Websites output CO₂ emissions, just like everything else in our world. This is an unavoidable fact of life on which we have no influence. What we do have an influence over, is exactly how much CO2 emissions our websites have. Last elections, I decided to take our political parties to the test. The results were quite shocking to me! So with the 2023 elections in only 2 weeks, we’re doing it again!
For my research, I used the Website Carbon Calculator made by Wholegrain Digital in London, UK. Their website does an excellent job of explaining how the calculations work, in case you’re interested. For every website I ran a query on their front page, which is where most visitors will start their journey. I recorded the amount of CO2 produced in grams every time someone visits that homepage.
Carbon emissions per visit: the results
The list is sorted by their position on the electoral list. All data was collected on November 15, 2023.
For more information on each party, such as its translated name or its manifesto, please see the Wikipedia article on the 2023 Dutch general elections.
| Party | CO2 emission per visit in grams | Difference with last elections |
|---|---|---|
| GROENLINKS | 0.22 | -89.42% |
| PvdA | 0.22 | -48.84% |
| BIJ1 | 0.27 | -59.09% |
| PVV | 0.31 | -59.74% |
| Nieuw Sociaal Contract | 0.37 | – |
| SGP | 0.39 | -59.79% |
| Samen voor Nederland | 0.39 | – |
| Politieke Partij voor Basisinkomen | 0.43 | – |
| ChristenUnie | 0.45 | -71.34% |
| BBB | 0.46 | -88.53% |
| BVNL / Groep Van Haga | 0.50 | – |
| PartijvdSport | 0.57 | – |
| CDA | 0.59 | -34.44% |
| DENK | 0.60 | -77.36% |
| Partij voor de Dieren | 0.64 | -80.06% |
| VVD | 0.66 | -59.01% |
| SP | 0.74 | -60.43% |
| 50PLUS | 0.74 | -85.98% |
| Splinter | 0.76 | -32.14% |
| Forum voor Democratie | 0.79 | -77.49% |
| JA21 | 0.79 | 192.59% |
| Volt | 0.99 | -3.88% |
| D66 | 1.08 | -63.76% |
| Piratenpartij | 1.13 | -34.30% |
| De Groenen | 1.13 | 370.83% |
| LP | 1.51 | 96.10% |
| Nederland met een PLAN | 2.70 | – |
The best and the worst performers
The 3 websites emitting the least CO2 are:
- With 0.22 grams of CO2 emissions per visit: GroenLinks-PvDA.
- With 0.27 grams of CO2 emissions per visit: BIJ1
- With 0.31 grams of CO2 emissions per visit: PVV.
The 3 websites emitting the most CO2 are:
- With 2.70 grams of CO2 emissions per visit: Nederland met een PLAN
- With 1.51 grams of CO2 emissions per visit: LP
- With 1.13 grams of CO2 emissions per visit: Piratenpartij – De Groenen
Obviously I am not a scientist, so I won’t claim these results are 100% true. Websites, and especially front pages, change all the time and, with that, their carbon emissions. Nonetheless, the research was done in a controlled manner thanks to websitecarbon.com and should provide you with a good picture of how much CO2 the websites of the political parties emit.
The purpose of my research was not to name and shame any political parties, but rather to draw attention to the fact that websites too emit carbon emissions and that we can, and should, work to limit this.
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