Latest Documents

This paper provides an overview of the ocean economy in the EU Outermost Regions (EU ORs). It discusses the opportunities and challenges that the EU ORs are facing in light of emerging global trends, laying out priority actions for making the ocean a factor of competitiveness and internationalisation. Such actions could be taken together with EU and basin-specific partners such as Small Island Developing States in the Caribbean, Atlantic and Indian Ocean. The paper is developed within the framework of the EU-OECD project on Global Outermost Regions.

This paper provides a snapshot of the development of renewable energies in the European Union Outermost Regions (EU ORs), focusing on their potential to contribute to the green transition while creating sustainable economic development opportunities. It reviews the policy frameworks and tools in place in EU ORs with respect to renewable energies, and provides specific policy recommendations. The paper is developed within the framework of the EU-OECD project on Global Outermost Regions.

This paper explores the innovation dynamics of the EU Outermost Regions (EU ORs) through patenting behaviour. It emphasises the potential for international collaborations with a wide range of partners, and recommends to mobilise the resources and strategies provided by the EU to strengthen research and innovation in the private sector; enhance the impact of public research centres and universities; and foster intra-regional co-operation. It also calls for stronger ties with African countries, the Latin American and Caribbean region, as well as Small Island Developing States (SIDS), to foster innovation-based collaborations, particularly around sustainable agriculture, renewable energy and the ocean economy. The paper is developed within the framework of the EU-OECD project on Global Outermost Regions.

This paper provides a factual baseline of the extent to which refugees and internally displaced persons are included in development planning, specifically in the national development plans and sector plans of low- and middle-income countries; in the international development co-operation strategies of Development Assistance Committee (DAC) members and participants; and in the UN Sustainable Development Cooperation Frameworks of the UN development system at country level. It contributes to measuring progress towards commitments – under the Global Compact on Refugees (GCR) and the UN Action Agenda on Internal Displacement – to treat forced displacement also as a development issue. Finally, it formulates policy recommendations to further improve the inclusion of the forcibly displaced in development planning.

This paper provides an overview of agro-food value chains in the EU Outermost Regions (EU ORs). It assesses emerging trends, discusses opportunities and challenges, reviews the policy frameworks and tools that can strengthen the beneficial participation of EU ORs in international agro-food value chains, and proposes priority actions. The paper is developed within the framework of the EU-OECD project on Global Outermost Regions.

Between 2017 and 2022, G20 members invested over USD 20 billion in 671 projects related to rural youth employment in Africa. The G20 Initiative for Rural Youth Employment (RYE), launched in 2017, overachieved the targets set to provide employment-related skills to 5 million youth and create 1.1 million jobs by 2022. The most common types of interventions were those focused on agriculture value chain development, skills training, and the promotion of entrepreneurship and small and medium-sized businesses. The paper assesses the achievements of the G20 Initiative for RYE, analyses different RYE programmes and provides recommendations for future G20 initiatives and RYE programming. Despite great progress, much remains to be done to tackle rural youth employment challenges.

This paper shows that climate-related forced displacement is insufficiently addressed in two fundamental commitments made towards the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) between 2015 and 2023: National Adaptation Plans (NAPs) and Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs). It describes the important role NAPs and NDCs play in prioritising the tackling of certain aspects of climate change adaptation, identifies gaps on forced displacement, and proposes ways of adding it among their policy objectives, and of mobilising finance to reach them.

Located in the Caribbean Sea, Guadeloupe is a French Overseas Department and a European Outermost Region in search of a more sustainable economic development pathway. In support of that endeavour, this Production Transformation Policy Review (PTPR) Spotlight looks at the region's opportunities and challenges, identifying priority actions in several areas, including the bio- and circular economy, creative sectors and renewable energies. The Spotlight enriches our understanding of the diversity of development pathways, including those of Small Island Developing States (SIDS). It is the result of an extensive peer-review process involving public and private stakeholders from Colombia, Caribbean countries and other EU outermost regions.