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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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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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OECD work in support of a sustainable ocean

To support government efforts to transition to a more sustainable ocean economy, the OECD is mobilising expertise across multiple policy fronts, covering environmental, economic, financial and social dimensions.




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Climate lectures by OECD Secretary-General, Angel Gurría

On 3rd July 2019, in his fourth biennial climate change lecture, OECD Secretary-General, Angel Gurría focused on how countries can overcome the numerous political, economic and social barriers to achieve the rapid reductions in greenhouse gas emissions needed to safeguard our common future. Follow this link to watch the full lecture and the press release.




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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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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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Flyer - Accelerating Climate Action: Refocusing Policies through a Well-being Lens

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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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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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Mr. Angel Gurría, Secretary-General of the OECD, in Madrid on 2nd December 2019 to attend opening of the COP25

Mr. Angel Gurría, Secretary-General of the OECD, will be in Madrid on 2nd December 2019 to attend the official opening of the UN Climate Change Conference (COP25).




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Statement by OECD Secretary-General Angel Gurría on the outcome of COP 25

I am very disappointed that COP25 in Madrid did not achieve the decisive, collective and ambitious outcomes that the climate emergency demands from world leaders.




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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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Bhutan Tours - Some Alluring Tourist Attractions

Bhutan is a beautiful country in southern region of Asian continent at the eastern end of majestic Himalayas. The country is gifted with abundant beauty of nature. It is known for their scenic natural beauty and tranquility around the...




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Weekend Getaway to the Land Of Strawberry : Mahabaleshwar

Being a travel enthusiast, planning aholiday to me is to first scan the days on which the major occasions(birthdays/anniversary) falls. Fortunately, this year it was all the 3 major occasionsfalling over weekends. Could not have asked...




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Bhutan Tours - Some Alluring Tourist Attractions

Bhutan is a delightful nation in southern district of Asian mainland at the eastern end of grand Himalayas. The nation is talented with plenteous delightfulness of nature. It is known for their grand common delightfulness and serenity...




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Best Recommendations on Selecting Ideal Camping Tent

Inside our contemporary moments, outside camping turns into a growing number of popular, especially amid the young folks. Journey slumber sack, tenting tent coupled with various...




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Pious Journey to Four Abodes Situated in Himalayan Ranges

Uttrakhand is famous for its Hindu pilgrim sites namely Yamunotri, Gangotri, Kedarnath and Badrinath; which are situated in high terrains of Himalayan Mountains. Four shrines are opened for only six months and keep closed for next six...




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Jaypee Hotel in Agra Exudes Royal Life at its Best




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Know the Story of Taj Mahal and Get Rejoice with its Beauty

All around the world, not a single festival that can match the joyful celebrations of India’s fair and festivals. Here you can experience the ultimate fun with melodious legends, joyous fairs, frolicsome festival, adventure...




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Workshop: Indicators of local transition to low-carbon economy (Regional Growth Core Schönefelder Kreuz, Germany)

The Regional Growth Core Schönefelder Kreuz and the Technical University of Applied Sciences Wildau in partnership with the OECD Local Economic and Employment Development Programme (LEED) are working on defining and collecting measurable indicators at the regional/ local level that can inform over time of transition to low-carbon economic and industrial activities.




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Global Forum on the Knowledge Economy: Towards Strong, Clean and Inclusive Growth

Global Forum on the Knowledge Economy: Towards Strong, Clean and Inclusive Growth




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Green transformation of small businesses: Achieving and going beyond environmental requirements - Environment Working Paper No. 47

This report aims to help environmental and other competent authorities in OECD countries to promote green business practices among small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). It analyses different ways to establish environmental regulatory requirements for facilities with low environmental risk (most of which are SMEs).




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Global Green Growth Forum (3GF) 2012

The second Forum – 3GF2012 – will be held in Denmark on 8-9 October 2012 under the thematic headline “Resource Efficiency and Growth”.




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Linking Renewable Energy to Rural Development

This new publication looks at how renewable energy can bring the greatest benefits to host regions.




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Sustainable Materials Management: Making Better Use of Resources

Worldwide, 62 billion tons of natural resources – minerals, wood, metals, fossil and biomass fuels, and construction material – are extracted. On average, that’s almost 10 tons for every person on the earth. Of that, about one fifth ends up as waste and must be reused, recycled or disposed of in a way that is safe for people and the environment.




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Joint OECD-GGGI Workshop: Green growth development paths for a better future

Surrounding the 2012 GG-SD Forum, a joint OECD-GGGI (Global Green Growth Institute) workshop took place on 22 November. The workshop featured a discussion among experts and policy makers from developing countries with the aim of sharing evidence and experience on how to create an enabling framework and design policy options for overcoming key challenges and prioritizing inclusive green growth opportunities.




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Launch of the 2012 Development Co-operation Report “Lessons in linking sustainability and development”

Secretary-General Angel Gurría launched the 2012 Development Co-operation Report “Lessons in linking sustainability and development” at the 48th High Level Meeting of the Development Assistance Committee in London.




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Green Growth in Africa Workshop January 15-18 2013: Concepts, Tools and Strategies for Building Greener Economies and a Sustainable Future

Information on and background documents for the Green Growth African Regional Workshops, 15-18 January 2013. The workshops presented conceptual issues and policy tool kits on implementing green growth policy measures and strategic environmental assessments.




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OECD calls for better alignment of energy policy, public finances and environmental goals

Two new OECD reports provide wide-ranging evidence of how reforming subsidies and tax breaks for fossil fuels can help countries boost finances and meet green objectives.




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Blog post: Fossil fuel subsidies - billions up in smoke?

A new OECD report presents around 550 measures that support fossil-fuel production or use in the OECD’s 34 member countries and also highlights the successes and challenges in bringing about reform, says this OECD Insights blog post.




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Why New Business Models Matter for Green Growth

New business models can help reduce environmental pollution, optimise the use of natural resources, increase productivity and energy efficiency, and provide a new source of economic growth. The development of new business models is also affected by a range of barriers, many of which can be addressed by well-designed policies.