The sustainability bond of the state of North Rhine-Westphalia (German: Nachhaltigkeitsanleihe des Landes Nordrhein-Westfalen, or NHA NRW for short) has been issued and refinanced by the NRW Ministry of Finance on a yearly basis since 2015. These are state budget projects with a certified positive ecological or social impact.
The Wuppertal Institute was and is responsible for measuring the impact of the projects included in the bond. To this end, researchers developed methods and models that measure a variety of indicators. In the area of climate protection, these include estimating avoided emissions, for example through the energy-efficient renovation of university hospitals or the avoidance of motorised private transport through the financing of student season tickets.
The methods have been and continue to be developed to highlight indicators and estimation models for ecological, social, and socio-economic changes brought about by the projects. For example, the project team identifies indicators that have a societal impact beyond the projects themselves. The aim of the NHA NRW project is to map these dimensions as consistently and meaningfully as possible. To this end, existing evaluations and reports from project sponsors are used, as well as estimates based on legally determined financing and scientific studies.
An investor briefing summarises the results and key data in English. The second report summarises the description of the methods, which is only updated with regard to methodological developments.