France has improved its environmental performance over the last decade, lowering greenhouse gas emissions, reducing some air pollutants and cutting its use of fresh water. Further effort will be needed, however, to reduce pollution by nitrates and pesticides and meet ambitious renewable energy targets, according to a new OECD report.

This event, with involvement from the OECD, on 6-7 September 2016, is of major strategic nature during the Slovak Presidency of the European Council. Its ambition is to improve understanding of the green economy concept, identify conclusions and pathways for transition as well as to involve and mobilise various actors and stakeholders in the discussions of possible future actions.

The Fourth Green Growth Knowledge Platform (GGKP) Annual Conference will take place on the theme of “Transforming Development through Inclusive Green Growth” during 6-7 September 2016 at the International Convention Center on Jeju Island, Republic of Korea.

OECD countries must step up their efforts to improve the quality and equity of their education systems as part of their commitments to meet the Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) for education by 2030, according to a new OECD report.

Current carbon prices are falling short of the levels needed to reduce greenhouse gas emissions driving climate change, but even moderate price increases could have a significant impact, according to new OECD research.

Read the newest OECD's Insights blog based on the latest report from the New Approaches to Economic Challenges (NAEC) "Debate the Issues: New Approaches to Economic Challenges".

The World Green Economy Summit (WGES) is an initiative by the Dubai Electricity & Water Authority. As an institutional partner, the OECD's Matthew Griffiths will participate under the session "Clean Water to the World", in order to discuss how cross sector partnerships can help conserve and manage water in a responsible way, while using the technologies and models available to tackle regional and global water scarcity.

Join the GGKP for a webinar on 1 November from 3:00pm - 4:30pm (Geneva time) to learn more about the Global Green Growth Institute (GGGI)'s Green Growth Potential Assessment (GGPA) tool which helps countries find ways to turn risks into green growth opportunities, and the ways in which it has been applied to unlock green growth potential in Colombia and Peru.

There are now 45 Adherents to the 2009 OECD Declaration on Green Growth. Georgia has joined Costa Rica, Colombia, Croatia, Kazakhstan, Latvia, Lithuania, Morocco, Peru, Tunisia, as well as OECD members in having adhered to the Declaration.

Despite a challenging global environment, the growth prospects of Emerging Asia (Southeast Asia, China and India) remain robust over the medium term, according to the latest edition of the OECD Development Centre’s Economic Outlook for Southeast Asia, China and India.

Read our latest December edition and all previous issues of the newsletter. The December issue draws your attention to the OECD work on Mainstreaming Biodiversity, highlights recent Green Growth news such as the launch of GGKP’s BIG-E Database and Georgia’s adherence to the OECD Green Growth Declaration. It also highlights the OECD’s most recent publications.

The Fifth GGKP Annual Conference will be hosted by the World Bank on the topic of sustainable infrastructure, to stimulate research on these issues and foster interdisciplinary dialogue where relevant.The scientific committee therefore calls for contributions on any aspect of the infrastructure agenda, particularly for developing countries, with a focus on sustainability. Deadline for preliminary versions by 15 June 2017.

To leverage the impact of relatively limited public resources, over a dozen national and sub-national governments have created public green investment banks (GIBs) and GIB-like entities.

Estonia needs to move faster to reduce its dependence on oil shale so it can advance towards a greener economy and reduce air pollution and waste generation, according to a new OECD report.

Korea has improved access to environmental services and become a world leader in climate change mitigation technology.

This report uses household level data covering 20 OECD countries to analyse energy affordability at current energy prices and explores how these indicators change in response to a simulated energy tax reform. The report finds that higher energy prices, needed to cut harmful carbon emissions and air pollution, can also help achieve social policy objectives.

More than any other leader in modern history, Nelson Mandela understood that a society must bridge divides and work together to thrive. He also firmly believed that we must strive to leave our children with a safer, more peaceful and more prosperous world than the one we inherited. He said that “there can be no keener revelation of a society’s soul than the way in which it treats its children”.

Read what OECD bloggers have to say about topics as varied as air pollution, biodiversity, climate, environmental policies, green growth, investment, waste and water. Join the discussion on our latest blog: Climate - Towards a just transition, with no stranded workers and no stranded communities.

Many countries have become more efficient in using natural resources and the services provided by the environment, generating more economic output per unit of carbon emitted and of energy or raw materials consumed. Yet progress is too slow, and if emissions embodied in international trade are included, advances in environmental productivity are more modest, a new OECD report shows.

This country note explains how Israel taxes energy use. The note shows the distribution of effective energy tax rates across all domestic energy use. It also details the country-specific assumptions made when calculating effective energy tax rates and matching tax rates to the corresponding energy base.

Government at a Glance provides a dashboard of key indicators to help you analyse international comparisons of public sector performance.

The tax-to-GDP ratio in Israel decreased by 1.4 percentage points from 32.5% in 2017 to 31.1% in 2018. The corresponding figure for the OECD average was a slight increase of 0.1 percentage point from 34.2% to 34.3% over the same period.

Spurred by a rise in 2019 development aid, the OECD and its donor member countries are working to help the most vulnerable countries during the coronavirus crisis. Official development assistance (ODA) provided by OECD Development Assistance Committee (DAC) members rose by 1.4% in real terms to USD 152.8 billion in 2019.

This country note explains how Ireland taxes energy use. The note shows the distribution of effective energy tax rates across all domestic energy use. It also details the country-specific assumptions made when calculating effective energy tax rates and matching tax rates to the corresponding energy base.

Government at a Glance provides a dashboard of key indicators to help you analyse international comparisons of public sector performance.

The tax-to-GDP ratio in Ireland decreased by 0.2 percentage points from 22.5% in 2017 to 22.3% in 2018. The corresponding figure for the OECD average was a slight increase of 0.1 percentage point from 34.2% to 34.3% over the same period.

The demand for Project Management professionals is high, according to the latest poll from IT jobs watch (21 March 2013), there are currently 9671 Project Management roles advertised in the IT Sector alone, with an average...

Modern CAD resources such as AutoCAD, Microstation, Tekla and Revit has changed the way technicians prepare documents and drawings for any given project. Computer Aided CAD or Design tools are widely popular across construction,...

I am with Ishrat’s family. You too may follow me.

Spare a moment to think about her family members who today find themselves isolated and socially ostracized for a crime their beautiful Ishrat Jahan, a...

To circumcise or not to circumcise? This has been a touchy subject in the medical community for years, with those in favor of circumcision arguing that it is necessary to prevent disease, and those who are against the procedure insisting...

Apart from being one of the most amazing book series, J.K. Rowling has beautifully captured the imagination of a whole generation, giving them lifelong memories!

Eminent as the Gods Own Country, Kerala is the nature lovers’ delight and adventure seekers dream spot. There are several fascinating elements that make Kerala an ideal location for a memorable vacation.

The power of Fortuner is back as the Japanese auto giant Toyota launches its second generation priced at Rs. 25.92 lakh (ex-showroom Delhi).

The capital city of Karnataka is prepping to host the biggest entertainment event at KTPO Convention Centre in Whitefield on 12-13 November 2016.

French auto major Renault today launched the automated manual transmission (AMT) version of its popular small car KWID at an introductory price of Rs 4.25 lakh (ex-showroom Delhi).

New real estate norms have jazzed up the monotonous property market. This has encouraged salesmen and agents to sell the property by offering freebies and discounts.

Rajasthan is a historically and culturally rich land. It is also known as Rajputana because of the long history of Rajput rulers. The forts and buildings in Rajasthan are living examples of ekistics of the Rajput rulers.

Germany recovered rapidly from the 2008-09 recession, with GDP topping pre-crisis rates during 2011 and unemployment falling significantly. Public finances are sound, but further reforms are needed to transform its growth model to thrive as a knowledge-based economy.

The German labour market recovered very quickly from the 2008-09 economic crisis and unemployment continued its long-run structural decline in 2010 and 2011.

Restoring competitiveness is one of the key challenges to bring European economies back on a path of strong, sustainable and balanced growth. Europe could improve its growth prospects by implementing a strategic reform agenda with a broad range of policy reforms to increase productivity, dynamism and employment.

Gains in female education attainment have contributed to a worldwide increase in women’s participation in the labour force, but considerable gaps remain in working hours, conditions of employment and earnings.  More specific data for Germany are available in this country note.

Germany is one of the OECD countries with the lowest barriers to immigration for high-skilled workers. However, long-term labour migration is low in comparison with other countries.

At the Summit, Mr. Gurría will deliver remarks and participate in a Ministers’ Roundtable on "Attracting New Sources of Private Finance to Transport Infrastructure". He will also present an OECD Transport Working Paper: “Mobilising Private Investment in Sustainable Transport: the Case of Land-Based Passenger Transport Infrastructure”.

Mr. Angel Gurría, Secretary-General of the OECD, will be in Heidelberg on Monday 1st July 213, to attend the “Tidewater 2013” event. The Secretary-General will attend the discussions on “Modernising Development Finance” and on “Climate Financing”.

OECD Secretary-General Angel Gurría congratulated German Chancellor Angela Merkel on her re-election for a third term.

To help inform the Conference on Managing Hospital Volumes, co-organised by the German Federal Ministry of Health and the OECD, and held on the 11th April 2013 in Berlin, the OECD Secretariat produced a paper to provide an international perspective on Germany’s situation and the current policy debate.

These country notes contain indicators which compare the political and institutional frameworks of national governments as well as revenues and expenditures, employment, and compensation. They include a description of government policies on integrity, e-government and open government.

Germans continue to enjoy a high level of health compared to other OECD countries but the government needs to tackle high levels of hospital treatments and address growing pressures on long-term care, according to a new OECD report.

Future retirees may expect low pension replacement rates in Germany. Public transfers currently represent a large share of older people’s income in Germany despite a significant increase in employment rates at older ages work...