Measuring Germany’s Transition to a Green Economy

Abstract

This paper reports on results of the study entitled “Green economy: Measuring sustainable welfare using SEEA data”. It contributes to measuring the progress towards a green economy and to making it accessible for policymaking in Germany. The concept used to measure the green economy looks at six dimensions: 1) use of natural resources and environmental damage caused, 2) natural capital, 3) environmental quality of life, 4) green economy: Economic dimension and fields of action, 5) policies: Institutional framework and measures, and 6) background information on economic and social development. For each dimension the concept includes indicators. The concept fulfils two main purposes: Firstly, it is designed to monitor progress towards a green economy ex-post and secondly some of the proposed indicators can be used to assess policy options ex-ante. Scenario analysis (PANTA RHEI model) is used to apply the concept to Germany’s energy transition. Many indicators will improve until 2030 despite some trade-offs.