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The OECD Business and Finance Outlook is an annual publication that presents unique data and analysis on the trends, both positive and negative, that are shaping tomorrow’s world of business, finance and investment. The COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted an urgent need to consider resilience in finance, both in the financial system itself and in the role played by capital and investors in making economic and social systems more dynamic and able to withstand external shocks. Using analysis from a wide range of perspectives, this year’s edition focuses on the environmental, social and governance (ESG) factors that are rapidly becoming a part of mainstream finance. It evaluates current ESG practices, and identifies priorities and actions to better align investments with sustainable, long-term value – in particular, the need for more consistent, comparable and available data on ESG performance.
The Jordan Clean Energy Investment Policy Review is a country-specific application of the OECD Policy Guidance for Investment in Clean Energy Infrastructure. It aims to help Jordanian policy makers strengthen the enabling conditions for investment in renewable electricity generation in Jordan. The Policy Guidance is a non-prescriptive tool to help governments identify ways to mobilise private sector investment in clean energy infrastructure, especially in renewable electricity generation. The Policy Guidance was jointly developed by the OECD Working Party on Climate, Investment and Development (WPCID) of the Environment Policy Committee (EPOC) and the OECD Investment Committee, jointly with the Global Relations Secretariat (GRS). It benefited from significant inputs of the World Bank and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). The Policy Guidance was annexed to the Communiqué of G20 Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors at their meeting on 10-11 October 2013.
This publication is concerned with all policies that directly support the production or consumption of fossil fuels in OECD countries and in a selection of partner economies. It provides a useful complement to the online OECD database that identifies and estimates direct budgetary transfers and tax expenditures benefitting fossil fuels, and from which it derives summary results and indicators on support to fossil fuels, as well as policy recommendations.
This report emphasises the problems that fossil-fuel subsidies cause in the context of broader policy efforts for mitigating greenhouse-gas emissions, and reviews the various reform initiatives that have already been taken at the international level (G-20, APEC, etc.). In addition, it presents the coverage, method and data sources used for constructing the online database, and further discusses caveats and data interpretation.
This report is concerned with policies that directly support the production or consumption of fossil fuels in OECD countries and in a selection of partner economies. It provides a useful complement to the online OECD database that identifies and estimates direct budgetary transfers and tax expenditures benefitting fossil fuels, and from which it derives summary results and indicators on support to fossil fuels, as well as policy recommendations.
This report emphasises the problems that fossil-fuel subsidies cause in the context of broader policy efforts to mitigate greenhouse-gas emissions, and reviews the various reform initiatives that have already been taken at the international level (G-20, APEC, etc.). In addition, it presents methods for combining the IEA and OECD support estimates and for measuring the support element of government credit assistance.
This report draws on more than 1 300 government budgetary transfers and tax expenditures providing preferential treatment for the production and consumption of fossil fuels as documented in the 2020 OECD Inventory of Support Measures for Fossil Fuels to track progress in reform of support. It sets out principal trends across 50 OECD, G20 and European Union (EU) Eastern Partnership (EaP) economies, including as resulting from the COVID-19 crisis and novel sectoral decomposition of Inventory data. It reports on developments in tracking and monitoring fossil fuel support in the context of the G20 and the UN Sustainable Development Goals, and with respect to enhancing the interpretation of tax expenditure data. Finally, the report offers a sequential framework to assist governments assess and address the effects of fossil-fuel support measures and their reform, given ongoing challenges in gaining traction for reform.
Agriculture can have significant impacts on the environment as it uses on average over 40% of water and land resources in OECD countries. The impacts occur on and off farm, including both pollution and degradation of soil, water and air. But agriculture also supplies ecosystem services, such as biodiversity, provides a sink for greenhouse gases, and contributes to flood control and the aesthetic value of landscapes.
This compendium updates the data issued in Environmental Performance of Agriculture at a Glance and provides comprehensive data and analysis on the environmental performance of agriculture in OECD countries since 1990, covering soil, water, air and biodiversity and looking at recent policy developments in all 34 OECD countries.
The OECD’s Development Assistance Committee (DAC) conducts peer reviews of individual members once every five to six years. Reviews seek to improve the quality and effectiveness of members’ development co-operation, highlighting good practices and recommending improvements. Portugal mobilises its whole of government expertise with a strong focus on partner country ownership. Building on long-standing and close bilateral relations, it concentrates its funding on countries most in need. Through effective international advocacy, the country champions triangular co-operation and has fostered agreement amongst European Union (EU) members on issues such as strengthening Team Europe’s commitment to human development when it held the Presidency of the EU Council. However, Portugal can make more out of the wide participation of state and non-state actors in its development co-operation. This peer review provides a set of recommendations to improve co-ordination across government, pull bilateral efforts together, focus more on outcomes and take action to increase official development assistance (ODA).
The Australian economy rebounded robustly in the wake of the pandemic. However, inflation has risen and fiscal pressures are on the horizon due to population ageing and climate change. Monetary policy should remain restrictive until underlying inflation is clearly on track to meet the central bank target, while fiscal buffers need to be rebuilt through reducing tax exemptions and improving public spending efficiency in areas such as health. In the medium-term, achieving inclusive and sustainable economic growth requires an ongoing focus on key social objectives such as reducing gender inequality and achieving the climate transition. Gender inequalities have steadily declined but remain visible in the labour market. Further reforms to tax, childcare, education, social benefits and parental leave can improve labour market opportunities for women, promote more equal sharing of unpaid work between genders and help more vulnerable women, notably single mothers. The climate transition is also underway, but further policy measures are needed to meet emissions goals, support the reallocation of workers and adapt to climate change. Given the abundance of renewable energy resources and a large wealth of critical minerals, Australia can secure the energy transition while remaining a key player in international energy markets.
SPECIAL FEATURES: FULLY REALISING THE ECONOMIC POTENTIAL OF WOMEN; ACHIEVING THE TRANSITION TO NET ZERO.
How many passenger cars are there per inhabitant in Spain? How can you become eligible for unemployment benefits in Canada? How did the total final consumption of energy evolve over the last few decades in OECD countries? How is privatisation of telecommunications firms progressing in various OECD countries? This publication answers these and many other questions concerning economic structure and policy in the OECD area, and its evolution over time, giving a broad set of valuable and reliable data in a range of areas -- labour markets, banking, regulation and competition, public finance and expenditures, social services, agriculture, energy, and environment, among others -- as well as some general indicators on basic living standards
This comprehensive set of statistics on the environment in OECD countries provides data on the quality of air and climate, inland waters, land, forests, wildlife, and waste as well as data on pressures on the environment from energy use, transportation, industry, and agriculture. It also provides data on environmental expenditure and taxes and multilateral agreements related to the environment.
The OECD Environmental Data Compendium, published every two years, presents data linking pollution and natural resources with economic activity placing pressures on the environment. It provides data on the state of air and climate, inland waters, land, forests, wildlife, waste, and risks as well as data on pressures on the environment made by energy production and consumption, transport, industry, and agriculture. Data are provided for OECD countries for recent years for which data is available.
The book closes with information on selected responses by government and enterprises, including data on environmental expenditure and taxes, multilateral agreements, and general information on population and population density, trends in and structure of GDP, and structure of household consumption expenditure.
The 2004 edition includes, for the first time, StatLinks for each table and graph. StatLinks are URLs which the reader can use to access spreadsheet files of the underlying data, and in this book, are provided at the beginning of each chapter.
Organised by issues such as climate change, air pollution, biodiversity, waste or water resources, this publication includes key environmental indicators endorsed by OECD Environment Ministers and the broader OECD Core Set of environmental indicators. It contributes to measuring environmental performance and progress towards sustainable development.
The OECD Environmental Outlook provides projections to 2020 of environmental pressures from key economic sectors (agriculture, forestry, fishery, transport, energy and selected industry sectors) and changes in the state of the environment for selected environmental issues (freshwater, biodiversity, climate change, air quality and waste). Cross-sectoral issues are also examined, such as human health and the environment, the social and environmental interface and resource efficiency.
The OECD Environmental Outlook also assesses the underlying institutional frameworks for the environment, and identifies and examines the economic and environmental effects of concrete policy packages to address the main problems identified. The key findings of the report are summarised using traffic lights. These include a number of "red light" issues which need to be addressed urgently by OECD countries, but also "yellow lights" which require further investigation or some action, and "green lights" for which OECD countries should proceed with caution.
This book has been named a Notable Government Document by the American Library Association.
The OECD Environmental Outlook to 2030 provides analyses of economic and environmental trends to 2030, and simulations of policy actions to address the key challenges. Without new policies, we risk irreversibly damaging the environment and the natural resource base needed to support economic growth and well-being. The costs of policy inaction are high.
But the Outlook shows that tackling the key environmental problems we face today -- including climate change, biodiversity loss, water scarcity and the health impacts of pollution -- is both achievable and affordable. It highlights a mix of policies that can address these challenges in a cost-effective way. The focus of this Outlook is expanded from the 2001 edition to reflect developments in both OECD countries and Brazil, Russia, India, Indonesia, China, South Africa (BRIICS), and how they might better co-operate on global and local environmental problem-solving.
"An indispensable addition to the expanding body of environmental literature...Essential"
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Humanity has witnessed unprecedented growth and prosperity in the past decades, with the size of the world economy more than tripling and population increasing by over 3 billion people since 1970. This growth, however, has been accompanied by environmental pollution and natural resource depletion. The current growth model and the mismanagement of natural assets could ultimately undermine human development.
The OECD Environmental Outlook to 2050 asks “What will the next four decades bring?” Based on joint modelling by the OECD and the Netherlands Environmental Assessment Agency, it looks forward to the year 2050 to find out what demographic and economic trends might mean for the environment if the world does not adopt more ambitious green policies. It also looks at what policies could change that picture for the better. This Outlook focuses on four areas: climate change, biodiversity, freshwater and health impacts of pollution. These four key environmental challenges were identified by the previous Environmental Outlook to 2030 (OECD, 2008) as “Red Light” issues requiring urgent attention.
This report draws on the water management chapters of 42 country reviews carried out to date to identify common achievements and remaining challenges for OECD countries in terms of further reducing the pollution burden and protecting human health and aquatic ecosystems. Conclusions are drawn relating to: i) better integrating water and other policies for sustainable development; ii) getting water prices right; and iii) new challenges for water-related public health.
OECD's periodic review of Australia's environmental policies and programmes. This edition reviews progress since the last review in 1998 and in relation to the 2001 OECD Environmental Strategy. It systematically examines environmental management (water, air, nature), sustainable development (environment-economy interface, environment-agriculture interface, environment-social interface) and international commitments. In each area, it makes a series of recommendations.
Australia has managed to decouple economic growth from the main environmental pressures and has made impressive progress in expanding protected areas. However, it is one of the most resource- and carbon-intensive OECD countries, and the state of its biodiversity is poor and worsening. Advancing towards a greener economy will require strengthening climate-change policy and mainstreaming biodiversity more effectively across sectors.
This is the third Environmental Performance Review of Australia. It evaluates progress towards sustainable development and green growth, and includes special features on threatened species protection and sustainable use of biodiversity and chemical management.