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This report produced in co-operation with the International Energy Agency (IEA), the International Transport Forum (ITF) and the Nuclear Energy Agency (NEA) identifies the misalignments between climate change objectives and policy and regulatory frameworks across a range of policy domains (investment, taxation, innovation and skills, trade, and adaptation) and activities at the heart of climate policy (electricity, urban mobility and rural land use).
Outside of countries’ core climate policies, many of the regulatory features of today’s economies have been built around the availability of fossil fuels and without any regard for the greenhouse gas emissions stemming from human activities. This report makes a diagnosis of these contradictions and points to means of solving them to support a more effective transition of all countries to a low-carbon economy.
Micro-organisms play a fundamental role in the environment. Yet their role is the result of complex biogeochemical processes by consortia of micro-organisms and the function of individual species is not clear in many cases.
This publication provides an overview of the current situation and relevant developments in environmental microbiology, as well as its potential application, which covers: use of micro-organisms for agriculture, production purposes, bioremediation, and cleaning purpose; environmental applications of microbial symbionts of insects; and environmental risk/safety assessment of the deliberate release of engineered micro-organisms.
This OECD Emission Scenario Document (ESD) provides information on the sources, use patterns, and potential release pathways of chemicals used as chemical vapour deposition (CVD) precursors in the semiconductor industry. The document presents standard approaches for estimating environmental releases and occupational exposures, and discusses the typical engineering controls used to mitigate exposure to CVD precursors.
This report reviews trends and progress on climate change mitigation policies in 34 OECD countries and 10 partner economies (Brazil, China, Colombia, Costa Rica, India, Indonesia, Latvia, Lithuania, the Russian Federation and South Africa), as well as in the European Union. Together, these countries account for over 80% of global GHG emissions. It covers three areas: 1) mitigation targets and goals, 2) carbon pricing instruments (such as energy and carbon taxation, emissions trading systems, as well as support for fossil fuels) and 3) key domestic policy settings in the energy and other sectors (including renewable energy, power generation and transport, innovation and R&D, and mitigation policies in agriculture, forestry, industry and waste sectors). The report is accompanied by an online country profiles tool containing more detailed information.
Climate change is giving rise to diverse risks, ranging from changing incidences of tropical diseases to increased risks of drought, varying widely in their potential severity, frequency and predictability. Governments must integrate the management of these climate risks into policy making if they are to successfully adapt to a changing climate. Economic analysis has a vital role to play in supporting these efforts, by identifying costs and benefits and supporting decision-making for an uncertain future. However, this analysis needs to be adapted to the institutions, policies and climate risks in a given country. Building on the experience of OECD countries, this report sets out how the latest economic evidence and tools can enable better policy making for adaptation.
In 2009 developed countries committed to jointly mobilise USD 100 billion a year in climate finance by 2020 for climate action in developing countries. This report provides a status check on the level of climate finance mobilised by developed countries in 2013 and 2014, five years after this initial commitment was made at COP15 in Copenhagen. It shows that there has been significant progress in meeting this goal.
The report aims to be transparent and rigorous in its assessment of the available data and underlying assumptions and methodologies, within the constraints of an aggregate reporting exercise. While methodological approaches and data collection efforts to support estimates such as this one are improving, there nevertheless remains significant work to be done to arrive at more complete and accurate estimates in the future.
This OECD Emission Scenario Document (ESD) is a complement document to the Coating Industry (Paints, Lacquers and Varnishes, ESD No. 22 and provides information on the sources, use pattern and release pathways of chemicals used as solvents for industrial coatings, so as to help estimating the amount of chemicals released into the environment.
The European Union’s Eastern Partnership (EaP) countries (Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Moldova and Ukraine) struggle with environmental challenges related to the consumption and end-of-life management of many harmful products. This policy manual considers the potential use and implementation of four categories of product-related economic instruments to address some of these challenges: product taxes, tax differentiation based on environmental factors, deposit-refund systems and extended producer responsibility (EPR).
Environment at a Glance 2015 updates key environmental indicators and relevant socio-economic and sectoral indicators to track OECD country progress on major environmental issues and inform policy development and evaluation. This year's edition includes increased coverage of environmentally related taxation, ODA and R&D expenditure.
The repercussions of the 2007–2008 financial crisis have acted as an impetus to improve the quality and availability of statistical information. One such initiative addresses the importance of compiling a complete accounting of a nation’s wealth, and especially the wealth of households. This is of particular importance in view of the housing market’s role in the financial crisis in several countries.
The most valuable item on the households’ balance sheet is usually housing wealth which is composed of the value of the dwelling and its underlying land. Many countries experience difficulties in valuing land and in particular separating the value of the land from the value of the structure. To assist countries, the Eurostat-OECD compilation guide on land estimation represents the first comprehensive overview of conceptual and practical issues related to the compilation of the balance sheet item land in the national accounts, in total and by institutional sector.
The Eurostat-OECD compilation guide on land estimation was prepared by the Task Force on Land and other non-financial assets under the joint leadership of Eurostat and the OECD. Representatives from various European Union (EU) and non-EU OECD countries were represented as well as the European Central Bank.
Knowledge investment supporting the adoption of environmentally friendly farm practices is a key driver behind innovation processes in agriculture, yet impact evaluations and financial assessments of existing initiatives remain scarce despite dramatic changes in orientation, organisation and intervention. This report examines the role, performance and impact of farm advisory services, training and extension initiatives in the OECD area to foster green growth in agriculture. Based on a series of case studies, the report discusses a range of methodological issues and the merits of the different types of providers, and identifies best practices in sustainable agricultural management.
This report summarises the current situation in fisheries and aquaculture, observing that in many parts of the world these sectors are at risk and do not reach their full potential. However, the prospects for sustained growth are good if reforms along the lines suggested by the OECD Green Growth Strategy are undertaken. The report emphasises the need for a strong, science-based approach to stock management for resource sustainability, combined with a transparent and reactive policy development cycle to ensure that fisheries deliver maximum possible benefits. The report shows that improved regulation to deal with environmental externalities and space competition is key to unlocking future growth potential of aquaculture.
The peer review process can lead to changes in the interpretation of the slides and the reported results, and potentially the outcome and conclusions of the study. The purpose of this document is to provide guidance to pathologists, test facility management, study directors and quality assurance personnel on how the peer review of histopathology should be planned, managed, documented and reported in order to meet GLP expectations and requirements. This document is a complement to the guidance provided in section 3.6.3.7 of OECD Guidance Document 116 (series on testing and assessment), whose focus is on how histopathology peer review should be conducted.
The ITF Transport Outlook examines the development of global transport volumes and related CO2 emissions and health impacts through to 2050. It examines factors that can affect supply and demand for transport services and focuses on scenarios illustrating potential upper and lower pathways, discussing their relevance to policy making.
This edition presents an overview of long-run scenarios for the development of global passenger and freight transport volumes, with emphasis on changes in global trade flows and the consequences of rapid urbanisation. It focuses on the characteristics of mobility development in developing countries, from Latin America to Chinese and Indian cities, highlighting the importance of urban mobility policies for the achievement of national and global sustainability goals.
This OECD Emission Scenario Document (ESD) provides information on the sources, use patterns, and release pathways of chemicals used in industrial cleaning. This document provides a method of estimating emission quantity in the absence of sufficient empirical data to support an analysis of the substitution of one industrial cleaner for another. Among scenarios that are highly likely to occur (as determined by analysing trends in the substitution of cleaning chemicals), possible combinations of currently used substances and their substitutes are focused. Changes in operating conditions and cleaning equipment due to the use of substitute materials are also examined.
Australia’s agriculture and food industries are well placed to contribute to the economy’s future growth given the robust prospects of global food demand and the continuing high international competitiveness of these sectors. There are, however, important challenges that call for new ways to exploit agricultural resources and human capital. The decade-long decline in agricultural productivity growth needs to be overcome, coupled with the need to accommodate uncertainties about the impacts of climate change and to respond to societal demands in the areas of sustainable development and animal welfare. The agro-food sector also needs to absorb exchange-rate and cost pressures created by the mining boom. To tap additional opportunities of the higher value food segments, Australian agri-businesses need new knowledge and capabilities to seize demand signals and value opportunities, particularly from more affluent consumers in Asian markets.
Agriculture and the agro-processing sector in Brazil have shown impressive growth over the past two decades. This has largely been driven by productivity improvements and structural adjustment resulting from broad economic reforms, as well as new technologies developed by agricultural science. Government policy and industry initiatives are increasingly focused on the sustainability of agricultural development.
The Canadian food and agriculture sector is for the most part competitive and export-oriented: although challenges and opportunities vary significantly between regions, primary agriculture benefits from an abundance of natural resources and faces limited environmental constraints. Negative environmental impacts of agriculture relate mainly to local water pollution by agricultural nutrients. Productivity growth, resulting from innovation and structural change, has driven production and income growth without significantly increasing pressure on resource use. Nonetheless, the capacity to innovate is crucial to take advantage of the growing and changing demand for food and agricultural products at the global level.
The Dutch food, agriculture and horticulture sector is innovative and export oriented, with high value-added along the food chain and significant world export shares for many products. Continuous adoption of innovation has permitted to reach high levels of productivity and sustained productivity growth, in particular at the farm level, in a context of increasing environmental regulatory constraints. The challenge is whether marginal improvements in current technologies and know-how will be enough to pursue current rates of productivity growth – sustainably – and whether the innovation system will be able to generate the new ideas that are needed to face future challenges, including those linked to climate change.