Browse by: "2010"

Les évolutions urbanistiques, démographiques, et même climatiques, ont un impact sur les questions auxquelles doivent répondre les pays de l’OCDE en matière de protection de la vie et du bien-être des citoyens ou de garantie de la continuité de l’activité économique. En France les plus grands risques naturels connus concernent les inondations. Alors que plusieurs politiques publiques sur la gestion des risques d’inondation sont adoptées, celles-ci sont mises en œuvre à différents niveaux administratifs. Dans cette étude de cas, le Programme de l'OCDE sur l’avenir analyse une gestion intégrée dans le bassin de la Loire et examine les défis rencontrés. Au nombre des questions les plus cruciales figurent la concertation des parties-prenantes, l’investissement dans l’entretien des digues et le changement climatique.

Le Projet de l’OCDE sur l’avenir portant sur les politiques de gestion des risques identifie les principales difficultés de la gestion des risques au XXIe siècle et propose des solutions. Le projet met l’accent sur la cohérence des politiques de gestion des risques et sur leur capacité à faire face aux risques systémiques. Il couvre un vaste éventail de questions liées à la gestion des risques et s’attache à trois grandes thématiques : les catastrophes naturelles, les risques pour les infrastructures critiques et la protection de groupes sociaux particulièrement vulnérables.

 

The world appears to be emerging from the worst economic crisis in decades. Many countries have made pledges under the Copenhagen Accord to reduce greenhouse-gas emissions. Commitments have also been made by the G-20 and APEC to phase out inefficient fossil-fuel subsidies. Are we, at last, on the path to a secure, reliable and environmentally sustainable energy system?

Updated projections of energy demand, production, trade and investment, fuel by fuel and region by region to 2035 are provided in the 2010 edition of the World Energy Outlook (WEO). It includes, for the first time, a new scenario that anticipates future actions by governments to meet the commitments they have made to tackle climate change and growing energy insecurity.

WEO-2010 shows:

·         what more must be done and spent to achieve the goal of the Copenhagen Accord to limit the global temperature increase to 2°C and how these actions would impact on oil markets;

·         how emerging economies – led by China and India – will increasingly shape the global energy landscape;

·         what role renewables  can play in a clean and secure energy future;

·         what removing fossil-fuel subsidies would mean for energy markets, climate change and state budgets;

·         the trends in Caspian energy markets and the implications for global energy supply;

·         the prospects for unconventional oil; and

·         how to give the entire global population access to modern energy services.

With extensive data, projections and analysis, WEO-2010 provides invaluable insights into how the energy system could evolve over the next quarter of a century. The book is essential reading for anyone with a stake in the energy sector.

“Too much ‘red tape’!” is one of the most common complaints from businesses and citizens in OECD countries. Administrative simplification is a regulatory quality tool to review and reduce administrative and regulatory procedures. It has remained high on the agenda in most OECD countries over the last decade and continues to be so. Countries’ efforts to strengthen their competitiveness, productivity and entrepreneurship during the current recession have made simplification efforts even more urgent.  

Until now, efforts to reduce administrative burdens have primarily been driven by ambitions to improve the cost efficiency of administrative regulations, as these impose direct and indirect costs on regulated subjects. Many countries will finish their current projects over the next few years and must decide how to continue their efforts and how to make them more efficient.  

This report looks beyond 2010 and presents policy options for administrative simplification that are in line with current trends and developments. It provides policy makers with guidance on the available tools and explains common mistakes to be avoided when designing, undertaking and evaluating administrative simplification programmes.

Is the value of reducing environmental risk greater for children than for adults? If so, what does this mean for policy makers? This report, the final output of the Valuation of Environment-Related Health Impacts (VERHI) project, presents new research findings on these key environmental policy questions.

The authors estimate a "VSL" (Value of a Statistical Life) for children and adults based on new methodological approaches for valuing children’s health. The survey work is distinguished by its international dimension (surveys were conducted in the Czech Republic, Italy and the United Kingdom) and by the extensive development efforts undertaken.

The result: Two new survey instruments based on different methodological approaches; new estimates of the VSL for adults and children; analysis of the effects of context and other factors on risk preferences; presentation of novel ways to communicate risk, including a variety of visual aids; and insights that identify interesting paths for further study.

 

With several countries currently building nuclear power plants and planning the construction of more to meet long-term increases in electricity demand, uranium resources, production and demand remain topics of notable interest. In response to the projected growth in demand for uranium and declining inventories, the uranium industry – the first critical link in the fuel supply chain for nuclear reactors – is boosting production and developing plans for further increases in the near future. Strong market conditions will, however, be necessary to trigger the investments required to meet projected demand.

The “Red Book”, jointly prepared by the OECD Nuclear Energy Agency and the International Atomic Energy Agency, is a recognised world reference on uranium. It is based on information compiled in 40 countries, including those that are major producers and consumers of uranium. This 23rd edition provides a comprehensive review of world uranium supply and demand as of 1 January 2009, as well as data on global uranium exploration, resources, production and reactor-related requirements. It provides substantive new information from major uranium production centres around the world, as well as from countries developing production centres for the first time. Projections of nuclear generating capacity and reactor-related uranium requirements through 2035 are also featured, along with an analysis of long-term uranium supply and demand issues.

How have the passenger and freight transport sectors evolved in recent years? And what about road safety? This publication presents the most up-to-date statistics on transport markets in International Transport Forum countries for the period 1970-2008, including charts to highlight the major trends.

This brochure provides the reader with first-hand figures on key transport trends. Data are also provided on air and maritime transport as well as on investment and maintenance expenditures undertaken in the transport sector.

China has became the world’s largest urban nation with today over 600 million urban citizens, a figure that is projected to reach 900 million by 2050. Its national economy is already concentrated in cities: almost 65% of China’s GDP was produced in its 53 metropolitan regions in 2004. Although the scale of China’s urbanisation – and the growing number of metropolitan regions within which this urbanisation is concentrating – is unprecedented globally, issues confronting all levels of government in managing this growth are not unique. Most OECD countries have needed to address a wide range of urban management challenges, and are continuing to acquire valuable experience in doing so. Among the key challenges that many countries have been confronted with include: How to maximise national benefits of urbanisation and mitigating its negative impacts? What are the economic, social, and environmental costs of meeting these challenges? How to define the most effective and efficient allocation of functional responsibilities among various levels of government in the urban context? How to effectively plan urban development in a market context?

This report presents an overview of trends in urban policies in OECD countries with the objective to identify successes and failure that could inform national Chinese policy-makers in their preparation of an Urbanisation Strategy.

What does it mean for education that our societies are increasingly diverse? How is global economic power shifting towards new countries? In what ways are working patterns changing?

Trends Shaping Education 2010 brings together international evidence to address questions like these. To make the content accessible, each trend is presented on a double page, containing an introduction, two charts with brief descriptive text and a set of pertinent questions for education.

The trends presented are based on high quality international data, primarily from the OECD, the World Bank and the United Nations. The charts contain dynamic links so that readers can access the original data. Trends Shaping Education 2010 is organised around five broad themes, each with its own “find out more” section:

• the dynamics of globalisation;
• evolving social challenges;
• the changing world of work;
• transformation of childhood;
• ICT: the next generation.

This book is designed to give policy makers, researchers, educational leaders, administrators and teachers a robust, non-specialist source to inform strategic thinking and stimulate reflection on the challenges facing education, whether in schools, universities or programmes for older adults. It will also be of interest to students and the wider public, including parents.

Companies are increasingly aware of the need to address climate change. However, while many companies are taking action to address climate change, many others are still lagging behind.  This report surveys responsible business practices addressing climate change and driving the shift to a low-carbon economy. It summarises policies, regulations and other instruments in support of a low carbon economy in OECD countries and emerging economies, and analyses corporate responses to these drivers.
Using the principles of responsible business conduct identified in the OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises, this report reviews three key areas of corporate action: accounting for greenhouse gas emissions; achieving emissions reductions; and engaging suppliers, consumers and other stakeholders.

More than one-third of Official Development Assistance is spent annually on fragile and conflict-affected countries. Nonetheless, aid does not always flow promptly and effectively to where it is most needed, especially in countries recovering from conflict. The Accra Agenda for Action, recent peer reviews by the OECD Development Assistance Committee (OECD DAC) and the UN Secretary-General’s report “Peacebuilding in the Immediate Aftermath of Conflict” agree: international engagement is less than optimal, especially in guiding and implementing transition financing processes.
 
While many determining forces in fragile and conflict-affected countries are outside donor control, decisions about which activities to finance and how to finance them influence these countries’ path out of conflict. This is because financing is about much more than the flow of resources: it affects behaviour, aid architecture, power and influence, priorities, and capacity development. And because it signals approval or disapproval, there is no neutral choice: a financing decision has consequences that go far beyond the timescale and scope of the funded activity.
 
This report will help OECD DAC members and partners to map out more effective, rapid and flexible transition financing. This includes improving current policies and practices in financial flows, implementing procedural and cultural changes in donor administrations, and maximising use of the instruments available for in-country transition financing. The report also addresses improving the operational effectiveness of pooled funding instruments, clarifying the link between funding instruments and national ownership, and adopting a new approach to identify and prioritise specific transition needs.

The dramatic collapse in world trade in 2009 is, this report shows, mainly due to: the drop in demand for highly traded products; the drying up of trade finance; and the vertically integrated nature of global supply chains. Contrary to expectations, protectionist measures were relatively muted and did not play a significant part. In fact, because of their sheer size, stimulus measures may have had more impact on trade than direct trade policy measures Nevertheless, dollar for dollar, direct trade restricting measures have the most strongly negative impacts on growth and employment: a one dollar increase in tariff revenues results in a USD 2.16 drop in world exports and a USD 0.73 drop in world income.

The analyses presented here suggest that exit strategies from measures to deal with the crisis will be most effective in boosting growth and jobs if they first roll back measures that discriminate between domestic and foreign firms and those that target specific sectors. General demand stimulus measures and active labour market policies are preferable under current conditions.

Currently, the format, content and practice of cost estimation vary considerably both within and between countries, which makes it very difficult to compare estimates, even for similar types of facilities. The reasons are largely due to different legal requirements in different countries and to historical custom and practice, leading to variations in basic assumptions such as the anticipated decommissioning strategy and end state of the site, and to different approaches to dealing with uncertainties. While attaining harmonisation across national approaches to cost estimation may be difficult to achieve, standardising the way decommissioning cost estimates are structured and reported will give greater transparency to the decommissioning process and will help build regulator and stakeholder confidence in the cost estimates and schedules.

This booklet highlights the findings of the NEA Decommissioning Cost Estimation Group (DCEG) which recently studied cost estimation practices in 12 countries.

State legitimacy matters because it transforms power into authority and provides the basis for rule by consent, rather than by coercion. In fragile situations, a lack of legitimacy undermines constructive relations between the state and society, and thus compounds fragility. Multiple sources of legitimacy often compete and conflict, leaving the state unable to impose the ultimate rules of the game.

Donors working in fragile environments have paid relatively little attention to legitimacy, instead concentrating their efforts on capacity development and institution building as a way of strengthening state effectiveness. The State’s Legitimacy in Fragile Situations urges donors to pay much more attention to legitimacy. It also invites them to broaden their understanding to encompass aspects of legitimacy that derive from people’s shared beliefs and traditions, not just from Western state models. Finally, it encourages donors to monitor the impact of their interventions so as to avoid undermining state legitimacy. The publication concludes with practical recommendations on how donors can support better relations between state and society in fragile situations.

Well-timed and targeted innovation boosts productivity, increases economic growth and helps solve societal problems. But how can governments encourage more people to innovate more of the time? And how can government itself be more innovative?

The OECD Innovation Strategy provides a set of principles for fostering innovation in people (workers and consumers), in firms and in government. It takes an in-depth look at the scope of innovation and how it is changing, as well as where and how it is occurring. The result is the formulation of far-reaching policies for innovation using recent research and data.

"a thoughtful new report on how governments can do better at spurring and measuring innovation." The Economist

What do we know about how people learn? How do young people’s motivations and emotions influence their learning? What does research show to be the benefits of group work, formative assessments, technology applications, or project-based learning and when are they most effective?  How is learning affected by family background? These are among the questions addressed for the OECD by leading researchers from North America and Europe. This book brings together the lessons of research on both the nature of learning and different educational applications, and it summarises these as seven key concluding principles.  

Among the contributors are Brigid Barron, Monique Boekaerts, Erik de Corte, Linda Darling-Hammond, Kurt Fischer, Andrew Furco, Richard Mayer, Lauren Resnick, Barbara Schneider, Robert Slavin, James Spillane, Elsbeth Stern and Dylan Wiliam.

The Nature of Learning: Using Research to Inspire Practice is essential reading for all those interested in knowing what research has to say about how to optimise learning in classrooms, schools and other settings. It aims, first and foremost, to inform practice and educational reform. It will be of particular interest to teachers, education leaders, teacher educators, advisors and decision makers, as well as the research community