Headlines: 2013 Green Growth and Sustainable Development Forum, 5-6 December 2013; In Focus: Water – International Year of Water, World Water Week and the OECD's Work on Water; Promoting Green Investment in Costa Rica; Promoting Green Growth in Brandenburg; Making Growth Green and Inclusive – The Case of Cambodia; Latest publications and key upcoming events.

Carbon taxes and emission trading systems are the most cost-effective means of reducing CO2 emissions, and should be at the centre of government efforts to tackle climate change,according to a new OECD study.

The 2013 Forum was held on 5-6 December and discussed how governments can improve their investment policy framework to reduce the risk and attract long-term private finance in support of green growth.

LEED and Cedefop organise the second edition of the Green Skills Forum which will bring together experts in innovation, employability and skills development and lessons from work conducted by the OECD, Cedefop, and other organisations on the implications of the green economy for skills development and training policies.

The OECD’s 34 member countries today affirmed their common resolve to work towards a deal on combating climate change at the COP21 talks in Paris in 2015. OECD accession countries Colombia and Latvia joined the statement issued at the Organisation’s annual Ministerial Council Meeting, attended by finance, economy, trade and other ministers.

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 G20 needs to go structural, social, and green! With fiscal and monetary policy room nearly exhausted, structural reforms are the best choices, sometimes the only choice. The OECD battle cry in this regard has been unchanged since 2008: “go structural!”.

This Forum examined the distributional consequences of implementing green growth strategies and their impact on employment, skills and income.

Third Annual Conference on the theme of "Fiscal Policies and the Green Economy Transition: Generating Knowledge – Creating Impact" held at the University of Venice from 29 through 30 January 2015. The press release is available.

OECD Secretary-General Angel Gurría today called on all countries to fully engage with the new Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and said advanced and emerging economies had a particular responsibility to translate the global goals into national policy and to support developing countries in doing the same.

Addressing climate change requires urgent policy action to drive a global infrastructure and technological transformation. The latest report 'Aligning Policies for a Low-carbon Economy' presents the first diagnosis of the alignments of policy and regulatory frameworks with climate policy goals. Join the Green Growth Knowledge Platform (GGKP) for a webinar exploring these issues on 5 October 2015, 15:00-16:30 (Paris time).

Economic and social reforms over the past two decades have enabled Peru to significantly improve growth and well-being while raising incomes and reducing poverty.

Average global temperature could rise by 3-6 degrees Celsius by 2100 if we don’t act. To keep the rise to 2 degrees Celsius, we need to have net zero emissions by the end of the century. Emissions would need to peak by 2030 to give us a fighting chance of achieving this.

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.

Achieving green growth requires ambitious transition management policies in key sectors such as energy, transport, water and agriculture. Provided that the pace of innovation in a number of these key areas is growing faster than ever before, the Forum examined how to foster the "next industrial revolution" by harnessing the potential of systems innovation policies to support green growth.

With the world welcoming the new comprehensive global climate agreement at COP21 aiming to limit the global average temperature rise to well below 2 degrees Celsius, it is worth noting the significant contribution that the OECD family has made. These contributions were aptly summarized in a useful joint statement by the secretariats of OECD, IEA, International Transport Forum and Nuclear Energy Agency right after COP21 kicked off.

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 Green Growth Knowledge Platform (GGKP) is pleased to announce its Fourth Annual Conference on the theme of Transforming Development through Inclusive Green Growth from 6-7 September 2016 at the International Conventional Centre in Jeju Island in the Republic of Korea. The GGKP welcomes the submission of abstracts on policy- and practitioner-relevant research findings on pro-poor and inclusive green growth.

Register for the Green Growth Knowledge Platform (GGKP) Webinar on Sustainable Cities and Structural Transformation through a presentation of this year's African Economic Outlook (AEO). The webinar will take place on 20 July 2016, 2:00-3:30pm (Geneva time).

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.

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.

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).

This one-pager note presents key findings for Germany from Society at a Glance 2011 - OECD Social indicators. This 2011 publication also provides a special chapter on unpaid work across the OECD.

The 2011 edition of Education at a Glance: OECD Indicators enables countries to see themselves in the light of other countries’ performance.

The OECD’s latest edition of Health at a Glance shows that medical care is improving in OECD countries, but better prevention and management of chronic diseases is required to reduce costs.

This note is taken from Chapter 2 of Economic Policy Reforms: Going for Growth 2012.

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.

Education at a Glance 2012: Country Notes - Germany

The Secretary-General met with Chancellor Angela Merkel and the Heads of International Organisations to discuss the global economic outlook as well as policies to boost growth and employment in Europe.

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”.

Education at a Glance 2013 - Country notes and key fact tables

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”.

Carbon taxes and emission trading systems are the most cost-effective means of reducing CO2 emissions, and should be at the centre of government efforts to tackle climate change,according to a new OECD study.

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.

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...

The Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) is a triennial international survey which aims to evaluate education systems worldwide by testing the skills and knowledge of 15-year-old students. To date, students representing more than 70 economies have participated in the assessment.

As part of the OECD Leaders’ Programme, Angel Gurría, Secretary-General met with Germany’s Federal Chancellor Angela Merkel to discuss competitiveness and productivity in Germany and Europe and policies to promote inclusive growth and well-being.

This note presents key findings for Germany from Society at a Glance 2014 - OECD Social indicators. This 2014 publication also provides a special chapter on: the crisis and its aftermath: a “stress test” for societies and for social policies.

Note summarising the performance of German 15-year-old students in the PISA 2012 assessment of problem solving.

Mr. Angel Gurría, Secretary-General of the OECD, will be in Berlin on 13 and 14 May 2014 to attend the annual meeting that Chancellor Angela Merkel holds with the heads of some leading International Organisations.

Country notes with main key findings of the book and key fact tables: a customised snapshot of a country's educational environment, highlighting the most important issues in the educational landscape.

Progress has been made to reduce smoking rates and alcohol consumption in Germany, but obesity is on the rise as in most other EU countries. As in other EU countries, spending for prevention in Germany accounts only for around 3% of current health spending.

Going for Growth 2015: Key findings for Germany

Mr. Angel Gurría was in Berlin at the invitation of Mrs. Angela Merkel, Chancellor of Germany. The Secretary-General also attended the G7 Stakeholder Conference and deliver remarks at a panel on promoting decent work worldwide through sustainable supply chains

Mr. Gurría delivered a keynote speech at a conference on policy options for more investment in Germany and Europe. He also met Mr. Sigmar Gabriel, Vice Chancellor of Germany, as well as other high-level German officials and Kristalina Georgieva, EU-Vice President and Commissioner for Budget and Staff.

The Secretary-General was in Berlin to present the 2015 OECD Skills Outlook. He also attended a number of meetings including the International Transport Forum annual summit in Leipzig and the G7 finance summit in Dresden.

At the invitation of Angela Merkel, Federal Chancellor of Germany, Secretary-General Gurría participated in working sessions on the Development Agenda alongside G7 partners, African Leaders and Heads of IGOs.

Specific country notes have been prepared using data from the database OECD Health Statistics 2015, July 2015 version. The notes are available in PDF format.

The Secretary-General delivered a speech at the G7 Forum for Dialogue with Women dinner on “Promoting gender equality in the G7 and beyond: education, employment and entrepreneurship”.