Fastly Joins DIMPACT to Map the Internet's Hidden Carbon Footprint

SAN FRANCISCO, CA – July 08, 2026 – In a move that signals a maturing conversation around digital sustainability, edge cloud platform Fastly has joined DIMPACT, a coalition focused on measuring and mitigating the environmental impact of digital media. While tech giants have long touted the efficiency of their hyper-scale data centers, this partnership shifts the focus to a more complex and opaque part of the internet's value chain: the delivery of content itself. As the first edge cloud provider to join the initiative, Fastly brings a critical piece of the data puzzle, promising to help illuminate the carbon footprint of everything from streaming a movie to loading a news article.

The Invisible Cost of Clicks and Streams

Every digital interaction, no matter how fleeting, consumes energy. This consumption occurs across a sprawling, intricate network of data centers, undersea cables, content delivery networks (CDNs), and end-user devices. For media and publishing companies, the emissions generated by this delivery process fall under Scope 3—indirect emissions that occur across their value chain. These have historically been notoriously difficult to measure, let alone reduce. The result is a significant, yet largely invisible, environmental footprint for the digital economy.

DIMPACT, facilitated by SLR Consulting with research expertise from the University of Bristol, was created to tackle this very problem. The coalition provides its members—which include heavyweights like Disney, Spotify, and Pearson—with a sophisticated tool to calculate the greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions of specific digital products. Their methodology moves beyond a simple, organization-wide carbon assessment. Instead, it offers a granular, product-level footprint by performing a life-cycle assessment of the "use-phase" of digital content. This means it tracks the energy consumed from the moment data leaves a server until it is rendered on a screen, accounting for the internet's core networks, CDNs, and the vast array of devices we use daily. This data-driven approach allows companies to pinpoint hotspots for energy consumption within their content delivery chain and make informed decisions about reduction strategies.

"Accurately calculating digital emissions requires a deep understanding of every hop data takes from the origin to the end-user device," noted Jason Bell, Executive Sponsor of DIMPACT. The coalition's work aims to replace vague estimates with a science-based, standardized framework, creating a common language for an industry where environmental responsibility is shared across a complex ecosystem of players.

The Edge's Role in a Greener Web

Fastly's entry into this coalition is pivotal because of its unique position at the "edge" of the internet. Unlike traditional cloud providers that operate massive, centralized data centers, edge platforms like Fastly distribute their infrastructure globally, placing smaller clusters of servers closer to end-users. This architecture is primarily designed to reduce latency, making websites and applications feel faster and more responsive. However, this proximity also holds significant potential for improving energy efficiency. By caching content closer to the consumer, an edge network reduces the distance data must travel, potentially decreasing the energy consumed by the long-haul networks that form the internet's backbone.

By contributing its real-world network data, Fastly provides DIMPACT with an unprecedented view into the energy dynamics of this critical delivery layer. "Fastly’s expertise at the edge fills a crucial piece of the puzzle, moving the industry closer to a transparent, standardized blueprint for digital decarbonization," Bell added. This collaboration will allow for a more precise modeling of how CDNs and edge compute services contribute to the overall carbon footprint of a digital product. It moves the conversation beyond simply making data centers efficient and into the realm of making data delivery efficient.

This is particularly relevant as internet traffic patterns evolve. "As digital content, including AI-generated traffic, continues to reshape the internet, we want to empower the digital media sector with the granular data and actionable insights needed for companies to understand and optimize their digital footprints," said Eoghan Kelly, who leads Sustainability at Fastly. The rise of AI, high-resolution streaming, and immersive experiences threatens to dramatically increase data loads, making the optimization of delivery networks more critical than ever for managing the internet's environmental impact.

Forging a Standard for Digital Decarbonization

The ultimate goal of the Fastly-DIMPACT partnership extends beyond mere measurement. It is about establishing a credible, universally accepted standard for digital emissions reporting. For too long, companies have relied on disparate methodologies and estimations, making it difficult for investors, regulators, and consumers to compare sustainability claims and hold the industry accountable. By bringing a key infrastructure provider to the table with major content creators, DIMPACT is strengthening its push for a unified approach.

This collaboration reflects a broader trend of companies taking greater responsibility for their entire value chain. While many tech firms have made significant strides in powering their own operations with renewable energy (addressing Scope 2 emissions), the far larger and more complex challenge of Scope 3 has remained elusive. Fastly's commitment to "a transparent approach to emissions calculation and reporting" and its willingness to share granular data could set a powerful precedent for other infrastructure providers, including its larger competitors in the cloud and CDN space.

This collective effort to build a transparent blueprint is not just an act of corporate responsibility; it's a strategic necessity. As regulators and investors increasingly scrutinize environmental, social, and governance (ESG) metrics, having a verifiable, science-backed accounting of one's digital carbon footprint will become a competitive advantage. For an industry built on innovation, applying that same ingenuity to solve its environmental challenges represents the next frontier, ensuring the internet of the future is not only faster and more engaging, but fundamentally more sustainable.