When a GreenTracer report says your host is “listed as green by The Green Web Foundation”, it is repeating a decision the Green Web Foundation made about your hosting provider, based on documents that provider sent in. It is worth knowing what those documents are, because that is what the listing rests on. It isn't a test of your website, and it isn't a certificate for a particular site.
This article walks through what a host has to show, what the Foundation stopped accepting in October 2026, and how to look up your own host. If you want the difference between a hosting listing and a carbon rating first, start with green hosting and carbon ratings.
How a host gets listed
Only the hosting provider can apply. According to the Foundation's get verified page, a provider fills in a verification request form, which is free of charge, and the team reviews new requests and updates every Tuesday. Customers can't apply on a host's behalf, because the provider has to supply its own evidence.
The provider also has to tell the Foundation which addresses belong to it, so that a check can link a website back to the right organisation. The what you need to get verified page lists three ways: a list of domains, a list of IP addresses, or, for some large providers, their Autonomous System Numbers (ASNs). That is how sites on a listed host show as green without their owners doing anything.
The evidence that counts
Under the criteria in force since 1 October 2026, the Foundation's page on accepted disclosures asks for evidence of fossil-free electricity (it lists solar, wind, geothermal, ocean, hydropower and nuclear) on one of these bases:
- Self-generation: the provider produces its own power.
- Direct procurement: a dedicated power purchase agreement (PPA) with a generator.
- A green tariff from its electricity supplier.
- Unbundled certificates (energy attribute certificates bought separately from the power), only when the routes above can't be used.
- Passive procurement, where a region supplies green power by default; the provider must show its supplier's record of its use and the retirement of matching certificates.
A provider that can't share these can send a third-party limited assurance report covering its Scope 1 and 2 emissions instead. Whatever the basis, the evidence has to be timely (the current or last calendar year), matched at least annually (ideally hourly), deliverable (bought in the same region or market as the claim) and exclusive to that organisation. It is needed for each region where the provider runs or uses infrastructure. The provider must also publish a statement committing to 100% hourly fossil-free energy by 2030 in every region it operates in. The evidence can be shared privately; the statement must be public.
What no longer counts
Two things changed. The Foundation's summary of the changes (24 July 2026) is plain about both. First, “Carbon offsets cannot be used as a valid basis for verification.” Older guidance on its site still describes offsets as a last resort, so check the date of anything you read. Second, a web page or annual sustainability report saying “100% renewable” is no longer enough on its own unless it comes with an independent assurance statement; the underlying documents, such as PPAs or certificates, are needed.
Providers listed before October don't have to change overnight. The same post says they must meet the new criteria at their annual reverification in February/March 2027 or June/July 2027. Until then, a listing may rest on evidence accepted under the older rules.
A listing is renewed every year
A listing isn't permanent. The Foundation's support article my hosting provider was green, but now it's not says providers are asked to reverify every year, and a provider that can't is archived. It is also archived if its contact emails bounce and nobody replies within 45 days. A host that resells another listed provider's service depends on that provider; if the upstream one is archived, the reseller has 45 days to send updated evidence. Archived providers show as grey in a check.
So a green result last year doesn't tell you the position today. Look it up again.
What the listing tells you, and what it doesn't
- It does tell you that your site's address links to a provider that has shown the Foundation evidence of the kind above.
- It doesn't measure your site. The Green Web Dataset is built from what hosting organisations submit; the Foundation says errors may remain undetected and the data is provided “AS IS”.
- Grey isn't proof of fossil power. According to how the Green Web Check works, grey means the check couldn't link the address to a provider's evidence. GreenTracer reports that as green hosting that “could not be confirmed”.
- It isn't an endorsement of your business. In a post on 5 October 2026, the Foundation said it does not call verification a certification scheme, and that it is moving away from the unqualified phrase “green hosting” towards more specific wording.
That matters when you describe it. “Our host is listed by the Green Web Foundation, which has seen evidence of its renewable electricity” is accurate; calling your whole site green is not. In GreenTracer's estimate, a listed host removes the data-centre operational share, about 0.148 g CO₂e per MB becoming about 0.121 g, as explained in what green hosting changes in your estimate. The rest of the estimate still depends on page weight. For badge wording, see carbon badge or green hosting badge.
How to look up your own host
- Enter your domain in the Green Web Check, or run a GreenTracer check, which uses the same dataset.
- Find your provider in the Green Web Directory, which you can filter by country and service. Where a provider has published supporting evidence, the listing links to it; open it and note the year it covers.
- If a check shows a different company from the one you pay, your host may resell another provider's service, or a content delivery network may sit in front of your site. Ask your host which provider the result refers to.
- If your host isn't listed, ask whether it intends to apply and what evidence it holds. Only it can apply.
Sources
- The Green Web Foundation: get verified
- The Green Web Foundation: what disclosures do we accept for verification
- The Green Web Foundation: a summary of the upcoming changes to our verification criteria (24 July 2026)
- The Green Web Foundation: what you need to get verified
- The Green Web Foundation: my hosting provider was green, but now it's not
- The Green Web Foundation: how does the Green Web Check work?
- The Green Web Foundation: Green Web Dataset
- The Green Web Foundation: what does the EU EmpCo Directive mean for my badges or verification? (5 October 2026)
- The Green Web Foundation: Green Web Check
- The Green Web Foundation: Green Web Directory
