Allianz Foundation for Development and Climate

Responsibility for sustainable development and climate action

We have been a partner and member of the Alliance for Development and Climate Foundation since 2020. As part of this initiative, we are actively committed to sustainable development and effective climate action.

A particular focus of our work is the digitalisation of local government services. In a study we conducted on the environmental impact of digitalised administrative processes, we were able to demonstrate that traditional administrative procedures generate significant emissions, particularly through jobs in government offices, energy consumption by office infrastructure, and citizens’ travel to government offices. Our analyses show, among other things:

significant CO₂ emissions from people’s daily journeys to public authorities
additional emissions from workplace infrastructure in government departments
high resource consumption due to paper documents and printing systems.

By digitising these processes, a significant proportion of these emissions can be avoided. When public services are provided digitally and automatically, many visits to government offices are eliminated altogether. At the same time, paper-based processes can be reduced and administrative structures made more efficient.

Our study shows that the systematic digitalisation of local government services offers significant potential for reducing emissions and resource consumption. Digital self-service systems can help to reduce travel, lower energy consumption and make administrative processes more sustainable.

Digital identity and administrative infrastructures are therefore not only a technological advance, but also a significant contribution to sustainable development and climate protection.

Digitalisierung als Beitrag zum Klimaschutz

Digital identity and administrative infrastructures make it possible to deliver public services more efficiently, in a more resource-efficient manner, and with greater accessibility.

Automated identification systems enable public services to be provided regardless of opening hours or the location of government offices. At the same time, they can significantly reduce energy consumption, paper usage and travel.

The digitalisation of public services is therefore not only a technological advance, but also an important contribution to sustainable development and climate protection.

Metric	Current	proportion	With ELINA	proportion
CO2 [kg/year]	638,528,054	100%	1,431,359	0.22%
NOx [kg/a]	1,181,508	100%	3,848	0.33%
Particulate matter [kg/year]	33,804	100%	1,296	3.83%
Water consumption [l/a]	716,384,903	100%	8,243,799	1.15%
Costs [€/year]	3,387,894,669	100%	819,000,000	24.17%

This means that with the comprehensive, end-to-end and fully digital use of MIDAS ELINA, the following will be achieved annually

 637.1 million kg of CO2
 1.2 million kg of NOx
 708.1 million litres of water
 32,508 kg of particulate matter

and

€2.6 billion

saved.

Klimawirkung digitaler Bürgerdienste

Our studies show that the digitalisation of local government administrative processes can have the following effects, amongst others:

a significant reduction in visits to government offices
lower energy consumption in administrative buildings
Reducing paper-based processes
Reductions in transport emissions.

Digital public services can eliminate the need for millions of visits to government offices, thereby making a measurable contribution to climate protection. The following calculation shows just how much of a difference this can make.

In a comprehensive analysis of the environmental impact of digitised administrative processes, the emissions associated with traditional public services were compared with those of a digitised infrastructure based on automated self-service systems.

The following factors, among others, were taken into account:

Emissions from workstations in local government offices
Energy consumption of office infrastructure
Manufacture and operation of equipment and working materials
Citizens’ access to public authorities
Commuting distances for administrative staff.

In Germany alone, there are around 61,500 administrative staff working in local government offices, whose workplaces consume significant amounts of energy and resources every year. At the same time, the journeys made by members of the public to visit these offices generate additional emissions from traffic.

The study shows that a significant proportion of these emissions can be avoided through the use of digital public services.

Beispielrechnung zur Digitalisierung der Bürgerdienste

It has been estimated that an infrastructure comprising around 25,000 self-service systems would be required to fully digitise local government services in Germany.

The analysis shows the following annual figures for the construction and operation of this infrastructure:

around 8.2 million kg of CO₂ emissions per year
around 1.43 million kg of nitrogen oxides
approximately 3,848 kg of particulate matter
average cost of around €6.50 per public service.

Compared with the emissions and costs associated with traditional administrative processes, this offers significant potential for savings in terms of emissions, resource consumption and infrastructure costs.

The analysis also shows that a large proportion of the emissions generated by traditional administrative processes are caused by travel, in particular journeys made by members of the public to government offices and the commutes of administrative staff.

Digital public services can largely eliminate the need for these journeys and thus make a measurable contribution to reducing emissions.