By Date

Carbon lock-in occurs when high-emission infrastructure or assets continue to be used, despite the possibility of substituting them with low-emission alternatives, thereby delaying or preventing the transition to near-zero or zero-emission alternatives. Transition finance, which focuses on the dynamic transformation and decarbonisation of hard-to-abate sectors, frequently faces the issue of carbon lock-in, particularly in considerations of investment feasibility and eligibility. Despite most transition finance approaches incorporating lock-in avoidance as a core principle, existing transition instruments and approaches put in place varying or limited mechanisms to prevent lock-in. Building on the OECD Guidance on Transition Finance, this report takes stock of how carbon lock-in risk is addressed in existing transition finance approaches (such as taxonomies, roadmaps, or guidance), financial instruments, and relevant public and private investment frameworks and methodologies. The report provides good practices on the integration of credible mechanisms to prevent carbon lock-in, address greenwashing risks and build confidence in the market. It can inform both public and private actors in the development of transition finance approaches, standards for green, transition and sustainability-linked debt, frameworks for corporate transition plans, or broader climate-related disclosure frameworks.

Policies aimed at reducing the environmental impact of human activities have important consequences for labour markets, jobs, and skills. As employment is shifting towards more sustainable activities, workers are increasingly expected to have skills that support the transition to a greener economy. Assessing and anticipating emerging skill needs is crucial to avoid bottlenecks and sustain the green transition. This report sheds light on existing methods to measure changes in skill demand and supply related to the green transition through an in-depth review of practices in five OECD countries (Australia, Austria, France, Norway and Sweden). It also identifies best practice on how to feed information on changing skill needs into policies, notably in the areas of employment, career guidance, education and adult learning.

This Policy Guidance is a product of the Development Assistance Committee’s multi-year programme of work on Illicit Financial Flows (IFFs) in oil commodity trading. It proposes a set of relevant, feasible actions for providers of official development assistance (ODA) to respond to IFFs in oil commodity trading. The aim is to enhance the mobilisation of domestic resources for the benefit of populations living in oil-producing developing countries, and enable integrity in their energy transition, particularly in carbon trade.

This new web format for Environment at a Glance Indicators provides real-time interactive on-line access to the latest comparable OECD-country data on the environment from the OECD Core Set of Environmental Indicators – a tool to evaluate environmental performance in countries and to track the course towards sustainable development. The web version allows users to play with the data and graphics, download and share them, and consult and download thematic web-books. These indicators provide key messages on major environmental trends in areas such as climate change, biodiversity, water resources, air quality, circular economy and ocean resources. They are accompanied by a short Environment at a Glance report that presents a digest of the key messages stemming from the indicators.

By 2050, the global population living in cities is projected to reach 5 billion, growing from 3.5 billion in 2015. Massive investment in infrastructure will be needed to accommodate this growth, and to adapt infrastructure to climate change and benefit from the digital transition. This report explores three ways to meet this challenge. Firstly, it outlines how new forms of urban planning can help to mobilise private finance for inclusive, resilient and sustainable urban investment. Secondly, it explores how leveraging private investment can help to strengthen cities capacity to support needed investment in a tighter fiscal environment. Finally, it considers the potential opportunities and challenges for mobilising sustainable finance – green, social and sustainable bonds and loans, sustainability-linked bonds and catastrophe bonds – for infrastructure investment by City Governments. The report also includes 17 short case studies from 12 countries that demonstrate innovative practices for creating the Cities of Tomorrow.

Africa’s Development Dynamics uses lessons from Central, East, North, Southern and West Africa to develop policy recommendations and share good practices across the continent. Drawing on the most recent statistics, the analysis of development dynamics aims to assist African leaders in reaching the targets of the African Union’s Agenda 2063 at all levels: continental, regional, national and local. This edition explores how Africa can attract investments that offer the best balance between economic, social and environmental objectives. Its fresh data and analysis aim to help policy makers improve risk assessments, strengthen African-led partnerships, and accelerate regional integration in ways that increase sustainable investments. Two continental chapters examine Africa’s investment landscape and related policy priorities. Five regional chapters offer tailored recommendations in strategic areas including natural ecosystems, renewable energy, climate finance and agri-food value chains. Africa’s Development Dynamics feeds into a policy debate between the African Union’s governments, citizens, entrepreneurs and researchers. It proposes a new collaboration between countries and regions, focusing on mutual learning and the preservation of common goods. This report results from a partnership between the African Union Commission and the OECD Development Centre.

Located in the mid-Atlantic, the archipelagos of the Azores is an autonomous region of Portugal and an European Union Outermost Region. Once central to global trade routes, the Azores are aspiring to regain a prominent international role by leveraging their unique geographical, natural and historical attributes. To that end, this Production Transformation Policy Review (PTPR) Spotlight identifies priority actions in several areas, including scientific research and collaborations, the ocean economy, agro-food and renewable-energy value chains. It shows the importance for EU Outermost Regions, as well as for Small Island Developing States (SIDS), of building resilient international ties. It benefited from an extensive peer review process involving public and private stakeholders from Brazil, Iceland and the United States.

Environment at a Glance in Latin America and the Caribbean: Spotlight on Climate Change focusses on climate change, looking at trends in greenhouse gas emissions, exposure to climate-related hazards and climate policies. It provides key messages on past progress and remaining efforts to be made in Latin America and the Caribbean. The report draws on the OECD’s expertise in environmental data and indicators, on the work of the International Programme for Action on Climate (IPAC) and is part of the OECD Latin America and the Caribbean Regional Programme. The indicators presented come from OECD and other international databases, and reveal substantive gaps in the availability of data on the environment and climate in the region. This interactive report allows users to play with the data and graphics and to download and share them.

Fiscal spending policies adopted in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic have been presented as a unique opportunity to 'build back better' and re-ignite the economy while accelerating the transition to a low-carbon economy. This paper analyses 1 166 funding measures announced by 51 countries and the European Union in 2020-21 to support development and diffusion of low-carbon technologies. These measures – amounting to USD 1.29 trillion – can make an important contribution to filling the climate investment gap, particularly in emerging technologies such as carbon capture, usage and storage and green hydrogen. A modelling analysis suggests that they could have large impacts on greenhouse gas emissions and bring about significant co-benefits in terms of clean sectors’ output growth and reductions in fossil fuel imports.

This paper investigates the role of fiscal federalism in driving ecological transition, a key challenge in the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals agenda. The ecological transition seeks a sustainable society that prioritises natural resource preservation and reduces environmental impacts. The study investigates the link between fiscal federalism institutions and ecological transition policies, focusing on regional and local governments’ role in implementing environmental goals. Despite subnational governments’ commitment to green objectives, comprehensive plan implementation has been limited due to local governments’ incentive schemes and capacity constraints. The paper examines the potential of fiscal federalism institutions, such as fiscal rules, transfers and capacity-building programs, to support ecological transition policies. The research emphasises engaging regional and local governments in the green agenda and highlights the need for tailored approaches in multi-level fiscal governance to effectively achieve environmental goals. By investigating fiscal federalism’s potential contribution to ecological transition, the paper offers valuable insights for policymakers addressing environmental challenges through a multi-level governance approach.