GUIDE
WEBSITE CARBON REPORTING FOR STAKEHOLDER AUDITS
How to produce, structure, and present website carbon sustainability data that meets the expectations of clients, investors, and regulatory compliance frameworks.
Start Generating Reports →Why Website Carbon Reports Are Now Expected
For most of the last decade, sustainability reporting focused on operational emissions — buildings, travel, supply chains. Digital emissions were an afterthought. That's changing for two reasons.
First, regulators are catching up. The EU's Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD) requires companies within its scope to disclose Scope 3 emissions — the indirect emissions from a company's value chain, which includes digital services and infrastructure. The CSRD came into effect for large EU companies in 2024 and will extend to more organizations through 2026–2028.
Second, enterprise procurement is formalizing sustainability requirements. Companies responding to RFPs from large enterprises — especially in financial services, retail, and technology — are increasingly required to provide documented sustainability metrics. A verified, time-series website carbon report is a credible artifact for that documentation.
What a Good Website Carbon Report Includes
A credible website carbon report should include:
CO₂ per page view (grams)
The core metric. Measured in grams of CO₂-equivalent per page view using the SWD model. This is comparable across sites, over time, and against published industry benchmarks.
Data transferred (bytes)
The underlying measurement that CO₂ is derived from. Including raw bytes builds methodological credibility — it shows the figure is derived from a measurable physical quantity, not estimated from proxy data.
Sustainability rating (A–D)
A letter grade contextualizes the raw number. Stakeholders who aren't technical find this more accessible than grams-per-page-view alone.
Measurement date and scan methodology
Reports without a timestamp are not auditable. Include when each scan ran, what URL was tested, and what methodology was used (real browser load via Puppeteer + SWD model).
Trend over time
A single data point proves nothing. A 6-month or 12-month trend showing improvement (or stability) demonstrates that your organization actively monitors and manages its digital footprint.
How MyCarbonScan Generates Reports
CSV export
Every site's full scan history exports as CSV: URL, scan date, CO₂ (g), data transferred (bytes), and A–D rating. Use this to build custom charts, append to existing ESG reports, or populate sustainability questionnaire responses.
PDF sustainability reports
Built-in PDF generation produces a clean, client-ready document. Includes the site's scan history, trend chart, current rating, and methodology notes — ready to hand to a client or auditor.
Daily automatic rescans
Every URL is automatically rescanned nightly. Your data is always current. No manual triggers, no stale reports.
Historical trend data
MyCarbonScan stores full scan history from the day you add a site. The longer you run it, the stronger your evidence baseline becomes.
Aligning with Sustainability Reporting Frameworks
Different stakeholders reference different frameworks. Here's how website carbon data produced by MyCarbonScan maps to common reporting standards:
GHG Protocol (Scope 3)
Website emissions fall under Category 11 (Use of Sold Products) or Category 1 (Purchased Goods & Services) depending on your business model. Use CO₂-per-page-view × monthly page views to calculate a total monthly emissions figure.
GRI Standards
GRI 305 (Emissions) covers Scope 3 digital emissions. Website carbon data supports disclosure under GRI 305-3 (Other indirect GHG emissions).
EU CSRD / ESRS E1
European Sustainability Reporting Standard E1 requires Scope 3 emissions disclosure. Website operations are a measurable digital emission source.
Sustainable Web Design (SWD) model
MyCarbonScan uses the SWD model, developed by Wholegrain Digital and the Green Web Foundation. It is the most widely used and cited methodology for estimating website carbon emissions and is referenced in academic and industry literature.
A Reporting Workflow for Teams
1
Add all relevant URLs
Homepage, key product and landing pages, blog, documentation — any URL that represents a meaningful share of your traffic.
2
Let the baseline build
Run for 30–90 days before producing a formal report. This gives you trend data, not just a snapshot.
3
Export and contextualize
Export the CSV. Calculate total monthly emissions using CO₂-per-page-view × monthly page views per URL (from your analytics tool).
4
Include in stakeholder documents
Embed the trend chart in board presentations, investor updates, or client reports. Use the PDF for standalone audit submissions.
Related Guides
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