In the context of project and investment decisions in the financial sector, but also in companies and municipalities, it is no longer solely financial indicators that are considered. Instead, increasingly also risks and impacts on the environment, society and corporate governance are integrated into decision making.
Data, indicators, and algorithms of sustainability assessment thus work in two directions. First, they are complex tools for impact-oriented decision-making, which must be integrated into existing procedures. This means that governance (at a distance) takes place by means of sustainability information. Secondly, the collection of data for sustainability reporting is accompanied by the registration of sustainability aspects. In other words, through indicators an organization becomes aware of certain sustainability issues (sometimes for the first time). This in turn raises the question of how the governance of sustainability information is designed. Although some standard frameworks for sustainability measurement already exist, design principles and ethical guidelines for indicator development and application are rarely discussed. The impact of impact measurement by standards of different sectors on regions are not yet known.
Green DIA explores the extent to which information on public climate change regulation, regional supply infrastructures and spatial and urban planning measures in particular can improve and evaluate sustainable risk and impact analyses. To this end, satellite data, corporate and financial information and public sector register data will be linked. The project focuses on the building sector and the use of private and commercial buildings. The aggregation, linkage and comparison of sustainability information from different contexts also allows for a reflexive review of the social, political and economic assumptions as well as the ethical implications of existing data collection and evaluation procedures in the research process.
GREEN DIA is funded by the Bavarian Institute for the Digital Transformation (bidt) and carried out by researchers from the Technical University of Munich, LMU Munich and University BW Munich.
Green DIA Blog 