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OECD at the meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD COP 14)

17-22 November 2018, Sharm El-Sheikh, Egypt. The OECD actively participated in this Conference through an official OECD side event and by taking part in a number of workshops, seminars and other events throughout the conference. Read more on the OECD side-event, participation at the High-Level Segment and the OECD work on biodiversity.




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Impacts of Green Growth Policies on Labour Markets and Wage Income Distribution: A General Equilibrium Application to Climate and Energy Policies - Environment Working Paper

This paper explores the consequences on the labour markets of structural changes induced by decarbonisation policies. These policies are likely going to have consequences on labour-income distribution given i) existing rigidities in the labour markets, and ii) their different impacts on sectors and on job categories.




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Event: Discussion panel on the use of cost benefit analysis (CBA)

22 November 2018, London - Hosted by the Department of Geography and Environment, this panel reflected on the use of cost benefit analysis (CBA) and took stock of recent developments in environmental CBA and the challenges this presents to policy makers. The panel was comprised of some of the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE) authors of the CBA report published by OECD as well as policy practitioners.




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Power struggle: Decarbonising the electricity sector - Effects of climate policies, policy misalignments and political economy factors on decarbonisation - Environment Working Paper

This report investigates the effects of select climate policies, non-climate policies, as well as political economy factors on the decarbonisation of electricity in OECD countries from 2000 to 2015. Effects are analysed on the three phases of decarbonisation: (1) increasing the share of renewables installed, (2) increasing the use of renewables in generation, and (3) reducing the emissions from electricity.




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OECD, UN Environment and World Bank call for a radical shift in financing for a low-carbon, climate-resilient future

The OECD, UN Environment and World Bank Group today called on leaders of G20 countries to do more to enable a radical shift of investment into low-carbon, climate-resilient infrastructure as a way to limit the impact of climate change.




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Public climate finance to developing countries is rising

Public climate finance from developed to developing countries totalled USD 56.7 billion in 2017, up 17% from USD 48.5 billion in 2016, according to new data compiled by the OECD.




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OECD Progress Update on Approaches to Mobilising Institutional Investment for Sustainable Infrastructure: Background paper to the G20 Sustainable Finance Study Group - Environment Working Paper

The large need for investments in sustainable infrastructure will require investments from the private sector, including institutional investors. This paper contributes to scaling up investments by analysing public project-level interventions for projects involving institutional investors; and presents findings from an updated database on institutional investments in environmentally sustainable infrastructure.




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Clean power for a cool planet: Electricity infrastructure plans and the Paris Agreement - Environment Working Paper

Meeting the temperature goals of the Paris Agreement requires a transformational change in our infrastructure systems. This working paper aims to shed light on the extent to which current electricity generation projects under construction at the global level - the "pipeline" - are consistent with what a low-carbon transition requires.




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Policy Perspectives: Climate-resilient infrastructure

A co-ordinated policy response is needed to ensure that new and existing infrastructure networks are resilient to climate change. This Policy Paper outlines a framework for achieving this based on the experiences in OECD and G20 countries. It shows how governments and businesses can collaborate to mobilise investment for climate-resilient infrastructure.




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Key takeaways from the High-Level Breakfast on Institutional Investors and the Low-carbon Transition

On 10 December in Katowice, the 9th annual High-Level Breakfast on Institutional Investors and the Low-carbon Transition, co-hosted by the OECD and the Institutional Investors Group on Climate Change (IIGCC), highlighted significant progress in mobilising green institutional investment, as well as important remaining challenges.




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Evaluating the effectiveness of policy instruments for biodiversity - Environment Working Paper

This report provides an overview of methodologies to evaluate the effectiveness of policy instruments for biodiversity, covering impact evaluation, cost-effectiveness analysis and other more commonly used approaches. It also provides an inventory of biodiversity-relevant impact evaluation studies, across both terrestrial and marine ecosystems.




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Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) and the Impact of Online Sales - Environment Working Paper

Extended producer responsibility is a policy approach that aims to increase waste recovery and recycling. Extended producer responsibility systems aim to make producers responsible for the environmental impacts of their products throughout the product chain, from design to the end-of-life phase. This report focuses on free-riding of producers or retailers, which the fast expansion of online sales in recent years has been exacerbating.




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The OECD Control System for waste recovery

An update of the OECD database on transboundary movements of wastes is now available for download. Since 1992, transboundary movements of recyclable wastes between OECD countries are regulated by the Council Decision C(2001)107, which was established by the OECD Council, and designed as an agreement under Article 11 of the Basel Convention.




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Evaluating the Impact of Urban Road Pricing on the Use of Green Transport Modes: The Case of Milan - Environment Working Paper

The purpose of this study is to investigate the effect of congestion pricing on the demand for clean transport modes. It draws on an empirical analysis of the effect of Milan’s congestion charge on the use of bike sharing. The analysis indicates that congestion pricing increases daily bike-sharing use by at least 5% in the short term.




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Making the most of tourism in Indonesia to promote sustainable regional development

Tourism has boomed in Indonesia in recent years and is already one of the main sources of foreign-currency earnings.




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Turkey needs to step up investment in renewables to curb emissions

Turkey will see its greenhouse gas emissions continue their steady rise of recent years without concrete actions to improve energy efficiency and increase the use of renewable energy sources, according to a new OECD report.




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Vintage differentiated regulations and plant survival: Evidence from coal-fired plants - Environment Working Paper

This paper assesses the effect of environmental regulations on plant survival and emissions using data on the extent of vintage differentiation of regulations (VDR5) regarding air pollution emission limit values for existing and new coal-fired power plants. Focussing on NOx and SOx emissions, the paper applies survival analysis techniques on a sample of generating units across 31 OECD and non-member countries between 1962 and 2012.




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The Environmental and Welfare Implications of Parking Policies - Environment Working Paper

Parking policies have significant environmental and economic implications, which have often been left unconsidered. This paper reviews the relevant literature to provide a deeper understanding of the main environmental and economic consequences of common parking policies, and suggest policy options to protect the environment and increase social welfare.




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Navigating pathways to reform water policies in agriculture - Food, Agriculture and Fisheries Papers

This report offers a guide on potential reform pathways towards sustainable agriculture water use, based on a thorough review of selected past water and agriculture reforms and extensive consultation with policy experts.




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Blog: Never let a good water crisis go to waste

Agriculture production is highly dependent on water and increasingly subject to water risks; and is the largest using sector and a major polluter of water. Improving agriculture’s water management is essential to a sustainable and productive agro-food sector.




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Global Forum on the Environment and Climate Change - organised by the Climate Change Expert Group (CCXG) - March 2019

This event focused on the implication of COP24 outcomes and the implementation of the Rulebook, as well as on upcoming work on unresolved issues such as Article 6. Discussions covered Common Tabular Format (CTF) for climate finance and tracking progress towards the mitigation targets and updating and implementing NDCs, with a particular attention to the power sector and carbon markets.




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Sustainable connectivity: Closing the gender gap in infrastructure - Policy Paper

This paper shows how women and men may use infrastructure differently according to their needs, social roles or preferences; and provides a framework to help countries align their infrastructure policies and projects with other societal and environmental goals, including supporting gender equality.




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OECD welcomes peer reviews by Indonesia and Italy of their fossil fuel subsidies

The OECD welcomes the release of voluntary G20 peer reviews of Indonesia and Italy’s efforts to phase out and rationalise their inefficient fossil-fuel subsidies at the 2nd meeting of G20 Energy Transitions Working Group under the Japanese Presidency in Toyama, Japan.




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Joint OECD and World Bank report urges governments to improve resilience to disasters and related fiscal risks

Rapid economic development and climate change are increasing our vulnerability to natural disasters, and a new joint OECD-World Bank report calls for pro-active management of the financial costs of those disasters before they strike.




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Latvian economy is thriving, but boosting productivity, improving social protection and transitioning to a low-carbon productive model are vital for sustainable and inclusive growth

The Latvian economy is thriving, with strong job growth driving convergence with more advanced economies. Efforts should now focus on reducing inequality, responding to the challenges posed by population ageing and making growth stronger, inclusive and greener, according to two new OECD reports.




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Aid in Support of Environment

Statistics by sector and by country based on DAC Members’ reporting on the Environment Policy Marker.




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Citing public anger and youth activism, OECD Secretary-General urges governments to heed calls for climate action

OECD Secretary-General Angel Gurría today said governments must face up to mounting anger, particularly among youth, on climate inaction.




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Economic interactions between climate change and outdoor air pollution - Environment Working Paper

Climate change and outdoor air pollution are two of the most challenging environmental issues that modern society faces. This paper presents the first global analysis of the joint economic consequences of climate change and outdoor air pollution to 2060, in the absence of new policies to address these challenges.




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Policy approaches to incentivise sustainable plastic design - Environment Working Paper

Policy instruments can be applied to improve the sustainability of plastics, including regulations, market-based instruments, information and voluntary tools. The report reviews the use of these instruments, provides good practice examples, such as product taxes and charges, eco-design standards, extended producer responsibility and environmental product labels, as well as discussing opportunities for their future applications.




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Global Forum on Environment - Plastics in a Circular Economy: Design of Sustainable Plastics from a Chemicals Perspective

Policy instruments can be applied to improve the sustainability of plastics, including regulations, market-based instruments, information and voluntary tools. The report reviews the use of these instruments, provides good practice examples, such as product taxes and charges, eco-design standards, extended producer responsibility and environmental product labels, as well as discussing opportunities for their future applications.




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Are environmental tax policies beneficial? Learning from programme evaluation studies - Environment Working Paper

This paper provides a concrete example of how policy analysts can use empirical programme evaluation studies to perform ex-post assessments of environmentally related tax policies. A number of studies credibly identify causal effects of environmentally related tax policies, but do not necessarily provide all the information needed to fully inform the policy-making process.




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Flexibility mechanisms in environmental regulations: Their use and impacts - Environment Working Paper

Based on an in-depth literature review and responses to a survey among OECD member countries, this paper discusses the use of flexibility mechanisms in environmental regulations. The literature on these issues is limited, but it is clear that some such mechanisms can have important environmental and economic impacts.




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Blockchain technologies as a digital enabler for sustainable infrastructure - Environment Policy Paper

Embracing new technologies that could enable drastic reductions in GHG emissions will be key to delivering low-emissions pathways for growth, but it is not always obvious what the big breakthroughs will look like. This report looks at how blockchain technology can be applied to support sustainable infrastructure investment that is aligned with climate change objectives.




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Climate finance for developing countries reached USD 71 billion in 2017

Climate finance provided and mobilised by developed countries for climate action in developing countries reached USD 71.2 billion in 2017, up from USD 58.6 billion in 2016, according to new estimates from the OECD.




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Financing climate objectives in cities and regions to deliver sustainable and inclusive growth - Environment Policy Paper

This paper focuses on how national and sub-national governments can align subnational financial flows to transition towards low-carbon, resilient and inclusive cities. The paper is a contribution from the OECD Champion Mayors for Inclusive Growth initiative and to the OECD Programme on Subnational Finance and Investment.




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Taxes on polluting fuels are too low to encourage a shift to low-carbon alternatives

Taxing polluting sources of energy is an effective way to curb emissions that harm the planet and human health, and the income generated can be used to ease the low-carbon transition for vulnerable households. Yet 70% of energy-related CO2 emissions from advanced and emerging economies are entirely untaxed, offering little incentive to move to cleaner energy, according to a new OECD report.




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Message from Rodolfo Lacy, Director for the Environment Directorate

The UN Climate Action Summit on 23 September marks a potential inflection point ahead of the start of the implementation of the Paris Agreement in 2020. This event will gather and encourage Heads of State and Government to deliver concrete actions to address climate change. Our planet is witnessing dramatic changes in its life-support ecosystems, demanding accelerated action and co-operation among interlinking policy areas...




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Brochure: OECD Work on environment for 2019-20

This brochure provides an overview of work happening over the next two years and is the reference document for a glimpse into the key topics and programmes of the OECD work on the environment.




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OECD’s Gurría calls for overhaul of economic thinking to address global challenges

The challenges we face in our era of rapid, disruptive change are daunting, but we are starting to develop the tools, techniques and concepts to meet them, OECD Secretary-General Angel Gurría said.




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Op-Ed: A new paradigm shift toward environmentally sustainable finance by Masamichi Kono, OECD Deputy Secretary-General

Is this the beginning of a paradigm shift in the financial system towards environmentally sustainable finance? And if not, what can we do to accelerate this shift? The OECD stands ready to support efforts to build political leadership and address outstanding barriers to sustainable finance.




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Policy Paper: Scaling up climate-compatible infrastructure: Insights from national development banks in Brazil and South Africa

National development banks (NDBs) and development finance institutions are poised to play a role in bridging the investment gap for climate-compatible infrastructure in developing countries. This paper highlights the role of NDBs drawing from case studies of the Brazilian Banco Nacional de Desenvolvimento Econômico e Social and the Development Bank of Southern Africa.




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New OECD tool for environmental indicators: Environment at a Glance

Environment at a Glance is the OECD platform for environmental indicators. It gives access to the most recent data through interactive graphics and provides key messages on major environmental issues. The indicators shown provide a tool to track environmental performance and progress towards sustainable development.




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Blog: Fighting the climate emergency? Enter National Development Banks

Developing countries are at the forefront of the ongoing battle to address climate change. Roughly 60% of the new infrastructure built before 2030 will be in the developing world, and it is these investment decisions that will determine our collective ability to address the climate emergency.




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Carbon Pricing and Competitiveness: Are they at Odds? - Environment Working Paper

This paper reviews ex-post empirical assessments on the impact of carbon pricing on competitiveness in OECD and G20 countries in the electricity and industrial sectors. Most of these assessments find no statistically significant effects of carbon pricing or energy prices on different dimensions of competitiveness, including net imports, foreign direct investments, turnover, value added, employment, profits, productivity, and innovation.




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Green Talks LIVE

These free webinars are open to the general public and participants are welcome to pose questions during the Q&A segment. Register to the next webinar. Missed the Green Talks? Watch our video recordings on key topics: plastic recycling, climate, carbon pricing, energy, climate & growth; green finance and investment, urban sprawl, taxes, water.




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Donors must do more to align development finance with climate goals

Donor countries must do more to bring development finance in line with climate goals, raising the share used for climate action and reducing to zero the amount that supports new fossil fuel activities, according to a new OECD report.




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An assessment of the social costs and benefits of vehicle tax reform in Ireland - Environment Working Paper

This paper presents the results of an ex post evaluation of the impacts of a vehicle tax reform in Ireland, by carrying out a full social cost benefit analysis of a vehicle tax reform and shows that whilst successful in improving the fuel economy of new passenger cars, it may have caused unintended effects (increased proliferation of diesel vehicles in the passenger car fleet).




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Blog: What is the environmental footprint of Christmas? by Anthony Cox, Deputy Director, OECD Environment Directorate

Type “Christmas and environment” into Google and you will get page after page of tips on how to have a sustainable festive and holiday season. Topics from the Christmas tree to sustainable gift-giving to eco-friendly Christmas food to holiday cards to gift wrapping, there is no shortage of news articles, websites and blogs providing useful advice on how to reduce the environmental footprint of the holiday period.




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Greening regional trade agreements: Subsidies related to energy and environmental goods - Environment Working Paper

This report investigates in what ways Regional Trade Agreements (RTAs) could incorporate environmental objectives in chapters and articles related to subsidies for energy and environmental goods. It highlights the current state of play in incorporating provisions related to environmentally related subsidies in RTAs.




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Travel around the soil of Immense warriors in Rajasthan

Culture is another name of Rajasthan and famous for their festivals and traditional fairs. While you are exploring this state where golden sand dune desert exist. So the desert may offer a magical view of sandy vastness that spread miles...