Our Mission
Our Vision
Green software is software built to minimise its environmental impact — not just carbon emissions, but energy consumption, water usage, and hardware lifecycle too. As the digital landscape evolves to encompass cloud infrastructure, data centres, AI systems, and edge computing, our definition has broadened from software alone to the entire digital ecosystem. Our focus remains reduction at source, not offsetting: the most preferable outcome is to never have caused the harm in the first place.
The Green Software Foundation was born out of a mutual desire and need to collaborate across the software industry. In May 2021, Accenture, GitHub, Microsoft, and ThoughtWorks came together under the Linux Foundation to launch a nonprofit dedicated to reducing the carbon emissions of software. What started as four founding organisations has grown into a global coalition of over 60 member organisations — from tech giants to financial institutions, consultancies to academic institutions — all united by the same goal.
The manifesto is the public declaration of our policy and aims. It describes the core values that inform and guide every decision we make.
If there is no trust in the Foundation's output, it won't have the influence needed to achieve its mission. We maintain a diverse mix of organisations and keep all processes open and transparent.
We listen actively, make space for participation, and acknowledge that everyone is at a different stage on their climate journey. We provide direct, constructive feedback to achieve our shared mission.
We act with fairness and include diverse perspectives. Our working groups operate via consensus — each member organisation has one vote, regardless of size.
Accountability builds trust. We assume our colleagues are operating with the best intentions and working towards our shared mission, while ensuring safety, professionalism, and inclusion.
The Green Software Foundation is an accredited nonprofit under the Joint Development Foundation, part of the Linux Foundation family. Our governance is transparent, member-driven, and consensus-based. The Steering Committee provides strategic direction, while our working groups and committees drive the standards and initiatives that move the industry forward.
Four functions. Each one driven by member needs. Each one producing results the industry adopts.
Setting the benchmarks the industry measures against. Our members develop vendor-neutral specifications — from SCI to SOFT — through a collaborative process that achieved ISO certification in record time.
Explore our standards →
Translating technical reality into regulatory language. Our policy working group tracks emerging legislation, publishes position papers, and gives members a voice before regulations are finalised.
See our policy work →
Building capability at every level. From the free Green Software Practitioner course (130,000+ completions) to advanced certification and cohort programmes.
Start learning →
The evidence behind every decision. White papers, technical reports, and the State of Green Software — giving members and the industry the data to make the case.
Read our research →A global community of practitioners, leaders, and organisations driving sustainable software forward.
72+
Member organisations
130,000+
Green Software Practitioner course completions
450,000
Podcast downloads
12,000
Global meetup community members
12,000
LinkedIn followers
7,800+
Newsletter subscribers
Trusted by 60+ organisations including
