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Since the Rio Earth Summit in 1992, sustainability has emerged as an over-arching policy goal in the OECD Secretariat and in its Member countries. Real progress depends upon the integration of environmental and social goals with economic ones. This publication provides an overview and analysis of trends and identifies policy gaps and trade-offs that have been encountered and points to future options. The authors document positive trends which have emerged signalling greater sustainability, as well as areas where progress has proved more elusive. While the main focus is the OECD region, expanding linkages -- among all countries and regions -- form an important part of the story. The coverage of the volume reflects the OECD's diverse subject matter expertise, and some of the interdisciplinary synergies that the Organisation can generate. Part I of this two-part volume concentrates on socio-economic issues, including the integration of economics and environment; trade and environment; changing consumption and production patterns; assessing environmental performance; development co-operation; and the evolution of aid agencies since Rio. Part II takes an in-depth look at nine sectoral issues: energy; transport; agriculture; toxic chemicals; climate change; nuclear energy; urbanisation; biotechnology; and education. In short, this publication gives essential keys to meet the major challengeof the 21st century: helping to make sustainability a reality.

Strategic environmental assessment is emerging as a tool for integrated decision-making on major transport infrastructure investments and in the planning and policy making process more generally. The discipline is a new one, and by reviewing experience around the world, this report contributes to the development of effective procedures for incorporating adequate environmental assessments in all strategic transport sector decisions.

Pressure on the quantity and quality of water from agriculture is a concern in many OECD countries. But the use of water in agriculture is essential to meet growing demands for food, and also provides environmental and social benefits. Key questions for policy makers are how to ensure the sustainable management of water resources in agriculture through coherent policies in the areas of agriculture, water and the environment.
The Athens Workshop helped to illustrate what needs to be done to manage water sustainably in agriculture, in particular through reviewing the experiences in OECD countries. The main conclusions are: continuing the reform of agricultural policies; improving the transparency of water management policies; enhancing water pricing mechanisms; ensuring that all stakeholders are involved in policy formulation; and undertaking cost-benefit analysis in the design of water projects, taking into account environmental considerations.

Environmental impact assessments are an essential component of making decisions on transport infrastructure investments. Traditional procedures have proved ineffective for impacts that go beyond the scope of projects in isolation. Strategic environmental assessment has emerged in response, to address large scale effects including impacts on traffic across networks, impacts on climate change and biodiversity and the impacts of policy decisions as opposed simply to individual projects. This report examines recent experience in developing environmental assessment internationally and makes recommendations on maximising the effectiveness of this new tool.

How can we meet the needs of today without diminishing the capacity of future generations to meet theirs? This is the central question posed by "sustainable development". OECD countries committed themselves to sustainable development at the 1992 UN Conference on Environment and Development in Rio, yet - almost ten years later - progress accomplished remains partial and uneven. Drawing on analysis carried forward in response to a mandate from OECD Ministers in 1998, this report stresses the urgency to address some of the most pressing challenges for sustainable development. It reviews the conceptual foundations of sustainable development, its measurement, and the institutional reforms needed to make it operational. It then discusses how international trade and investment, as well as development co-operation, can contribute to sustainable development on a global basis, and reviews the experience of OECD countries in using market-based, regulatory and technology policies to reach sustainability goals in a cost-effective way. The report also provides an in-depth analysis of policies designed to address key threats to sustainability in the areas of climate change and natural resource management, as well as of those that respond to sustainability concerns at the sectoral and sub-national level. The common thrust of the report is that substantial opportunities exist to make economic growth, environmental protection, and social development mutually reinforcing.

This publication provides policy guidance on good practice in developing and implementing strategies for sustainable development. While it focuses on the experience of developing countries, many of the issues covered and lessons drawn are of equal relevance to developed countries. It draws from international experience over the past two decades in both developed and developing countries as well as from a process of multi-stakeholders dialogue in Bolivia, Burkina-Faso, Ghana, Namibia, Nepal, Pakistan, Tanzania and Thailand, to assess their experience of country-level strategies for sustainable development.

The DAC Guidelines on Strategies for Sustainable Development aim to provide guidance for development co-operation agencies in their efforts to assist developing countries towards sustainable development. They should also be of value to policy-makers, planners and development practitioners, as well as to academics, students and development analysts in all countries.

This book explores the interface between environmental and social elements of water pricing policies in OECD countries.  It focuses on affordability of water services and social measures aimed at resolving these affordability problems.  The book considers how environmental and social safeguards are addressed under different models of water utility ownership and management.  Drawing on a case study in Mexico, the book explores social problems associated with the transition from one level of water service provision to another.

This publication summarises the lessons learned from the 30 country reviews of sustainable development that have been published since 2002 as part of OECD Economic Surveys. It also examines the concrete action that countries have taken to promote sustainable development while concentrating on the results that have been achieved and the efficiency of achieving the results. The publication focuses on major policy areas including the improvement of environmental policies, raising living standards in developing countries, and ensuring sustainable retirement income policies. Numerous tables provide detailed data and sustainable development indicators that have been used to gauge performance and assess costs.

Subsidies are pervasive in OECD countries and are among the most powerful public policy instruments.  But they often introduce unintended consequences, such as budget deficits, pollution, unemployment and trade distortions. This report contains the proceedings of an OECD workshop on subsidy reform held in October 2005 under the auspices of the OECD programme on sustainable development.  It provides an overview of approaches for assessing subsidies and associated taxes, and looks at country experiences in reforming subsidies in the agriculture, fisheries, industry, and transport sectors.

These OECD Biosafety Consensus Documents identify elements of scientific information used in the environmental safety and risk assessment of transgenic organisms which are common to OECD member countries.  This is intended to encourage information sharing and prevent duplication of effort among countries. This book offers ready access to those consensus documents which have been published thus far. As such, it should be of value to applicants for commercial uses of transgenic crops, regulators in national authorities as well as the wider scientific community. More information on the OECD's work related to the biosafety of transgenic organisms is found at BioTrack Online (http://www.oecd.org/biotrack).

These OECD Biosafety Consensus Documents identify elements of scientific information used in the environmental safety and risk assessment of transgenic organisms which are common to OECD member countries.  This is intended to encourage information sharing and prevent duplication of effort among countries. This book offers ready access to those consensus documents which have been published thus far. As such, it should be of value to applicants for commercial uses of transgenic crops, regulators in national authorities as well as the wider scientific community. More information on the OECD's work related to the biosafety of transgenic organisms is found at BioTrack Online (http://www.oecd.org/biotrack).

Unsustainable subsidies are pervasive in the industry, agriculture, transport and energy sectors of most OECD countries. They are expensive for governments and can have harmful environmental and social effects. Eliminating these supports requires comprehensive approaches which are supported by top political leadership, transparent in their potential effects on all parties, consistent over the long-term, and often accompanied by transition supports. This volume uses sectoral case studies to illustrate that achieving change in structural policies such as subsidies depends largely on good governance practices.

This book examines the contributions that space technologies can make in tackling some of the serious problems posed by climate change. Focusing on examples of water management, marine resources and maritime transport, it sets out the rationale for further developing satellite systems to measure and monitor climate change and help mitigate its consequences. The report underlines the need to consider satellites not just as research and development systems, but as an important component of a critical communication- and information-based infrastructure for modern societies. The tool box for decision makers that concludes the book reviews different methodological options for deciding on investments in space-based earth observation.

This book takes a careful look at the concept of sustainable development. What does it mean? How is it affected by production, consumption and globalisation? How it can be measured, and what can be done to promote it? The OECD produces data, research and policy recommendations on many issues related to sustainable development, including climate change, co-operation with developing countries and corporate social responsibility. OECD Insights: Sustainable Development draws on that expertise. It argues that to be sustainable, development has to be based on progress in three areas at once: the economy, society and the environment.