By Date

Fresh water concerns

“We’re going to run out of water much much earlier than we’ll run out of oil,” warned Peter Brabeck-Letmathe, chairman of Nestlé, at the OECD Forum in May 2012. The projections in the OECD’s Environmental Outlook to 2050 certainly suggest that freshwater availability will be strained unless new action is taken.

Is there life on Mars?

Is there life on Mars? -article by Julia Laplane, OECD

Business, Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services: Policy priorities for engaging business to improve the health of ecosystems and conserve biodiversity

For many businesses, declining ecosystem services can pose real risks to their continued profitability. This has motivated some to adopt innovative internal biodiversity policies and engage in a range of activities that conserve biodiversity and improve ecosystem functioning.

COP11 of the Convention on Biological Diversity

The eleventh meeting of the Convention on Biological Diversity was held in Hyderabad, India (COP11, from 8 to 19 October 2012).

Illegal Trade in Environmentally Sensitive Goods

Developing effective policies to reduce illegal trade in environmentally sensitive goods requires a clear understanding of what drives this trade and the circumstances under which it thrives, says this report.

Annual Meeting of the EAP Task Force, 2012

The annual meeting of the Environmental Action Programme (EAP) Task Force held on 24-25 September 2012 in Norway presented an opportunity to discuss how green growth strategies could be operationalised by countries of Eastern Europe, Caucasus and Central Asia (EECCA) within the framework of the EAP Task Force work programme.

Green transformation of small businesses: Achieving and going beyond environmental requirements - Environment Working Paper No. 47

This report aims to help environmental and other competent authorities in OECD countries to promote green business practices among small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). It analyses different ways to establish environmental regulatory requirements for facilities with low environmental risk (most of which are SMEs).

Illegal Trade in Environmentally Sensitive Goods

A Framework for Financing Water Resources Management

This report provides a framework for policy discussions around financing water resources management that are taking place at local, basin, national, or transboundary levels.

The determinants of invention in electricity generation technologies: A patent data analysis - Environment Working Paper No. 45

This paper analyses the determinants of invention in efficiency-enhancing electricity generation technologies that have the potential to facilitate climate change mitigation efforts, including fossil fuel based technologies aimed at reducing carbon emissions, renewables and nuclear technologies.