GPM Global · Policy Document · Updated February 2025

GPM® Digital Sustainability Policy

1. Overview

GPM recognizes digital sustainability as an operational component of its broader environmental commitments. GPM’s digital ecosystem spans multiple platforms, each carrying an environmental impact through energy consumption, data storage, and content delivery. This policy establishes GPM’s approach to managing that impact across infrastructure, design, AI use, hardware, and user engagement.

GPM’s digital sustainability commitments are:

Minimizing the digital carbon footprint of GPM’s infrastructure and design practices.
Implementing energy-efficient technologies across websites, services, and data operations.
Ensuring digital equity and accessibility, making sustainable digital solutions available to all users.
Providing users with information on low-energy digital habits that reduce collective emissions.

2. Digital Infrastructure and Hosting

Hosting Infrastructure

Current Infrastructure Status

Hosting provider Google Cloud
Renewable energy matching 100% (wind and solar)
Google Cloud carbon-neutral status Maintained since 2007
Internal digital infrastructure on low-energy platforms 100%

Cloud and data efficiency practices:

Prioritize low-energy cloud storage and green cloud computing providers across all GPM platforms.
Regularly delete or archive unused and duplicate digital assets to minimize storage impact.
Work toward serverless architecture to reduce idle energy consumption across infrastructure components.

3. Sustainable Content and UX Design

Web and UX Design

GPM applies sustainable web design principles across its digital properties:

Energy efficiency Optimized to load faster with fewer server requests, reducing per-session energy consumption.
Accessibility Compliant with WCAG 2.1 Level AA, reducing energy wasted through navigation inefficiencies.
Low-bandwidth design Designed to function on lower-speed connections, reducing energy-intensive page reloading.

Video and Media

Auto-play is disabled where possible to reduce unnecessary bandwidth consumption.
Static images, SVG animations, and lightweight graphics replace videos where appropriate.
Video encoding is optimized to minimize file sizes without reducing content quality.

SEO and Information Architecture

Site structure is designed to reduce unnecessary navigation, ensuring users reach information in fewer steps.
SEO practices are optimized to reduce server load and the energy cost of repeated search queries.

4. AI, Data Processing, and Privacy

Responsible AI Use

GPM applies the following practices to reduce the energy and environmental cost of AI use across its operations:

Minimize AI-driven processing through use of low-energy algorithms and efficient tool selection.
Avoid unnecessary data collection to reduce cloud storage and computing overhead.
Require that AI tools used internally operate under appropriate data processing agreements aligned with GPM’s privacy obligations.

See also: GPM Commitment to Responsible AI Use

Data Privacy

All digital interactions comply with GDPR, CCPA, and applicable global privacy frameworks to prevent unnecessary data storage and processing.
Unused data is regularly audited and deleted to optimize storage efficiency and reduce the energy footprint of data retention.
Encryption is implemented using efficient, low-energy techniques that balance security and sustainability requirements.

See also: GPM Privacy Policy · GPM Data Protection Policy

5. Circular Digital Economy and E-Waste

GPM applies circular economy principles to all digital devices and IT hardware, consistent with its Environmental Regeneration Policy.
Technology lifecycle planning ensures equipment is responsibly sourced, maintained, and recycled or repurposed at end-of-life.
Staff are expected to extend device lifespans by prioritizing software and configuration optimizations over hardware replacement where feasible.
GPM works with partners to offset the e-waste impact of its digital operations and to source hardware from vendors with verified end-of-life programs.

6. User Engagement and Digital Habits

GPM provides users with practical information on lower-impact digital habits. The following practices reduce energy consumption at the user level and collectively reduce the load on GPM’s infrastructure:

Dark mode Reduces screen energy consumption on OLED and AMOLED displays.
Batched searching Grouping search queries reduces the cumulative energy cost of repeated server requests.
Download over stream Downloading content rather than streaming it repeatedly reduces bandwidth and server energy use over time.
Energy-efficient devices Accessing GPM platforms on Energy Star-rated or equivalent devices reduces per-session energy consumption.

Industry Engagement

GPM partners with sustainable technology organizations to support innovation in green IT.
Research, tools, and case studies on digital sustainability are made available through GPM’s open-access resources.
GPM advocates for carbon transparency in digital services, consistent with its UNGC Communication on Progress and CDP Climate Disclosure.

7. Monitoring and Improvement

GPM conducts regular audits of its digital platforms to verify efficiency, accessibility, and environmental performance.
Digital sustainability performance is disclosed as part of GPM’s annual Scope 3 emissions reporting, with data on digital infrastructure included in the CDP Climate Disclosure and UNGC Communication on Progress.
Emerging digital sustainability standards are reviewed annually and integrated where applicable into GPM’s operations.

Framework Alignment

Sustainable Web Manifesto Principles applied to GPM web design, content, and hosting decisions.
IFRS S2 Climate Standards Digital infrastructure emissions included within Scope 3 reporting disclosed under IFRS S2.
GRI 305 / CDP Digital energy and infrastructure emissions reported within GRI emissions disclosures and CDP Climate Questionnaire.

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