Recently, I wrote about the COP28 climate summit’s website, which featured a low-carbon toggle that had no effect. This post caught the attention of a few individuals, and ABC News Australia reached out to me and web sustainability consultant Fershad Irani for comments on the matter.
Since the original post was published, it seems that the website has undergone some updates, and the low-carbon toggle now actually prevents image downloads. I am unsure if these changes were made in response to the article or if they were planned beforehand, but it is a positive initial step. However, there is still more work that can be done to create a truly “low carbon” site, as Fershad explains in his review of the website.
Additionally, he points out that while the low carbon version of the COP28 website is not ideal, it should ideally be the default. The design aspect has clearly been neglected, as simply replacing images with gradient blocks is unhelpful for users.
The current low carbon experience of the COP28 website is not suitable as the default version. It would give users a misleading impression of what low carbon web design entails.
I wholeheartedly agree. With some design consideration, a low carbon site without images (or with fewer/smaller images) could provide a better user experience while also enabling faster access to necessary information.
Positive signs for web sustainability
It is encouraging to witness the impact of discussions surrounding web sustainability and the potential for positive change. This emphasizes the importance of having these conversations and highlighting examples of both good and bad practices.
There are numerous resources available to assist developers in constructing low carbon sites. You can find some of these resources in my MDN article, “An Introduction to Web Sustainability.”
