29-November-2016
English
Global biodiversity is on the decline with a further 10% of terrestrial biodiversity projected to be lost by 2050. OECD expert Katia Karousakis explored the benefits of biodiversity and the need for more effective mainstreaming. Presentation now available.
9-August-2016
English
Water is linked to many economic activities, and there are complex channels through which water affects economic growth. The purpose of this report is to provide background information useful for a quantitative global assessment of the impact of water scarcity on growth using a multi-region, recursive-dynamic, Computable General Equilibrium (CGE) model.
22-May-2016
English
The theme of Biodiversity Day this year is “Mainstreaming biodiversity; sustaining people and their livelihoods”. According to World Bank figures, “natural capital accounts for an estimated 30% of total wealth in low income countries compared to only 2% in OECD countries”.
3-May-2016
English
This paper provides an in-depth review of experiences and insights from mainstreaming biodiversity and development in South Africa. More specifically, it describes how biodiversity considerations have been mainstreamed in five key sectors/areas, namely: land use planning, mining, water, infrastructure, and the agricultural sector.
12-April-2016
English
The natural environment provides crucial inputs and services for economic development, but its role for productivity growth is insufficiently explored. Environmental scarcities can pose a drag on productivity growth and a risk for its sustainability.
17-February-2016
English
“If He holds back the waters, there is drought; if He lets them loose, they devastate the land”. To be fair, that was in the days before governments played “a key role in developing targeted policy responses to market failures that impede the mitigation and allocation of drought and flood risks”, as the OECD report on Mitigating Droughts and Floods in Agriculture puts it.
19-November-2015
English
The topic of biodiversity loss has been the subject of a vast and growing scientific and economic literature. Species are estimated to be going extinct at rates 100 to 1000 times faster than in geological times. Globally, terrestrial biodiversity is projected to decrease by a further 10% by 2050.
25-September-2015
English
Nitrogen run-off from farming and other land uses was threatening to undermine the pristine waters of Lake Taupo – New Zealand’s largest and most iconic lake – and to damage a range of economic and cultural activities. In 2011, the regional government introduced a water quality policy package. This bold policy experiment is unique: it is the only trading programme or market where diffuse sources of pollution operate under a cap.
3-August-2015
English
This paper reviews a number of OECD data sources to examine their potential for establishing indicators which can contribute to monitoring progress towards two of the 2011-2020 Aichi Biodiversity Targets under the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), namely Target 3 on Incentives and Target 20 on Resource Mobilisation.