DIST

Schema

Syntax Reference (version 0.0.1)

This table provides a complete reference of all fields in the DIST schema, and the particular values they take.

PropertyTypeRequiredDescription
schema_version string ✓ One of: "0.0.1"
organisation object ✓
PropertyTypeRequiredDescription
name string ✓

Name of the reporting organisation.
description string

Brief description of the organisation and its technology estate.
open_corporates_url string

Open Corporates URL for the reporting organisation, providing a verifiable corporate identity (e.g. ‘https://opencorporates.com/companies/gb/12345678’).
country string

Country of registration.
sector string

Primary sector or industry.
size string

Employee count range.

One of:
  • "1-10"
  • "11-50"
  • "51-250"
  • "251-1000"
  • "1001-5000"
  • "5001-10000"
  • "10001+"
report object ✓
PropertyTypeRequiredDescription
reporting_unit string

Organisational unit this report covers (e.g. ‘Global Operations’, ‘Cloud Platform’, ‘Product X’).
reporting_period object ✓
PropertyTypeRequiredDescription
from string ✓
to string ✓
verification string ✓

Level of verification applied to this report.

One of: "self reported", "peer reviewed", "independently verified"
verifier object
PropertyTypeRequiredDescription
name string ✓
url string
disclosures array of object

Links to supporting documents.

Items:
PropertyTypeRequiredDescription
url string ✓
type string One of: "report", "methodology", "data", "other"
description string
impacts array of object ✓

Array of individual impact measurements. Each entry reports a single quantifiable impact. Report at whatever granularity you have data for.

Items:
PropertyTypeRequiredDescription
dimension string ✓

The DIST taxonomy dimension this impact belongs to. Further dimensions will be added once methodologies agreed - potentially energy, water, materials, land use and health

One of: "carbon"
category string

Lifecycle category. Optional: omit to report at dimension level only. Use ‘total’ for an aggregate figure across all categories.

One of: "upstream", "operational_direct", "operational_indirect", "downstream", "total"
subcategory string

Specific technology category within the lifecycle stage. Uses TCS-compatible identifiers where applicable (e.g. ‘employee_hardware’, ‘cloud_services’, ‘servers’, ‘end_user_devices’). Free text to allow extension.

Examples: "software", "employee_hardware", "network_hardware", "server_hardware", "foundation_models", "employee_devices", "networking", "servers", "generators", "offsite_employee_hardware", "cloud_services", "saas", "managed_services", "end_user_devices", "network_data_transfer"
value number ✓

The measured or estimated impact value.
unit string ✓

Unit of measurement. Should be spelled out clearly (e.g. ‘kgCO2e’, ‘kWh’, ‘litres’, ‘m3’, ‘kg’, ‘hectares’, ‘years’). Defined by the methodology but stated here for transparency.

Examples: "kgCO2e", "kWh", "litres", "m3", "kg", "hectares", "years"
methodology_name string

Human-readable name of the methodology used to calculate this value (e.g. ‘Cloud Carbon Footprinting tool’, ‘Manufacturer LCA data’, ‘WRI Aqueduct water stress assessment’).
methodology_id string

Machine-readable methodology identifier. Use a DIST published methodology ID where available (e.g. ‘dist:carbon:ccf’, ‘dist:carbon:ghgp-ict’). Can reference external methodology registries. Helps identify whether a recognised methodology was used.

Examples: "dist:carbon:ghgp-ict", "dist:carbon:ccf"
confidence number

Confidence in the reported value as a percentage (0-100). 90-100: primary data, detailed calculation. 50-89: reasonable proxies and estimates. Below 50: rough order-of-magnitude.
notes string

Supporting notes: assumptions, scope boundaries, limitations, or anything a reader needs to interpret this value correctly.
data_sources array of string

References to data sources used (URLs, document names, database identifiers).