Browse by: "F"

Foreign direct investment (FDI) is one of the driving forces binding countries into closer economic interdependence. The rapid increase in FDI flows has generated considerable debate about its environmental implications, in particular the impacts on environmental quality in the investment host country. A broader issue is the role of FDI in promoting sustainable development. To date, much of the debate has been polemical in nature. This volume moves the debate forward by analysing in a clear and considered manner the key issues in the FDI and environment relationship. Empirical evidence from OECD and non-OECD countries is presented and the strengths and weaknesses of policy and institutional frameworks that guide investors' environmental behaviour are discussed. In addition, the emerging role of voluntary commitments on the environment is examined. Best practices in this area are highlighted. The papers were presented at the OECD Conference on Foreign Direct Investment and the Environment held in January 1999 in The Hague.

On the surface there is agreement, sustainable development refers to a broad set of issues, going beyond the relationship between the economy and the environment to encompass human and social concerns. Scratch the surface and you open a Pandora's box of differing notions of sustainability and means of achieving it. How can progress towards sustainable development be measured then? The major difficulty in developing indicators to track progress towards sustainable development is not the lack of data but rather the lack of frameworks to organise and synthesize existing information. This volume brings together a number of approaches to this question pursued in academia, national administrations and international organisations, as presented at an expert workshop held at the OECD headquarters in September 1999. These approaches include developments of the traditional national accounts system, construction of synthetic measures of sustainability such as "genuine savings", physical measures of material flows, and selections of indicators based on variants of the "pressure, state, response" model. This volume also reviews a number of initiatives undertaken within the OECD to monitor trends in the sustainability of specific sectors and sub-national areas.

This book presents a method to develop financing strategies for investment-heavy environmental infrastructure, such as urban water supply, wastewater collection and treatment, and municipal solid waste. The strategies, supported by the FEASIBLE computer model, were developed in several countries of Eastern Europe, Caucasus and Central Asia (EECCA), in EU accession countries and China. This approach focuses on the importance of realism, affordability and the cost-effective use of resources in achieving infrastructure development and environmental goals.

This book gathers the proceedings of an OECD Workshop that took place in April 2004 in Paris, on Illegal, Unreported and Unregulated (IUU) fishing -- a worldwide problem which is increasing in scale. The aim of the workshop was to better understand the social and economic factors that drive IUU fishing in order to identify more effective methods to combat this evil and propose new ways to deal with it.

The current environmental situation of the countries of Eastern Europe, the Caucasus and Central Asia (EECCA) is dire and challenges are mounting, but there are also new opportunities. This report explains the environmental challenges that these transition economies face, and assesses the financial tools and resources, both domestic and foreign, available to tackle them.

Land is a key input into agricultural production and the agricultural sector remains the main user of rural land in most OECD countries. How land is managed in agriculture, and the conversion of farmland to non-agricultural uses, are likely to have implications not only for the provision of food, but also for the supply of public goods such as rural amenities, as well as for the quantity and quality of water. Changes in agricultural, agri-environmental, land-use, and regional policies – together with factors such as climate and demographic changes – increasingly affect land use and management choices. This report examines the impact of several policies on farmland conversion using a combination of economic analysis and empirical case studies.

Innovation is key to green growth. It helps decouple growth from natural capital depletion and contributes to economic growth and job creation. Business is the driver of innovation, but governments need to provide clear and stable market signals, e.g. through carbon pricing. This book explores policy actions for the deployment of new technologies and innovations as they emerge: investment in research and development, support for commercialisation, strengthening markets and fostering technology diffusion. Competition will be essential to bring out the best solutions.

This study examines the broad range of factors driving farm management decisions that can improve the environment, including drawing on the experiences of OECD countries. It identifies policy options that would contribute to a sustainable and resilient agricultural sector in the context of climate change.

This OECD Emission Scenario Document (ESD) provides information on the sources, use patterns, and potential release pathways of chemicals used in the manufacture of thermal and carbonless copy paper. The document presents approaches for estimating the environmental releases of and occupational exposures to additives and components used in thermal and carbonless copy paper coatings.

This document presents a review of fish toxicity testing for the regulatory purpose of chemical safety. The main focus is on fish toxicity, but fish bioaccumulation is also considered where relevant. A review of regulatory needs for fish tests under various jurisdictions in OECD countries is provided in Chapter 2, followed by a review of statistical issues and general test considerations in Chapters 3 and 4, respectively. The document examines animal welfare concerns and alternatives to fish tests in Chapter 5. Chapter 6 provides a systematic review of existing and draft OECD Guidelines which use fish for toxicity or bioaccumulation studies. Finally Chapter 7 describes a generic framework for assessing the environmental hazards of chemicals using fish tests in the most efficient way. An Annex contains conclusions and recommendations made and agreed at the workshop in September 2010. The recommendations concern, among other aspects, possible improvements to existing Test Guidelines, development of guidance on specific issues, harmonisation of existing Test Guidelines for common issues, development of new Test Guidelines, and proposals for deletion of outdated Test Guidelines.
 

This OECD Emission Scenario Document (ESD) provides information on the sources, use patterns, and potential release pathways of chemicals used in the radiation curable products industry, specifically during formulation of radiation curable coatings, inks, and adhesives. The document focuses primarily on ultraviolet (UV) and electron beam (EB) curable products and presents standard approaches for estimating the environmental releases of and occupational exposures to components and additives used in radiation curable products.
 

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 looks at farm management practices with green growth potential, from farmer-led innovations (such as those directly linked to soil and water, Integrated Pest Management, organic farming) to science-led technologies (such as biotechnology and precision agriculture). Global food demand can only be met in a sustainable way if new forms of agricultural production and innovative technologies can be unlocked to increase the productivity, stability, and resilience of production systems with goals beyond just raising yields, including saving water and energy, reducing risk, improving product quality, protecting the environment and climate change mitigation.

In this document the importance of mechanistic consideration in quantitative structure-activity relationship ((Q)SAR) analysis, the critical role of mechanistic consideration in improving various (Q)SAR approaches and possible integrative approaches of combining chemoinformatics and bioinformatics are discussed, mainly using carcinogenicity as an illustrative toxicity endpoint. The principles and issues described in this document are general and may also be used for various types of chemical assessment. The intended target of readership is for global chemical hazard/risk assessors in regulatory agencies, industries, non-governmental organization and academia who require reliable and scientifically supportable (Q)SAR information and predictions in their assessments as well as for developers/researchers who endeavour to produce scientifically reliable (Q)SAR predictive models and tools.

This report, prepared by FAO and the OECD with inputs from IFPRI, IFAD, the World Bank and WTO, has been submitted to the G20 Presidency of the Argentine Republic in response to the Presidency’s request for information on future trends and challenges faced by global agriculture, with a special focus on the role of soils in promoting food security and the measures that could be undertaken to facilitate sustainable soil management.