Defra tests new framework to assess digital services for sustainability

The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) is piloting a new approach to measure and improve the sustainability of its digital services.

Ned Gartside, sustainable design Lead at Defra, said the move is designed to make environmental and social responsibility a core part of government service design.

“2025 is a big year for digital sustainability,” he said in a blog post. “More and more people are getting interested in how building greener services can save money and support the growing UK sustainable technology sector.”

Gartside said Defra’s Digital Sustainability team has seen momentum in this area, reflected in the expansion of the Government Digital Sustainability Alliance (GDSA) advisory group, and in the increasing collaboration across government with things like the Government Buying Standards (GBS).

Defra has created a Digital Sustainability Strategy focusing on “decarbonization, circularity, water and material use, boosting social value, supply chain transparency and resilience to climate change.”

Gartside said the challenge is to turn those ambitions into real-world outcomes. “We know strategies don’t mean anything unless they drive practical changes and outcomes, so we’re delighted Defra (with the sponsorship of our Director of Digital Delivery) is testing a way to ensure our digital services are as sustainable, efficient and circular as possible,” he said.

Building sustainability into service assessments

The department is developing a digital sustainability standard that all Defra group digital services will need to meet during their existing service assessments where projects are currently tested for usability, accessibility, privacy, security and reliability.

“Introducing sustainability puts it on a level with these established project priorities,” said Gartside.

The model being tested includes several key components designed to help service teams assess and improve their environmental performance:

• A Digital Sustainability Risk Evaluation, completed early in a project’s lifecycle, “to identify the likely sustainability risks and benefits of their service and suggest related actions.”
• A Digital Sustainability Statement, which records “the sustainability actions they’ve taken or plan to take.” This living document evolves through the agile lifecycle and “is reviewed ahead of service assessments to focus discussion on the key areas of risk and opportunities for improvement.”
• A Guide for Service Assessors, offering “suggested questions to ask at service assessments and criteria for choosing the ‘red, amber, green’ rating for compliance with the standard.”

Recognising that sustainability is “a new topic for most service teams,” Defra has also collaborated with partners to make guidance easier to find and apply. “We’ve worked with experts across government and partners in the GDSA to develop the Greener Service Principles – a single repository of meaningful actions to deliver efficient, sustainable services,” said Gartside.

Testing, learning and next steps

Defra is currently testing and gathering feedback on the process across several digital services at different development stages.

“In early 2026, we intend to integrate the digital sustainability standard into Defra service assessments as a non-binding element,” said Gartside. “From later in the spring of 2026, the plan is for the digital sustainability standard to become fully part of Defra service assessments as a 15th point.”

Sharing lessons across government

Defra believes its leadership in sustainable IT means the pilot could set a model for other departments. “As the lead department for sustainable IT across government, we work closely with GDS to embed digital sustainability into their cross-government guidance and strategies,” said Gartside.

The department is already working with GDS on updates to the mandatory Service Standard and Service Manual, building on the best practice advice in Defra’s Greener Service Principles.

Looking ahead, Defra plans to help make its approach repeatable across the public sector, said Gartside. “From early 2026 we’ll be working with other departments to see how we could make the above approach repeatable across government more widely,” he said. “The input of our cross-government steering group and GDSA will be vital in all this work, and we’re looking forward to finding out more and sharing updates on our progress.”