What is the carbon footprint of Cop climate summit websites?

Researchers have found that Cop climate summit websites produce around 7 times more carbon emissions than average websites, with emissions rising over 13,000% since the first Cop summit in 1995.

How does the carbon footprint of Cop30 in Brazil compare to previous Cop events?

Experts have warned that Cop30, scheduled to be held in Brazil this year, will not be hosted on verified renewable energy infrastructure, raising concerns about its environmental impact.

What steps can be taken to reduce the digital footprint of Cop websites?

Researchers have recommended steps such as optimizing site layouts, placing strict limits on page sizes, and hosting the websites on servers powered by renewable energy to reduce the carbon footprint of Cop websites.

Home / Environment / Cop Climate Summits Emit 7 Times More Carbon Than Average Websites

Cop Climate Summits Emit 7 Times More Carbon Than Average Websites

11 Nov, 2025

•

Summary

Cop websites produce 7 times more carbon than average websites
Emissions from Cop websites rose over 13,000% since 1995
Cop30 in Brazil not hosted on verified renewable energy

Cop Climate Summits Emit 7 Times More Carbon Than Average Websites

According to a recent study, websites promoting the UN's Cop climate summits are producing around seven times more carbon emissions than the average website. The research, conducted by the Institute for Design Informatics at Edinburgh College of Art, reveals that the digital footprint of Cop websites has grown significantly over the past 30 years.

The analysis shows that average emissions from Cop websites had risen by more than 13,000% between the first summit in 1995 and Cop29 last year. While emissions remained relatively low until Cop14 in 2008, emitting just 0.02g of carbon per page view, they have since skyrocketed to over 2.4g per visit on average, with some sites emitting substantially more.

In contrast, the average website emits around 0.36g of carbon per page view. Researchers say the rise in emissions corresponds with Cop pages increasingly using more resource-intensive content, such as multimedia files.