We are pleased to announce the publication of DIN SPEC 91637 Impact measurement of measures for municipal, regional and national climate protection in German and English – a significant step towards shaping a sustainable future!

While politicians rightly demand an assessment of the impact of public investments and thus taxpayers' money and subsidies, administrations are faced with the challenge that this impact measurement is not so trivial.

For this reason, a standardized approach to determine the impact of measures in the relevant sectors of climate change mitigation (energy, industry, as well as agriculture, forestry and other land use (AFOLU), waste, buildings and traffic) enables

1. the development of stringent and comparable transformation plans,
2. the structured and data-supported exchange of experience between administrations at all levels (municipalities, regions/provinces and national governments), and thus
3. an evaluation of the effectiveness of measures with greater reliability due to comparability.

Therefore, DIN SPEC 91637 specifies the requirements for measuring the effectiveness of municipal, regional and national climate protection measures using a standardized outcome logic. This allows decisions relating to climate policy and investments to be made measurable and controllable with the aid of indicators.

The target group of this document primarily comprises the public sector (municipal communities, regions/federal states and national governments) as well as stakeholders who advise them on the planning, implementation, monitoring and financing of climate change mitigation concepts.

Scientifically sound outcome logic

DIN SPEC 91637 proposes an outcome logic based on physical and scientific findings, in particular on the knowledge base of the International Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), while enabling the integration of other models.

This outcome logic consists of five levels:

1. Interventions
2. alter the attributes of a municipal community, region or country,
3. changing people’s perception of these attributes and leading to behavioural changes
4. which lead to activity shifts from high- to low-carbon activities,
5. and therefore to (positive) ecological, commercial and social outcomes.

The goal is a sustainable transition to climate neutrality

With this outcome logic, DIN SPEC 91637 supports administrations in evaluating the impact of their measures and allocating resources reasonably. The aim is to achieve a fair and economically viable transition to climate neutrality in which all relevant stakeholders are actively involved.

DIN SPEC 91637 was developed by a consortium of municipal representatives, energy agencies, research institutes and private companies. The document creates comparability of administrative climate protection planning measures as well as a basis for data-based exchange between cities, regions and nations.

Michael Bergöö – initiator of the document, consortium leader and Global Director Public Sector at ClimateView – on the added value of DIN SPEC 91637:

"With DIN SPEC 91637, we are creating a common language for measuring the impact of climate protection measures for the first time – scientifically sound, practical and compatible. This provides administrations with a tool for systematically evaluating measures, using resources in a targeted manner and learning from one another. In a time when impact and transparency are increasingly required, the standard enables reliable comparisons and supports an impact-oriented, fair and economically viable transformation."

DIN SPEC 91637 is available as a free download in the DIN Media Webshop.