How to meet the standard

Assess risks and record sustainability actions

There are 3 broad steps services need to go through to meet the new 15th Service Standard point on sustainability.

1. Complete a digital sustainability risk assessment

When: Before the end of Discovery or Stage Gate 3

The Digital Defra and data transformation strategy states that all IT projects and programmes, whether public or internally facing, must be assessed for sustainability impacts and benefits.

Assessment for sustainability risks occurs through the DDTS digital sustainability risk assessment.

A link to the Risk Assessment form can be found on the Defra Portfolio Hub Discovery Lifecycle page, under 'During discovery: things to produce'.

What is the purpose of a digital sustainability risk assessment?

The aim of this assessment is to:

• give an objective assessment of the likely sustainability impacts of the service
• suggest actionable levers to improve and measure the sustainability impacts
• suggest opportunities to highlight any sustainability benefits that the service might bring

When to complete your digital sustainability risk assessment

You should submit your digital sustainability risk assessment once you know the following:

• your IT project has been formally approved for delivery through the DDTS Portfolio
• you understand the general scope and user base of your service
• you understand the digital, data & technology assets your service will need
• you have confirmed whether your project will need procurement

What to expect after you submit your assessment

After you submit your assessment, you will receive a response from the DDTS Digital Sustainability team (sustainableICT@defra.gov.uk) within 10 working days.

The response will include:

• an impact rating for your project, with some suggested sustainability risks and opportunities
• specific, relevant actions that a project can take to address the sustainability risks that have been identified, from the ‘Greener Service Principles’.
• for high impact projects, an offer of a further meeting for individual project support

When you receive a response, you should record your impact rating and act upon any guidance before Stage Gate 3 or your Alpha Assessment.

2. Fill out a digital sustainability statement

When: From Alpha onwards

Each service should fill out a Digital Sustainability Statement, in order to document the sustainability actions that have been taken so far, and those that are planned at subsequent lifecycle stages.

The template for the Statement is available here.

The Sustainability Statement is structured so actions can be recorded for the 6 objectives in Defra's digital sustainability strategy. It also provides space so that any metrics that track sustainability performance can be recorded.

Some services may face constraints in terms of the sustainability actions that they can take. Constraints could include:

• technical decisions already taken before the delivery team was assembled
• procurement that took place before the service delivery began
• use of common capabilities and platforms
• lack of reliable data on some environmental impacts available from suppliers

If there are no actions that the service team has been able to take under one or more of the 6 objectives, then this should be recorded in the statement, with the constraints outlined.

The Sustainability Statement can and should be updated by the project through Private and Public Beta, as it helps Service Assessors understand how to evaluate the sustainability approach taken by the service.

3. Show your sustainability approach at service assessments

When: From 1 April 2026

The sustainability approach taken by public facing, transactional services following the Agile lifecycle will be assessed in Defra service assessments from 1 April 2026.

This does not apply to services with more than 100,000 transactions annually. They will have a cross-government assessment where the 15th Service Standard point is not mandated.

Services undergoing a Defra service assessment will receive a red, amber, or green (RAG) rating for sustainability, judged against the 15th Service Standard point.

At an Alpha assessment

Rating	Qualification
Green	The service has completed a digital sustainability statement which shows: any sustainability actions that have already taken place, including those relating to technology choices, procurements, or the decommissioning of any legacy systems appropriate and credible actions that are planned to enable the sustainable delivery of the service from Private Beta onwards appropriate metrics to track sustainability performance from Private Beta onwards any constraints that are faced by the project that limit sustainability actions that can be taken or the tracking of sustainability performance
Amber	The service has completed a digital sustainability statement which shows: some actions planned to support sustainable delivery from Private Beta onwards A full list of appropriate sustainability actions, metrics to track sustainability performance and any constraints faced by the projects have not have been identified and recorded.
Red	The service has not completed a digital sustainability statement.

For Beta and Live assessments

Rating	Qualification
Green	The service has completed a digital sustainability statement which shows: a range of appropriate and credible sustainability actions taken in the design and development of the service appropriate and credible sustainability actions planned for future delivery phases appropriate metrics being used to track the sustainability performance of the service any constraints that are faced by the project that limit sustainability actions that can be taken or the tracking of sustainability performance
Amber	The service has completed a digital sustainability statement which shows: some actions taken to deliver a sustainable service A full list of appropriate sustainability actions taken and planned, metrics to track sustainability performance and any constraints faced by the projects have not have been identified and recorded.
Red	The service has not completed a digital sustainability risk statement.