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Biodiversity and ecosystem services provide tangible benefits for society, such as food provisioning, water purification, genetic resources or climate regulation. These services provide critical life support functions and contribute to human health, well being and economic growth. Yet biodiversity is declining worldwide and, in some areas, this loss is accelerating. The need for policies that promote the conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity and ecosystem services is more important than ever.
Payments for Ecosystem Services (PES) is a direct and flexible incentive-based mechanism under which the user or beneficiary of an ecosystem service makes a direct payment to an individual or community whose land use decisions have an impact on the ecosystem service provision. Interest in PES has been increasing rapidly over the past decade: PES are proliferating worldwide and there are already more than 300 programmes in place today at national, regional and local levels.
Drawing on the literature concerning effective PES and on more than 30 case studies from both developed and developing countries, this book aims to identify good practice in the design and implementation of PES programmes so as to enhance their environmental and cost effectiveness. It addresses the following questions: Why are PES useful and how do they work? How can they be made most effective environmentally and how can their cost-effectiveness be maximised? What are the different potential sources of finance for PES programmes, and how can they be secured? and What are the lessons learned from existing PES programmes and insights for future programmes, including international PES?
The implementation of biodiversity policies will often benefit different groups to a greater or lesser degree. For example, in establishing a property right to facilitate management of a biodiversity-related resource, people who previously had unrestricted use will be adversely affected. Combining analysis and a wealth of case studies, this book offers concepts and tools for addressing distributive issues in biodiversity policy. It will help policy makers put together strategies for anticipating distributive impacts across different groups; and for selecting processes and instruments that manage distributive impacts without compromising conservation and use objectives.
This report calls for a better understanding of the effects of pharmaceutical residues in the environment, greater international collaboration and accountability distribution, and policy actions to prevent and remedy emerging concerns. Laboratory and field tests show traces of oral contraceptives causing the feminisation of fish and amphibians, and residues of psychiatric drugs altering fish behaviour. Antimicrobial resistance, linked to the overuse of antibiotics, has rapidly escalated into a global health crisis.
Unless adequate measures are taken to manage the risks, pharmaceutical residues will increasingly be released into the environment as ageing populations, advances in healthcare, and intensification of meat and fish production spur the demand for pharmaceuticals worldwide. The report outlines a collective, life-cycle approach to managing pharmaceuticals in the environment. A policy mix of source-directed, use-orientated and end-of-pipe measures, involving several policy sectors, can help to improve health and protect the environment.
This OECD Emission Scenario Document (ESD) provides information on the sources, use patterns and release pathways of chemicals used in photographic industry to assist in the estimation of releases of chemicals to the environment.
This OECD Emission Scenario Document (ESD) provides information on the sources, use patterns, and potential release pathways of chemicals used in the semiconductor manufacturing industry. The document presents standard approaches for estimating environmental releases of and occupational exposures to additives and components used in photoresist formulations.
This OECD Emission Scenario Document (ESD) provides information on the sources, use patterns and release pathways of chemicals used as additives in plastics to assist in the estimation of releases of chemicals to the environment.
In 2003, the Ministers of Environment of the 12 countries of Eastern Europe, Caucasus and Central Asia (EECCA), together with their partners in the “Environment for Europe” process, adopted the EECCA Environment Strategy. This book provides a review of progress in achieving the Strategy's objectives, and provides a solid analytical base for discussions on future environmental co-operation between EECCA countries and their partners. Part I of the book looks at progress across the area on such strategic objectives as pollution prevention and control and environmental policy integration. Part II provides country profiles.
This report presents a comprehensive assessment of the policy instruments adopted by the Netherlands to reach carbon neutrality in its manufacturing sector by 2050. The analysis illustrates the strength of combining a strong commitment to raising carbon prices with ambitious technology support, uncovers the pervasiveness of competitiveness provisions, and highlights the trade-off between short-term emissions cuts and longer-term technology shift. The Netherlands’ carbon levy sets an ambitious price trajectory to 2030, but is tempered by extensive preferential treatment to energy-intensive users, yielding a highly unequal carbon price across firms and sectors. The country’s technology support focuses on the cost-effective deployment of low-carbon options, which ensures least-cost decarbonisation in the short run but favours relatively mature technologies. The report offers recommendations for policy adjustments to reach the country’s carbon neutrality objective, including the gradual removal of exemptions, enhanced support for emerging technologies and greater visibility over future infrastructure plans.
Sustainable development involves linking the economic, social and environmental objectives of societies in a balanced way. It stresses the importance of taking a broader view of what human welfare entails, of using a long-term perspective about the consequences of today's activities, and of recognising the global nature of many of the most pressing challenges facing societies. OECD countries committed themselves to sustainable development at the 1992 Rio Conference on Environment and Development. However, action to meet these commitments remains slow. This report identifies some of the main barriers -- conceptual and practical -- that stand in the way of progress, and some of the areas where concrete government actions will allow a better integration of environmental, economic and social goals. Particular focus is placed on how the use of the price system, reform of governments' decision-making processes, technology policies, and international trade and investment may each contribute to removing incentives to unsustainable resource depletion and environmental degradation. Recommendations in each of these areas are presented in this Report, and then applied to two areas -- climate change and natural resource management -- where the risks of non-sustainability appear to be highest.
This report presents policy options for extending the life of road assets by mitigating deterioration caused by trucks. Beyond traditional engineering responses, it considers the role of trucks in road asset deterioration from a broader, demand-oriented perspective.
Microplastics are ubiquitous in the natural environment. This report synthesises the current state of knowledge on the sources, fate and risks of microplastics pollution. It then focuses on two sources of microplastics pollution, textile products and vehicle tyres, due to their substantial contribution to global microplastics emissions and currently largely absent policy frameworks to mitigate them.
Several best practices and technological solutions can be implemented along the lifecycle of textile products and vehicle tyres to mitigate releases to the environment. The report proposes policy insights on measures and strategies that could help minimise microplastics emitted unintentionally from products and their potential impacts on human health and ecosystems.
Combatting climate change is among the most critical issues on the global policy agenda. The transition towards a greener economy will require a pivot towards more sustainable production processes and consumption patterns. Entrepreneurs have the potential to be a major driving force behind this effort through their capacity to develop and propagate innovative green solutions. To unlock this potential, it is crucial for policy makers to implement appropriate policies and measures that enable green entrepreneurs to thrive. This report identifies lessons from international policy practices in stimulating and supporting green entrepreneurship from three case study countries – Canada, Germany and Israel – to inform Denmark about effective policy practices and pitfalls to avoid as it implements initiatives to strengthen its green transition. Recommendations are offered across a number of areas such as promoting greater co-ordination between relevant policy actors, strengthening specialised support for green entrepreneurs and building green markets.
Many Lithuanian households struggle to afford good-quality housing. The housing stock is dominated by owner-occupied, multi-apartment buildings that are energy inefficient and face persistent quality gaps. While average household spending on housing is relatively low, house prices have been rising, and many households cannot afford to move to higher quality homes that better suit their needs. Lithuanian policy makers have stepped up support for housing in recent years, but more actions are needed. This report presents the main features of the Lithuanian housing market, highlights housing challenges that have been amplified by the current economic and geopolitical crises, and assesses current policies to address housing affordability and quality gaps. It proposes a series of recommendations to strengthen the supply of and access to affordable housing, and to support Lithuania’s commitment to make housing policy a priority.
SDG target 17.14 calls on all countries to “enhance policy coherence for sustainable development” as a key means of implementation. According to countries’ Voluntary National Reviews, this presents a major challenge. It requires meaningful collaboration and co-ordinated action across both policy sectors and different levels of government. It also requires balancing short-term priorities with long-term sustainability objectives and taking into account the impact of domestic policies on global well-being outcomes.
The 2019 edition of Policy Coherence for Sustainable Development looks at countries’ efforts to meet this challenge and identifies opportunities for accelerating progress. The third in a series, it shows how integrated and coherent policies, supported by strong institutional and governance mechanisms, can contribute to empowering people and ensuring inclusiveness and equality.
This publication provides governments with guidance on the policy options that are available to make the most of private investment opportunities in clean energy infrastructure, drawing on the expertise of climate and investment communities among others. It identifies key issues for policy makers to consider, including in investment policy, investment promotion and facilitation, competition policy, financial markets, and public governance. It also addresses cross-cutting issues, including regional co-operation and international trade for investment in clean energy infrastructure.
This Policy Guidance is a product of the Development Assistance Committee’s multi-year programme of work on Illicit Financial Flows (IFFs) in oil commodity trading. It proposes a set of relevant, feasible actions for providers of official development assistance (ODA) to respond to IFFs in oil commodity trading. The aim is to enhance the mobilisation of domestic resources for the benefit of populations living in oil-producing developing countries, and enable integrity in their energy transition, particularly in carbon trade.
This report responds to the request by G7 Leaders at the Schloss Elmau Summit in June 2015, for the OECD to develop policy guidance on resource efficiency. Establishing a resource efficient economy is a major environmental, development and macroeconomic challenge today. Improving resource efficiency by putting in place policies that implement the principles of reduce, reuse, recycle (the 3Rs) is crucial to improving resource use, security and competitiveness while diminishing the associated environmental impacts.
Moving people and freight in an environmentally sustainable manner will be one of the biggest challenges of the 21st century. Overall, insufficient progress has been made so far towards achieving environmental sustainability for the transport sector. A new target-oriented approach is needed that places environment and health at the top of the policy agenda for transport and related sectors, at international, national and local levels. The OECD’s Working Group on Transport recently concluded a five-year work programme with the development of Guidelines for Environmentally Sustainable Transport (EST) and supporting analytical reports, endorsed by OECD Environment Ministers at their meeting in Paris on 16 May 2001.
This report synthesises the experience of OECD countries in developing and implementing policies, programmes and initiatives related to green growth in the agricultural sector, based primarily on material provided by governments. It discusses the overall approach that countries are taking towards establishing a green growth strategy in agriculture; the implementation of the OECD framework for monitoring progress towards green growth in agriculture; and the various policy instruments used.
A key conclusion is that, while most countries have some policies in place that relate to the concept of green growth, the degree of ambition shows considerable variation. A wide range of instruments and a variety of “policy mixes” are currently applied across OECD countries, with the majority of countries appearing to have strategic objectives covering a wide range of subjects related to green growth, particularly in the area of improving energy efficiency and reducing the carbon footprint of agriculture. A coherent overall policy framework that has clear objectives, sets R&D priorities, and policy measures that are targeted and implemented at the appropriate levels are essential to establish a comprehensive strategy for green growth in agriculture.
The risk of the Seine flooding the Ile de France region is a major one. In 2014, the OECD estimated that flooding comparable to the historic 1910 flood could affect up to 5 million citizens and cause damage costing up to 30 billion euros. This update tracks the progress made since 2014 and identifies remaining challenges.