The Digital Preservation Coalition (DPC) today launches its Carbon Footprint Toolkit at iPRES 2026, the International Conference on Digital Preservation, in Copenhagen. The full release follows a six-month period of community comment and testing, during which feedback and practical experience have helped shape the final Toolkit.
The Toolkit provides a practical methodology to help organizations calculate the carbon footprint of their digital preservation activities. Designed for organizations of all sizes, sectors and locations, regardless of their previous experience with carbon calculation, it includes detailed guidance and a spreadsheet-based Carbon Footprint Calculation Tool.
The Toolkit was developed during 2025 by the DPC Carbon Footprint Task Force, which brought together expertise from Canada, Finland, the Netherlands, the UK and the US. Inspired by the DIMPACT methodology for carbon calculation, it was adapted specifically for digital preservation activities.
A draft was released for community comment in March 2026. Over the following six months, a newly formed Carbon Calculation Support Group met monthly to test the methodology in practice, share experiences and provide feedback that informed the final version.
“Since then, we have made substantial updates to the Toolkit,” explains Jenny Mitcham, Chief Digital Preservation Officer at the DPC.
“The feedback from the community and the practical experiences of the Carbon Calculation Support Group have enabled us to enhance the guidance and make significant improvements to the spreadsheet tool. The testing period has also produced a valuable set of case studies demonstrating the different ways in which organizations have approached their carbon calculations.”
Alicia Wise, Executive Director of CLOCKSS and Chair of the DPC Carbon Footprint Task Force, concludes: “Together, the Carbon Footprint Task Force and Carbon Calculation Support Group have created and tested a practical guide that can support organizations at any stage of their carbon calculation journey.”
The Carbon Footprint Toolkit is now freely available to the digital preservation community. Look out for further DPC events to explore the Toolkit.
About the Digital Preservation Coalition
The DPC is an international charitable foundation which supports digital preservation, helping its members around the world to deliver resilient long-term access to digital content and services through community engagement, targeted advocacy work, training and workforce development, capacity building, good practice and standards, tailored support and consultancy, and through good management and governance. Its vision is a secure digital legacy.