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OECD Environmental Outlook to 2050

The Consequences of Inaction

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.

Published on March 15, 2012 Latest available edition in: French, German

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SUMMARIESavailable in 25 languages

English OECD Environmental Outlook to 2050 (Summary in English)
French OECD Environmental Outlook to 2050 (Summary in French)
Spanish OECD Environmental Outlook to 2050 (Summary in Spanish)
German OECD Environmental Outlook to 2050 (Summary in German)
Japanese OECD Environmental Outlook to 2050 (Summary in Japanese)
Italian OECD Environmental Outlook to 2050 (Summary in Italian)
Chinese OECD Environmental Outlook to 2050 (Summary in Chinese)
Czech OECD Environmental Outlook to 2050 (Summary in Czech)
Danish OECD Environmental Outlook to 2050 (Summary in Danish)
Dutch OECD Environmental Outlook to 2050 (Summary in Dutch)
Estonian OECD Environmental Outlook to 2050 (Summary in Estonian)
Finnish OECD Environmental Outlook to 2050 (Summary in Finnish)
Greek OECD Environmental Outlook to 2050 (Summary in Greek)
Hebrew OECD Environmental Outlook to 2050 (Summary in Hebrew)
Hungarian OECD Environmental Outlook to 2050 (Summary in Hungarian)
Icelandic OECD Environmental Outlook to 2050 (Summary in Icelandic)
Korean OECD Environmental Outlook to 2050 (Summary in Korean)
Norwegian OECD Environmental Outlook to 2050 (Summary in Norwegian)
Polish OECD Environmental Outlook to 2050 (Summary in Polish)
Portuguese OECD Environmental Outlook to 2050 (Summary in Portuguese)
Russian OECD Environmental Outlook to 2050 (Summary in Russian)
Slovak OECD Environmental Outlook to 2050 (Summary in Slovak)
Slovene OECD Environmental Outlook to 2050 (Summary in Slovenian)
Swedish OECD Environmental Outlook to 2050 (Summary in Swedish)
Turkish OECD Environmental Outlook to 2050 (Summary in Turkish)

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Foreword
Acronyms and Abbreviations
Executive Summary
Introduction
Socio-economic Developments
Climate Change
Biodiversity
Water
Health and Environment
Modelling Framework
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