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Nanotechnology is an emerging and promising field for advanced applications in industrial, commercial and medical sectors, and nanomaterials can be found today in sunscreens, deodorants and textiles. Yet these nanomaterials, which are increasing in number, are entering waste streams as part of end-of-life products along with conventional waste, without any real understanding of their environmental impacts or health risks on human beings and living organisms.
This report provides a literature review on four specific waste treatment processes (recycling, incineration, landfilling and wastewater treatment). While state-of-the-art waste treatment facilities may collect, divert or eliminate nanomaterials from these waste streams, the report concludes that knowledge gaps associated with their final disposal remain, underlining the need for further research in this area.
Developing countries are increasingly moving towards more strategic national policies and plans, the effectiveness of which will depend upon proper assessment of a given country’s vulnerability to climate change. This report draws upon emerging monitoring and evaluation practices across developed and developing countries to identify four tools that countries can draw upon in their own assessment frameworks: 1) climate change risk and vulnerability assessments, 2) indicators to monitor progress on adaptation priorities, 3) project and programme evaluations to identify effective adaptation approaches, and 4) national audits and climate expenditure reviews.
The appropriate mix of tools to monitor and evaluate national climate-change adaptation will to a large extent be determined by data availability, monitoring and evaluation capacity, and the ability to bring together the producers and the users of relevant climate information. The report also examines how development co-operation providers can support partner countries in their efforts to monitor and evaluate adaptation.
Nearly two years after Kyoto, most OECD countries are looking towards ratification and implementation of their obligations under the Kyoto Protocol. What do historical emissions and policy trends tell us about the way forward? Which policies will be needed to combat climate change?
This book provides an overview of recent developments in OECD countries and a framework for policy making in the context of Kyoto targets. There is no single formula for domestic policies to mitigate greenhouse gas emissions. Every country will need to assess opportunities and constraints to develop a strategy adapted to their own situation. Yet, it is possible to outline some main lines for action in OECD countries at the national level. National strategies should prioritise market, subsidy and fiscal reform policies to establish conditions for competitive markets and remove distortions that harm the environment. And governments should implement a comprehensive mix of mutually reinforcing and integrated policies, using a wide range of economic instruments (green taxes, green tax reform and domestic emission trading) as well as other measures such as product policies, voluntary approaches and public awareness programmes. Unless OECD countries establish more effective frameworks for action now, achieving the Kyoto targets is likely to be costly and difficult.
Climate policy making today demands balancing the need for immediate, accelerated climate action with essential responses to punctual crises such as the COVID-19 pandemic and Russia’s war of aggression in Ukraine. Meeting this challenge requires a new approach centred on systemic resilience and the need to develop future-proof climate and economic policies that will endure potential diverse disruptions. This report offers policy makers a cohesive set of recommendations on how to build such resilience, derived from climate-relevant work from across OECD policy domains including economic and tax policy, financial and fiscal affairs, development, science and technology, employment and social affairs, and environmental policy, among others. It provides fresh insights on how to ensure the transition to net-zero emissions is itself resilient, while simultaneously building resilience to the increasing impacts of climate change. This report provides a synthesis of the OECD Net Zero+ project, covering the first phase of an ongoing, cross-cutting initiative, representing a major step forward for an OECD whole-of-government approach to climate policy.
This scoping document aims at bringing forward relevant in vitro and ex vivo thyroid assays to the attention of OECD member countries, to provide recommendations for their development/use, and also, to identify aspects/blocks of the thyroid signalling pathways that are not covered and would require further development of thyroid assays.
Non-exhaust emissions of particulate matter constitute a little-known but rising share of emissions from road traffic and have significant negative impacts on public health. This report synthesizes the current state of knowledge about the nature, causes, and consequences of non-exhaust particulate emissions. It also projects how particulate matter emissions from non-exhaust sources may evolve in future years and reflects on policy instrument mixes that can address this largely ignored environmental issue.
Meeting the growing demand for energy, and electricity in particular, while addressing the need to curb greenhouse gas emissions and to ensure security of energy supply, is one of the most difficult challenges facing the world’s economies. No single technology can respond to this challenge, and the solution which policy makers are seeking lies in the diversification of energy sources.
Although nuclear energy currently provides over 20% of electricity in the OECD area and does not emit any carbon dioxide during production, it continues to be seen by many as a controversial technology. Public concern remains over its safety and the management of radioactive waste, and financing such a capital-intensive technology is a complex issue. The role that nuclear power will play in the future depends on the answers to these questions, several of which are provided in this up-to-date review of the status of nuclear energy, as well as on the outcome of research and development on the nuclear fuel cycle and reactor technologies.
Meeting the growing demand for energy, and electricity in particular, while addressing the need to curb greenhouse gas emissions and to ensure security of energy supply, is one of the most difficult challenges facing the world’s economies. No single technology can respond to this challenge, and the solution which policy-makers are seeking lies in the diversification of energy sources.
Although nuclear energy currently provides over 20% of electricity in the OECD area and does not emit any carbon dioxide during production, it continues to be seen by many as a controversial technology. Public concern remains over its safety and the management of radioactive waste, and financing such a capital-intensive technology is a complex issue. The role that nuclear power will play in the future depends on the answers to these questions, several of which are provided in this up-to-date review of the status of nuclear energy, as well as on the outcome of research and development on the nuclear fuel cycle and reactor technologies.
This report addresses the increasingly important interactions of variable renewables and dispatchable energy technologies, such as nuclear power, in terms of their effects on electricity systems. These effects add costs to the production of electricity, which are not usually transparent. The report recommends that decision-makers should take into account such system costs and internalise them according to a “generator pays” principle, which is currently not the case. Analysing data from six OECD/NEA countries, the study finds that including the system costs of variable renewables at the level of the electricity grid increases the total costs of electricity supply by up to one-third, depending on technology, country and penetration levels. In addition, it concludes that, unless the current market subsidies for renewables are altered, dispatchable technologies will increasingly not be replaced as they reach their end of life and consequently security of supply will suffer. This implies that significant changes in management and cost allocation will be needed to generate the flexibility required for an economically viable coexistence of nuclear energy and renewables in increasingly decarbonised electricity systems.
The implementation of the Kyoto Protocol and the application of its "flexible mechanisms" are at the forefront of energy policy debates in most OECD countries. The potential role of nuclear energy in this context is viewed very differently and assessed against various criteria by the range of stakeholders in governments and civil society according to their interests and priorities.
This book provides key facts concerning nuclear energy and the Kyoto Protocol. It highlights the challenges and opportunities for the future development of nuclear energy in the context of implementing the Kyoto Protocol, and more broadly in alleviating the risks of global climate change.
Was bedeutet “nachhaltige Entwicklung” tatsächlich? Welchen Einfluss haben Produktion, Konsum und Globalisierung auf Nachhaltigkeit? Wie kann Nachhaltigkeit gemessen werden? Und was können Regierungen, Unternehmen und der Einzelne tun, um nachhaltige Entwicklung zu fördern?
Zu vielen Themen, die nachhaltige Entwicklung betreffen, erstellt die OECD Daten und veröffentlicht Empfehlungen für Forschung und Politik; dazu gehören der Klimawandel, Entwicklungszusammenarbeit und verantwortungsvolle Unternehmensführung. Die neue Veröffentlichung „Sustainable Development“ aus der Buchreihe „OECD Insights“ stützt sich auf diese Fachkompetenz. Um nachhaltige Entwicklung zu erreichen, müssen die drei Bereiche Wirtschaft, Gesellschaft und Umwelt zusammen berücksichtigt werden.