Secretary-General Angel Gurría addresses the Lord Mayor of Copenhagen and others to discuss highlights of the forthcoming OECD report on local green growth, as part of our efforts to develop more effective tools for measuring cities’ progress and monitoring the impact of green policies.

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.

Chile's OECD membership presents challenges both in the context of changing patterns of production and consumption, and in the framework of a more sustainable economy. Specifically, green growth emphasizes improving growth rates, particularly through greening existing industries, as well as through new eco-businesses.

This report presents, for the first time a local ‘green growth’ indicator framework. This indicator framework was developed from the OECD ‘green growth’ strategy at the national level, but modified to highlight issues of transition that are most relevant for local areas.

What is the role of the private sector in greening the agro-food chain? This OECD/BIAC workshop will examine such issues as the role of new technologies in increasing productivity and reducing waste, as well as developing private-public partnerships.

Health is both a precondition for, and an outcome of, sustainable development. Climate change affects health through a myriad of exposure pathways, each presenting simultaneously both challenges and opportunities for sustainable health and development.

As the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) approach their expiry date, we must focus our efforts on ensuring a brighter, more inclusive and sustainable future for all. We face a plethora of common issues: growing inequalities; changing consumption patterns and population dynamics; increasing natural resource scarcity; and ongoing illicit financial flows.

The OECD’s latest Environmental Performance Review of Spain finds the country has decreased the energy and carbon intensity of its economy, reduced industrial pollution and cut per-capita waste generation since 2000.

Climate change and, more generally, environmental damage have quantifiable economic and health costs, which weigh on long-term growth and well-being. If left unchecked, climate change is projected to decrease global GDP by 0.7 to 2.5 % by 2060. At the same time, the costs to society of air pollution already appear substantial–equivalent to some 4% of GDP across OECD countries and even higher in some rapidly developing economies.

In the coming months, the international community will gather three times and on three different continents, to build a sustainable development agenda for generations to come.

The international discussions under way in the course of this vital year–including July’s Finance for Development Meeting in Addis Ababa, the agreement of a new set of universal Sustainable Development Goals at the UN in September and the climate change summit in Paris at the end of 2015–represent a remarkable and unprecedented opportunity to establish what might be called a “Magna Carta for the earth” for our times.

In his remarks to the Business & Climate Summit, the Secretary-General said that business lies at the heart of what we need to achieve on climate action. If Governments produce clear, credible and coherent national policies and clear messages and signals, the full transformative power of business, markets and human ingenuity will be unleashed.

“Neither economists nor market participants, nor indeed governments foresaw a financial crisis of the type and magnitude we have now. The collapse of trust and subsequent credit freeze in the wake of the Lehman Brothers collapse was a shock.”

This is a watershed day for the world and especially heartening for the OECD as one of the first international bodies to call for zero net emissions in the second half of the century, for a price on carbon and for greater efforts to channel finance into the low carbon economy.

Read the latest blog by Patrick Paul Walsh, Professor of International Development Studies, University College Dublin, Ireland and Senior Advisor, UN SDSN, Earth Institute, on the Implications of the UN 2030 Sustainable Development Agenda for the OECD.

The Paris Agreement on climate change signals the end of business as usual for energy industries. For the first time in history more than 150 developed and developing countries have promised to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. But how binding are these agreements? And do they provide impetus for local action in Africa?

The Paris Agreement is a landmark in collective efforts on climate change and is the result of many years’ hard work. It must now be implemented.

Further structural reforms are needed to help the business sector boost productivity growth and overcome the key challenges of sluggish investment in advanced economies and excess capacity in emerging economies, according to a new OECD report.

The tax wedge for the average single worker in Israel increased by 0.2 percentage points from 22.5 in 2018 to 22.7 in 2019. The OECD average tax wedge in 2019 was 36.0 (2018, 36.1). In 2019 Israel had the 32nd lowest tax wedge among the 36 OECD member countries, occupying the same position in 2018.

The tax wedge for the average single worker in Ireland increased by 0.3 percentage points from 32.9 in 2018 to 33.2 in 2019. The OECD average tax wedge in 2019 was 36.0 (2018, 36.1). In 2019 Ireland had the 24th lowest tax wedge among the 36 OECD member countries, compared with the 25th in 2018.

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...

The village temple stands as a sacred abode of HOPES, DREAMS, PROGRAMMES and IDEALS.

A woman comes with a basket full of flowers, agarbati and...

बंगाल के ताप विद्युत संयंत्रों को घटिया कोयला,कोल इंडिया...

Chapter A

So just what is the Modern Age, and how do we get there? First people need to educate themselves in the sense they have power over the University System. It is not the...

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.

Global economic activity is picking up, but the continuing crisis in the euro area is delaying a meaningful recovery, the OECD said in its latest Interim Economic Assessment.

A moderate recovery is underway in the major advanced economies, according to the OECD’s latest Interim Economic Assessment. Growth is proceeding at encouraging rates in North America, Japan and the UK. The euro area as a whole is out of recession, although output remains weak in a number of countries.

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.

Selected findings for Germany from the report "Preventing Ageing Unequally"

Germany continues to demonstrate a high level of anti-bribery enforcement having prosecuted and sanctioned 328 individuals and 18 companies in foreign bribery cases since 1999.

The tax wedge for the average single worker in Germany decreased by 0.1 percentage points from 49.5 in 2018 to 49.4 in 2019. The OECD average tax wedge in 2019 was 36.0 (2018, 36.1). In 2019 Germany had the 2nd highest tax wedge among the 36 OECD member countries, occupying the same position in 2018.

This project aims to support the Slovak Republic as it seeks to create a clear rationale for the Regional Development Agencies Integrated Network which currently comprises 38 agencies.

These country notes profile public sector human resource practices and policies, covering issues including legal frameworks; age and gender composition of workers; public sector restructuring; management practices; industrial relations and reforms.

Chile's OECD membership presents challenges both in the context of changing patterns of production and consumption, and in the framework of a more sustainable economy. Specifically, green growth emphasizes improving growth rates, particularly through greening existing industries, as well as through new eco-businesses.

This paper looks at a study carried out among 80 small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) in two Canadian cities, Montréal and Winnipeg, based on a survey and case studies, which show the importance of innovation among Canadian SMEs. These innovations in turn create new demands for skill development, both through formal training and in informal activities.

This report presents, for the first time a local ‘green growth’ indicator framework. This indicator framework was developed from the OECD ‘green growth’ strategy at the national level, but modified to highlight issues of transition that are most relevant for local areas.

This study looks into the use of fixed term contracts and agency work in Russia during and shortly after the crisis 2009 10 with the help of an enterprise survey.

How to stimulate growth and support job creation are two critical challenges that countries and localities confront and limited resources require lateral thinking about how actions in one area, such as employment and training, can have simultaneous benefits in others, such as creating new jobs and better supporting labour market inclusion.

Norway is better placed to cope with population ageing than most other countries. But it could still do more to improve incentives and opportunities for people to stay working longer which would help ensure the country’s long-term future, according to a new OECD report.

Slower growth in key markets like China and India is reducing momentum across the Australian economy, cutting into employment opportunities and putting more pressure on the government to ensure that public policy delivers optimal results for growth and job creation.

Encouraging more people to work later in life would help the Netherlands meet its growing challenges of a rapidly ageing population and rising social spending, according to a new OECD report.

Canada has experienced solid economic growth since the global crisis, allowing it to reverse recession-induced job losses and put federal public finances on a sound footing, says the OECD. Growth is expected to accelerate from 2.5% this year to 2.7% in 2015.

Switzerland should do more to help older people, especially women, work longer in order to meet the challenge of a rapidly ageing population, according to a new OECD report.

Joint Seminar on "Minimum Wages – Impacts and Institutional Processes"

Low growth, low interest rates and low returns on investment linked to the slow global economy are now compounding the problems of population ageing for both public and private pension systems, according to a new OECD report.

Japan could help laid-off workers find a job more quickly by improving co-ordination between public employment services and companies, as well as ensuring that all workers benefit from adequate Employment Insurance (EI) benefits, according to a new OECD report.

Three out of four OECD countries use minimum wages, and supporting low-wage earners is widely seen as important for promoting inclusive growth. This policy brief considers three aspects that are central for a balanced assessment of policy choices: The cost of employing minimum-wage workers, their take-home pay, and the number of workers affected.

Countries where skills are less equally distributed tend to have higher wage inequality. Putting skills to better use can help reduce wage inequality, by strengthening the links between workers’ skills, productivity and wages.

The work will seek to identify good practices for employer engagement in the areas of both developing and utilising skills, including setting up innovative workplace learning methods, designing effective employer partnerships with the employment and training system as well as financing mechanisms for employer-led training, including how best to reach SMEs.