4 records

Distribution channels6 records

Marketing channels9 records

Core offering

The Green Web Foundation provides free open-source tools, open datasets, and proposed standards that enable verification of green web hosting and estimation of digital carbon emissions. Its portfolio includes the Green Web Check, the Green Web Dataset (millions of daily API requests), CO2.js library, carbon.txt standard, Grid-aware Websites toolkit, and the Green Web Directory of verified providers. The foundation supplements these tools with paid training workshops, AI environmental briefings, green hosting verification, fiscal sponsorship, and the annual State of the Fossil-Free Internet report.

Product overview

The Green Web Foundation operates as an independent non-profit offering a platform of tools and services focused on tracking and promoting fossil-free internet by 2030. The core portfolio includes the Green Web Check (website green energy verification), Green Web Dataset (open data on verified hosting providers), CO2.js (JavaScript library for carbon emission estimation), carbon.txt (sustainability disclosure standard), and Grid-aware Websites (APIs for grid-responsive web development). These products are complemented by professional services (AI briefings, emissions workshops, hosting verification), publications (State of the Fossil-Free Internet annual report, Branch Magazine), and the Green Web Fellowship program. The platform processes millions of daily API requests and maintains the Green Web Directory of verified providers.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Green Web Check Free tool that allows anyone to check if a website runs on green energy, showing whether the hosting provider is verified as green in the Green Web Dataset. Available as a web tool, browser extensions for Firefox, Chrome, and Safari, and as an API.
• Green Web Dataset Open dataset of verified green hosting providers with searchable data by country and hosting service, accessed millions of times daily through the Greencheck API and used by third-party tools such as Website Carbon Calculator, Ecograder, and WebPageTest.
• CO2.js Open source JavaScript library that enables developers to estimate the carbon emissions of apps, websites, and software. Uses the Sustainable Web Design Model (SWDM) v4 for calculations and incorporates Electricity Maps grid intensity and fuel-mix data.
• carbon.txt

Quantifiable outcome

• Up to 7 million daily API requests for green hosting verification
• +1 more outcomes

Named customers1 record

Segments5 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

Yes

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration1 record

Feature8 records

Partnerships

Nine partnerships are on record, tiered major, minor and core.

• NHS EnglandmajorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2026Partnership with Ben Tongue from NHS England to explore how digital sustainability can be framed as a holistic problem core to the NHS. Work includes research on unintended consequences of NHS digitization and framing environmental impacts in human health terms.
• Accenture Social Value TeamminorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2026Accenture's Social Value Team helped identify experienced digital practitioners to work alongside inside the NHS on digital sustainability framing.
• Superrr LabminorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2026Collaborated with Superrr Lab to co-host the Regenerative Feminist Tech Dinner, an intimate event bringing people from different communities and sectors together for conversations on sustainable and just internet.
• LINGO (Leave it in the Ground Initiative)majorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2025Partnered with LINGO and European standards body CEN-CENELEC to develop the CEN Workshop Agreement on Fossil Free Products - Guidelines and Requirements for Fossil Fuel Free Supply Chains, including digital products.
• CEN-CENELECmajorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2025European standards body with whom Green Web Foundation worked on developing standards for fossil-free products including digital products. CEN-CENELEC standards can be referenced in laws and commercial agreements.
• Electricity MapscoreTechnology or Integration · 1 January 2024Partnered with Electricity Maps to make grid-aware websites possible. Electricity Maps provides new free APIs (Carbon Intensity Level, Carbon-free Level, Renewable Level) with global coverage for the Grid-aware Websites project.
• W3C Sustainable Web Interest GroupcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerGreen Web Foundation staff (Hannah Smith, Fershad Irani, Chris Adams) are accepted as Invited Experts to the W3C Sustainable Web Interest Group. The group meets biweekly to work on web sustainability standards. Documents published by W3C are frequently referenced by governments writing laws and companies defining commercial standards.
• Green Software FoundationcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerGreen Web Foundation is a founding, active member of the Green Software Foundation. Co-produces the Environment Variables podcast with GSF. Leading the SCI for Web standard development through GSF with a memorandum of understanding with W3C.
• Green Screen CoalitionminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerGreen Web Foundation is part of the Green Screen Coalition, connecting digital rights and climate justice practitioners and funders.

Scale indicators5 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Emerging players

• Cloverly: Carbon offset and emissions API for developers and businesses. Comparable in offering developer-friendly carbon calculation infrastructure but focuses on offset purchasing rather than verification.
• Patch: API-first carbon offset marketplace for embedding offsets into digital products. Comparable in developer-focused carbon tooling approach but commercial model differs.
• Climate Neutral: Independent certification nonprofit for corporate climate action. Comparable as an independent verification-focused nonprofit, though operating across consumer brands rather than digital infrastructure.

Direct peers

• Ecograder: Website sustainability scoring tool that integrates the Greencheck API. Directly comparable as a developer- and end-user-facing digital sustainability assessment product.
• Green Software Foundation: Co-produces the Environment Variables podcast with the Green Web Foundation and is the joint vehicle for SCI for Web standard development. Operates in the identical digital sustainability/carbon measurement space and shares members and tools.
• Electricity Maps: Grid carbon intensity data provider that is a core technology partner for the Grid-aware Websites project. Provides underlying data infrastructure for both organizations' real-time carbon-aware applications.
• Website Carbon Calculator: Consumer-facing website carbon estimator that pulls data directly from the Green Web Foundation's Greencheck API. Operates in the same digital carbon estimation category for end users.

Broad incumbents

• South Pole Group: Large climate solutions provider covering carbon credit development, advisory, and corporate sustainability. Overlaps with the Foundation's verification and climate claim scrutiny work but as a commercial consultancy.
• The Carbon Trust: Established environmental consultancy providing carbon footprint certification and advisory. Comparable in operating an independent third-party verification role but across physical operations rather than digital infrastructure.
• Watershed: Enterprise carbon accounting platform serving large corporates. Operates in adjacent climate disclosure and MRV space but at significantly larger scale and broader scope including scope 3 across operations.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• GitHubgithub.com/thegreenwebfoundation
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/the-green-web-foundation
• Xx.com/greenwebfound

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles6 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds2 records

Investors2 records

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M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about The Green Web Foundation