Environnement

Improving the resilience of farmers against external shocks is a priority for policy makers. This paper measures the resilience of a sample of farmers in the United Kingdom to assess the impact of the 2011-12 drought on their productivity and income. The analysis allows for the distinction of four resilience capacities: to prepare; to absorb the immediate impact of the shock; to adapt farming practices to a new environment; and to transform the business model, and improve productivity and income in the longer term. Results show that a single farm rarely performs strongly across these four capacities, and that those farms that best absorb the impact of the drought, perform poorly in transforming their business after the shock. While size and diversification improve absorption and adaptation, innovation is a key driver of long-term resilience to keep the pace of productivity gains. In the past, policies on agricultural risk management focused on the absorption capacity of farms and on stabilising income. Forward-looking resilience policies today need to prioritise other capacities, in particular preparedness, adaptation and transformation.

The United Kingdom is among world leaders in reducing domestic greenhouse gas emissions, and a broad political consensus supports the target to reduce net emissions to zero by 2050. The UK’s strong institutional framework is an inspiration to countries around the world, and the country is pioneering work to embed climate considerations in the financial sector. Achieving carbon neutrality will require policy to match ambition. Emission reductions so far were largely driven by electricity generation, a sector targeted by explicit pricing instruments and a cost efficient renewables auction-design subsidy scheme. Expanding pricing instruments across the economy is an essential building block to reach targets. Such measures will be more effective if complemented by well-designed sectoral regulation and subsidies, and more acceptable if implemented once energy prices have started to come down from historically high levels. Britons are conscious of the need to act. However, winning their acceptance of the needed policies may require targeting carbon revenue to compensate low-income households and investments in green infrastructure and new technologies. A mechanism defusing fears that effective policies undermine competitiveness, preferably internationally agreed, would facilitate effective policies towards emission intensive trade exposed industries.

This paper presents new simulation results for the UK combining macroeconomic simulations in ThreeME, a computable general equilibrium model, with household-level micro-simulations with the aim to provide consistent estimates of macroeconomic and distributional consequences of policy action to curb greenhouse gas emissions. One main and overarching result is that if an economy-wide and significant carbon price is introduced it leads to large emission reductions. Macroeconomic and distributional consequences are very limited in comparison. Redistributing 30% of total tax revenue as a lump-sum transfer to households would ensure that a majority of income deciles in most regions increase their disposable income, with gains notably in the lower part of the income distribution.

The paper is the second in a series of two papers mapping young people’s environmental sustainability competence in EU and OECD countries that were prepared as background for the forthcoming OECD Skills Outlook 2023 publication. The papers are the results of a collaboration between the OECD Centre for Skills and the European Commission - Joint Research Centre (Unit B4) on students’ environmental sustainability competence. The first paper is titled ‘Young people’s environmental sustainability competence: Emotional, cognitive, behavioural and attitudinal dimensions in EU and OECD countries.

The paper is the first in a series of two papers mapping young people’s environmental sustainability competence in EU and OECD countries that were prepared as background for the forthcoming OECD Skills Outlook 2023 publication. The papers are the results of a collaboration between the OECD Centre for Skills and the European Commission - Joint Research Centre (Unit B4) on students’ environmental sustainability competence. The second paper is titled: ‘The environmental sustainability competence toolbox: From leaving a better planet to our children to leaving better children for our planet’.

Au cours de la dernière décennie, le Royaume-Uni a réduit plusieurs pressions environnementales tout en développant son économie. Anticipant sa présidence de la Conférence des parties à la Convention-cadre des Nations unies sur les changements climatiques en 2021, il a montré la voie en relevant ses ambitions nationales. Cependant, la pollution atmosphérique, la détérioration des actifs naturels et les objectifs manqués en matière de biodiversité sont autant de sujets de préoccupation. Des efforts supplémentaires sont nécessaires pour réduire à zéro les émissions nettes de gaz à effet de serre d'ici 2050, se préparer au changement climatique, inverser la perte de biodiversité et mettre en place une économie circulaire plus économe en ressources. Le renforcement de la coordination entre les gouvernements britannique et décentralisés, ainsi que l'amélioration de la cohérence entre les politiques sectorielles et environnementales seront essentiels. Ceci est le troisième Examen environnemental du Royaume-Uni. Il évalue les progrès réalisés vers la croissance verte, avec un chapitre spécial consacré à la gestion des déchets et des matières et l'économie circulaire. La présente version abrégée contient le résumé, de même que l’évaluation et les recommandations officielles du rapport. Le rapport complet est disponible en anglais sur le site web de l’OCDE.

This report provides an assessment of the use of, and recommendations for scaling up, Nature-based Solutions to address water-related climate risks. The analysis is based on two country case studies carried out in Mexico and the United Kingdom. On the basis of a previously developed policy evaluation framework, the analysis identifies existing challenges as well as highlights emerging good practices with regard to policy design and implementation, governance, regulatory mechanisms, and technical and financial arrangements. The report’s findings support policy makers and practitioners in strengthening the use of Nature-based Solutions to tackle climate risks, with a special focus on water-related risks.

This paper explores data and methods to assess the alignment or misalignment with climate mitigation objectives of investments in the construction and refurbishment of residential and non-residential buildings. It takes the United Kingdom (UK) as a case study, where such investments reached GBP 162 billion (EUR 184 billion) in 2019 or 39% of UK gross fixed capital formation. The analysis trials different reference points that lead to varying results and each currently come with limitations in terms of coverage or granularity. Sector-level greenhouse gas (GHG) trajectories indicate that, in aggregate, investments in UK buildings have been insufficient, delayed or not aligned enough with caps set by UK Carbon Budgets, but such trajectories currently lack disaggregation for a more granular and insightful matching with investment data. Energy performance certificates (EPCs) allow for asset-level analyses: for instance, 79% of 2010-2019 investments in new built residential were in relatively energy efficient buildings but only 1% were consistent with more demanding recommendations towards the UK’s objective of reaching net-zero GHG in 2050. The coverage and reliability of EPCs, however, needs to be improved for older buildings, whose deep retrofitting is a major financing challenge. Applying Climate Bonds Initiative criteria for low-carbon buildings identifies investments eligible for green bond financing, but such criteria have partial sectoral coverage and are based on currently most efficient buildings within the existing stock, which makes them relatively easy to meet for investments in new built. Producing more complete and policy relevant assessments of aligned and misaligned investments at national and sectoral levels requires the availability of and access to comparable and granular data on decarbonisation targets and pathways consistent with the Paris Agreement temperature goals, GHG performance of assets, corporate and household investments, as well as underlying sources of financing.

L’adaptation des zones côtières aux impacts du changement climatique est désormais une urgence. La hausse du niveau des mers et des pressions immobilières va certainement y accroître les risques, selon les prévisions. En quoi les processus nationaux de planification de l’adaptation des pays de l’OCDE peuvent-ils nous aider à répondre à ce défi ? C’est la question à laquelle répond cet ouvrage. Il expose clairement les diverses conceptions du partage des coûts et des responsabilités en matière de gestion des risques côtiers. Il examine ensuite si celles-ci encouragent ou dissuadent les ménages, les entreprises et les différents niveaux de gouvernement d’adopter des comportements qui réduisent les risques. Cet ouvrage décrit les instruments d’action que les autorités nationales peuvent employer pour favoriser une réaction efficiente, efficace et équitable face aux changements qui affectent le littoral. Il s’appuie sur de nouvelles analyses des coûts futurs de la hausse du niveau des mers et sur les principaux résultats de quatre études de cas (Allemagne, Canada, Nouvelle-Zélande et Royaume Uni).