Remediation projects on contaminated site have received extensive attention for their high-intensity energy consumption and carbon emissions at small spatial scales in short time. Under the background of global environmental changes and carbon peak and neutrality policy, the green and sustainable remediation of polluted sites has become an inevitable trend. Reducing carbon emission level from remediation projects of contaminated sites, it can provide important support for mitigating climate change and realizing the green development of the remediation industry. However, there are still problems such as insufficient research on assessment technologies of carbon footprint and in-depth implementation of the concept of green and sustainable restoration in Chinese polluted site remediation industry. This paper sorts out the development history and existing problems of green and sustainable remediation of polluted sites, focuses on carbon footprint accounting of remediation behaviour, summarizes the research progress and cases of carbon footprint accounting based on the concept of green and sustainable remediation, and explores the related work of carbon accounting in the assessment method system of contaminated site remediation from site, region and macro scales. In the global context of climate change and the national context of carbon peak and carbon neutrality policy, it provides a reference for Chinese remediation industry to reduce pollution and carbon, and promote green and low-carbon management.