Environmental policy tools and evaluation

OECD Expert Workshop on Environmental Policies: Social and Economic Outcomes

Policy makers face the challenge of supporting both inclusive economic development and a healthy environment. To respond to this challenge, regulators need tools and insights to assess the consequences of policies on the environment, the economy and social outcomes. From a policy perspective, a desirable outcome is one that achieves the greatest environmental benefits while limiting the adverse economic and distributional impacts. This is all the more important as countries take different paths in addressing environmental and climate challenges, potentially contributing to concerns over the impacts of environmental policies on the competitiveness of regulated companies and economies.

This two-day workshop aimed to discuss the current state of empirical evidence surrounding the consequences of environmental policies on the environment, the economy and social outcomes. The workshop convened a range of internationally recognised experts to discuss the impacts of environmental policies on innovation and firm productivity, employment, and social outcomes.

Agenda

[Summary Report (PDF)]

[Full Agenda (PDF)]

Day 1: 23 June 2022

Opening remarks: 

• Alain de Serres, Acting Director, Environment Directorate, OECD
• Stephen White, Economist, DG Environment, European Commission and Chair of the OECD Working Party on Integrating Environmental and Economic Policies (WPIEEP)

Session 1 - Introduction
 

Chair: Shardul Agrawala, Head of Environment and Economy Integration Division, Environment Directorate, OECD

Speakers

• Anna Alberini, Professor, Department of Agricultural and Resources Economics, University of Maryland
• Antoine Dechezlepretre, Team Leader, Innovation, Entrepreneurship and Technological Transitions, Directorate for Science, Technology and Innovation, OECD
  
  

Discussant

• Carolyn Fischer, Research Manager for Sustainability and Infrastructure in the Development Research Group at the World Bank and Professor of Environmental Economics at the Vrije Universiteit

Session 2 - Environmental policy, clean innovation and productivity

Chair: Antoine Dechezlepretre, Team Leader, Innovation, Entrepreneurship and Technological Transitions, Directorate for Science, Technology and Innovation, OECD

Speakers

• David Popp, Professor, Public Administration and International Affairs, Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs, Syracuse University
• Damien Dussaux, Environmental Economist, Environment Directorate, OECD
• Jacquelyn Pless, Assistant Professor, Fred Kayne (1960) Career Development Professor of Entrepreneurship and Assistant Professor at the MIT Sloan School of Management 
• Junjie Zhang, Initiative for Sustainable Investment, Duke Kunshan University and Associate Professor, Nicholas School of the Environment, Duke University
• Yuko Kanamori, National Institute for Environmental Studies, Japan

Day 2: 24 June 2022

Session 3 - Employment implications of environmental policies

Chair: Elisa Lanzi, Team Leader, Modelling and Outlooks, Environment and Economy Integration Division, Environment Directorate, OECD

Speakers

• Natalia Fabra, Professor of Economics, Universidad Carlos III de Madrid
• Balazs Stadler, Environmental Economist, Environment Directorate, OECD 
• Francesca Borgonovi, Senior Policy Analyst, Centre for Skills, OECD
• Luke Haywood, Economist, Mercator Research Institute on Climate Change

Session 4 - Social and distributional concerns

Chair: Tomasz Kozluk, Economic Counsellor to the Chief Economist, OECD

Speakers 

• Francesco Vona, Professor, University of Milan, Fondazione Eni Enrico Mattei  (FEEM) and French Economic Observatory of Sciences-Po (OFCE)
• Joseph S. Shapiro, Associate Professor, University of California Berkeley
• Ira Irina Dorband, Economist, World Bank Chief Economist Office, Equitable Growth, Finance and Institutions
• Vincent Marcus, Sous-directeur économie et évaluation, Ministère de la Transition Écologique et Solidaire, France

Closing remarks: Nicolina Lamhauge, Coordinator, Environmental Policies, Social and Distributional Outcomes, Environment Directorate, OECD