Abstract for: South African Green Economy Model (SAGEM)

Green economy is a concept that covers several issues of sustainability. It is an economic paradigm that prioritises increasing the well-being and equitable distribution of economic benefits, while at the same time reducing environmental impacts. This paper introduces South African Green Economy Model (SAGEM) that was developed to test the effects of investing in green economy for selected sectors based on system dynamics approach. While the model consist of 14 sectors and 31 modules, emphasis for green economy was on four key sectors namely: natural resource management, agriculture, transport and energy. The baseline simulation (2011 – 2030) and historical trends for specific variables over the period 2001 to 2010 is also presented.