GPM® Digital Sustainability Policy

1. Overview

GPM recognizes digital sustainability as an essential pillar of our regenerative sustainability strategy. Our digital ecosystem spans multiple platforms, each with an environmental impact due to energy consumption, data storage, and content delivery.

We are committed to:

  • Minimizing our digital carbon footprint by optimizing our infrastructure and design practices.
  • Implementing energy-efficient technologies to power our websites, services, and data operations.
  • Ensuring digital equity and accessibility, making sustainable digital solutions available to all users.
  • Encouraging responsible digital consumption, educating users on low-energy browsing habits.

Our goal is not just to reduce digital emissions but to actively contribute to a sustainable digital economy through responsible technology choices.

2. Sustainable Digital Infrastructure and Hosting

Green-Friendly Hosting

Our data centers are part of the green Google Cloud infrastructure. Google has not only been carbon-neutral for many years, but it also matches 100% of the electricity consumed by its servers and offices with renewable energy sources like wind and solar. We are proud to partner with a company that is on a mission to fully decarbonize its electricity supply. By leveraging Google Cloud’s sustainability leadership, GPM ensures that our digital operations are aligned with the highest environmental standards.

Cloud and Data Efficiency

  • We prioritize low-energy cloud storage solutions, reducing redundant data and using green cloud computing providers.
  • Unused or duplicate digital assets are regularly deleted or archived to minimize storage impact.
  • We work toward a serverless architecture to reduce unnecessary energy consumption.

3. Sustainable Content and UX Optimization

Sustainable Web and UX Design

We apply sustainable web design principles to ensure our digital presence is:

  • Energy-efficient – Optimized to load faster with fewer server requests.
  • Accessible & inclusive – Compliant with WCAG 2.1 Level AA to prevent unnecessary energy use from navigation inefficiencies.
  • Low-bandwidth friendly – Designed to function efficiently on lower-speed internet connections, reducing energy-intensive reloading.

Video and Media Optimization

  • Auto-play is disabled where possible to reduce unnecessary bandwidth usage.
  • Static images, SVG animations, and lightweight graphics replace videos where appropriate.
  • We use efficient video encoding to minimize file sizes without sacrificing quality.

SEO and Information Architecture

  • Our sites are structured to reduce unnecessary clicks, ensuring users find information faster.
  • SEO practices are optimized to reduce server load and user search time.

4. Ethical Digital Practices and AI Sustainability

Responsible AI and Data Processing

  • GPM ensures that AI tools and automated systems are used ethically and efficiently.
  • We minimize AI-driven processing emissions by using low-energy algorithms and responsible AI training models.
  • We actively reduce unnecessary data collection to avoid excessive cloud storage and computing power.

    See also our Responsible AI Policy

Data Privacy and Security with Sustainability in Mind

  • All digital interactions comply with GDPR, CCPA, and global privacy frameworks to prevent unnecessary data storage.
  • We regularly audit and delete unused data to optimize storage efficiency and security.
  • Secure, low-energy encryption techniques are implemented to balance privacy and sustainability.

    See also our GDPR Policy

5. Circular Digital Economy and E-Waste Reduction

  • GPM follows circular economy principles for all digital devices and IT hardware.
  • Lifecycle planning for technology ensures that equipment is responsibly sourced, maintained, and recycled or repurposed at end-of-life.
  • Employees are encouraged to extend device lifespans by prioritizing software optimizations over hardware replacements.
  • We work with partners to offset the e-waste impact of our digital operations.

6. User Engagement and Digital Sustainability Advocacy

Encouraging Sustainable Digital Habits

We invite users to join us in reducing their digital carbon footprint through:

  • Dark mode usage, reducing screen energy consumption.
  • Eco-friendly browsing habits, such as batching searches to limit energy-intensive queries.
  • Downloading content instead of streaming repeatedly, when possible.
  • Using energy-efficient devices to access GPM’s digital platforms.

Collaboration and Industry Leadership

GPM is committed to advancing digital sustainability practices across industries. We actively:

  • Partner with sustainable tech leaders to drive innovation in green IT.
  • Share research and case studies to promote best practices in digital sustainability.
  • Advocate for carbon transparency in digital services, ensuring accountability in tech emissions.

7. Continuous Monitoring and Improvement

  • GPM continuously monitors, evaluates, and improves our digital sustainability efforts.
  • We conduct regular audits of our platforms, ensuring they remain efficient, accessible, and low-impact.
  • We stay informed on emerging sustainable digital practices and integrate them into our operations.
  • We ensure compliance with international digital sustainability frameworks, including:
    • Sustainable Web Manifesto
    • IFRS S2 Climate Standards
    • Social Enterprise and ESG digital impact reporting

8. Final Thoughts and Call to Action

GPM’s digital sustainability mission goes beyond just reducing emissions—we are committed to creating a net-positive digital presence that actively contributes to a greener world.

We invite partners, employees, and users to join us in adopting responsible digital habits, supporting energy-efficient technologies, and advocating for a more sustainable digital future.

Together, we can make digital sustainability the standard, not the exception.

 Updated February 2025