As demand for streaming services, online publishing, and AI-powered applications continues to grow, so does the environmental impact of delivering digital content. To help address that challenge, Fastly has joined DIMPACT, a global coalition working to improve how the digital media industry measures and reduces carbon emissions.
The move makes Fastly the first edge cloud platform provider to participate in the initiative, bringing technical expertise and network data that could help organizations better understand the environmental cost of delivering content across the internet.
Why does digital media have a carbon footprint?
Every video streamed, webpage loaded, or AI-generated response relies on a network of servers, data centers, internet providers, and user devices. All of these consume electricity, which contributes to greenhouse gas emissions depending on the energy sources used.
This environmental impact is commonly referred to as a digital carbon footprint, which measures the emissions associated with producing, storing, transmitting, and consuming digital content.
As internet usage continues to increase worldwide, businesses are paying closer attention to the sustainability of their digital operations.
What is DIMPACT?
DIMPACT is an industry coalition that helps media companies, streaming platforms, publishers, and technology providers measure and reduce the environmental impact of digital media delivery.
The organization promotes science-based methodologies, shared industry standards, and collaboration among technology companies, researchers, and policymakers to improve carbon accounting across the digital ecosystem.
One of its goals is to help organizations make informed decisions about reducing emissions while maintaining the performance users expect.
How will Fastly contribute?
Fastly operates an edge cloud platform, a type of infrastructure that processes and delivers content closer to users instead of relying solely on centralized data centers.
By joining DIMPACT, Fastly will contribute:
- Real-world edge network data
- Infrastructure expertise
- Transparent emissions reporting methods
- Insights into how digital content travels from servers to end users
Understanding every stage of data delivery is important because emissions occur throughout the process, not just inside data centers.
According to DIMPACT, better visibility into these network pathways can improve the accuracy of digital emissions calculations and support more effective decarbonization strategies.
Scope 3 emissions
One of the biggest sustainability challenges for technology companies is managing Scope 3 greenhouse gas emissions.
Scope 3 emissions are indirect emissions generated throughout a company's value chain, including suppliers, transportation, cloud infrastructure, and digital services that businesses rely on but do not directly control.
For media companies, these emissions can include:
- Delivering video streams
- Hosting websites
- Content distribution networks (CDNs)
- Cloud infrastructure
- Internet connectivity
Because these emissions involve multiple organizations, collaboration between technology providers is becoming increasingly important.
Why this matters for publishers, streaming platforms, and businesses
Consumers spend more time online than ever before, while businesses increasingly depend on cloud platforms, video streaming, and AI-powered services.
As digital activity grows, companies face increasing pressure from customers, investors, and regulators to understand the environmental impact of their operations.
Joining initiatives such as DIMPACT allows technology providers to contribute data that can help organizations:
- Measure digital emissions more accurately
- Identify opportunities to improve efficiency
- Support sustainability reporting
- Develop long-term environmental strategies
For businesses with environmental, social, and governance (ESG) goals, improving digital sustainability is becoming part of broader corporate responsibility efforts.
Industry context: Sustainability is becoming part of digital infrastructure
The technology industry has increasingly shifted its focus from simply improving speed and performance to also reducing environmental impact.
Cloud providers, content delivery networks, and streaming companies are investing in more energy-efficient infrastructure, renewable energy, and better carbon measurement tools.
At the same time, the rapid growth of artificial intelligence has renewed discussions about the energy required to process and deliver AI-generated content. As AI adoption expands, organizations are expected to place greater emphasis on understanding the environmental impact of digital services alongside their business benefits.
Fastly's participation in DIMPACT reflects this broader industry trend toward making sustainability a measurable part of internet infrastructure rather than an afterthought.
Fastly's decision to join DIMPACT highlights the growing recognition that digital sustainability requires collaboration across the technology ecosystem.
By contributing edge network expertise and emissions data, the company aims to help improve how the industry measures the environmental impact of digital media delivery. As organizations continue expanding their use of cloud services, streaming platforms, and AI technologies, accurate carbon accounting is likely to become an increasingly important part of responsible digital transformation.