WEBSITES promoting the Cop climate summits hosted by the UN produce about seven times more carbon than average websites, according to researchers.

About 3 per cent of emissions are now attributable to the internet but the carbon footprint of official Cop host country websites is still significantly higher than the average webpage, an Edinburgh College of Art study found.

Researchers from the Institute for Design Informatics also said that average emissions from Conference of the Parties (Cop) websites had risen by more than 13,000 per cent between the first summit in 1995 and Cop29 last year.

Cop30 is being held in Brazil between November 10 and 21 this year but experts have said it is not hosted on verified renewable energy infrastructure.

Researchers analysed web archive data to assess changes in the carbon footprint of Cop websites over a 30-year period.

Their findings indicated emissions remained relatively low until Cop14 in 2008, with sites emitting the equivalent of 0.02g carbon per page view.

But from Cop15 onwards emissions have risen sharply, with pages on average emitting the equivalent of more than 2.4g of carbon per visit, with some emitting substantially more.

Comparatively, the average website emits the equivalent of 0.36g of carbon per page view, according to researchers.

The researchers recommended steps for reducing the digital footprint of websites, including placing strict limits on page sizes, optimising site layouts and hosting websites on servers powered by renewable energy.

Professor Melissa Terras, of the Institute for Design Informatics at Edinburgh College of Art, said: “The digital footprint of websites, and how they have grown over time, deserves further scrutiny.”

Cop has been contacted for comment.