Browse by: "2022"

To realise Colombia’s clean energy ambitions and enable the necessary mobilisation of finance and investment, the government has set forth a number of important policy strategies, including the 2018 Green Growth Policy, the 2019 National Circular Economy Strategy and the forthcoming 2022 Energy Transition Policy. These high-level policies all note the role clean energy solutions like sustainable bioenergy and waste-to-energy can play in supporting decarbonisation objectives. These solutions can also achieve a number of other socioeconomic ambitions, including improved reliability of energy supply, improved access to affordable and reliable energy in areas that are not connected to the national electricity grid, and reduced amounts of waste going to capacity-limited landfills. This report aims to support Colombia’s renewable energy ambitions, focusing on current clean energy trends, opportunities for bioenergy and measures that can increase finance and investment in those solutions. Through five case studies from Brazil, Chile, Colombia, India and Turkey, the report also considers the enabling environment and lessons learnt from bioenergy developments in different countries.

One of a series of studies on vocational education and training (VET), this report focuses on how international evidence can inform reforms of the VET system in Brazil. The reforms aim to considerably expand provision of initial VET, tripling enrolment between 2014-2024. Today, few upper-secondary students participate in VET in Brazil as compared to many OECD countries. The reform is a welcome initiative, provided that the expansion is coupled with investments in quality. Expansion of VET is likely to diversify the students attending VET programmes and increase the demand for VET teachers, and schools will need the support to make this work while ensuring that the programmes they offer are relevant for the labour market. By international standards, employers in Brazil provide limited input into VET policy and very few VET students have an opportunity of training with employers, and the reforms could be an opportunity to strengthen their involvement. Moreover, the reform could reinforce assessment strategies, as a lack of reliable assessment may decrease the value of VET qualifications. To support reform efforts in Brazil, this report brings in international evidence and discusses how other countries are addressing various related challenges encountered in their VET systems.

This report was prepared on the basis of the framework for collaboration established by the International Energy Agency (IEA) and the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources (MEMR) of Indonesia on the topic of power system enhancement and renewable energy integration, and in support of the implementation of the upcoming Presidential Decree on renewable energy. It is part of the assistance provided by the IEA towards Indonesia’s efforts to reform its energy sector and is consistent with IEA’s forthcoming Energy Sector Roadmap to Net Zero Emissions in Indonesia. The overarching objective of the assignment was to assist Indonesia in tackling short-term power system challenges, by achieving key targets such as reaching a 23% share of renewable energy in the national electricity mix by 2025 in a secure and affordable fashion, and by making grids progressively smarter. The assignment included the organisation of a number of workshops for Indonesian stakeholders and a techno-economic study performed by the IEA. It benefited from the support of the state-owned utility Perusahaan Listrik Negara (PLN). This public report summarises the information gathered from the workshops and presents the results of the study in a set of recommendations for Indonesia.

In contrast to falling rates in low density peri-urban and rural remote areas, high density peri-urban areas in Switzerland recorded double the rate of labour productivity growth than the national average. This report examines the Swiss regional innovation system and how it can boost productivity growth in rural regions by enhancing innovation. It also puts a special focus on the agri-food sector to improve the agricultural innovation system.

Tajikistan has identified Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) attraction as a critical component of its national development strategy, which could contribute to the achievement of several policy goals, including private sector growth, job creation, and economic diversification. As the COVID-19 pandemic has increased competition for FDI, the role of investment promotion agencies (IPAs) is growing around the world. Investment promotion and facilitation work carried out by a dedicated investment promotion agency can help attract FDI, when underpinned by measures to improve the overall investment framework.

The impact of the work of supreme audit institutions (SAIs) largely depends on the ability and willingness of the audited entities to implement the changes suggested in the audit reports issued by the SAIs. Applying behavioural insights (BI) can help SAIs promote the uptake of their audit reports and recommendations. BI is a perspective based on psychology, cognitive science, and social science that takes into account how humans actually make choices, and can be used to help design better policies. The report analyses how the SAI of Chile, the Comptroller General of the Republic (CGR), produces audit reports and monitors their follow-up. Based on this analysis, the report identifies and discusses challenges hampering the timely follow-up and identifies opportunities to use behavioural insights to address them. Ultimately, a behaviourally informed review of the auditing and follow-up process could help significantly improve the added value of the CGR’s work and thus the effectiveness and efficiency of the public administration in Chile.

Economic regulators are key to the performance of network sectors such as energy, e-communications, transport and water. They regulate and supervise to ensure sectors that can efficiently deliver essential services for the benefit of society. Operating from a unique position in relation to consumers, operators and government, they provide evidence-based and objective decision making that can build trust in the regulatory system and public institutions. A crucial factor in their ability to do this is their governance, including how they are resourced. Resourcing arrangements can make or break regulators’ effectiveness. Constraints in their funding or in their autonomy to manage resources may limit regulators’ agility or capacity to act. Where these constraints are significant, they may undermine the regulator’s ability to fulfil their mandates. This report discusses the implications of funding and staff arrangements for the autonomy, agility, accountability and transparency of regulators in the energy, e-communications, transport and water sectors. It identifies trends, challenges, opportunities and good practices, drawing upon survey responses from 57 economic regulators across 31 countries.

The COVID-19 pandemic further exacerbated the long-standing skills shortages in the health workforce across countries. Equipping health workers with the right skills is essential to respond to future health crises, to prepare for increasing use of digital technologies, and to plan for demographic change. This joint report by the OECD and ILO aims to enable more resilient health workforces by helping countries to assess future demand in terms of both numbers of health workers and skills needs, and to prepare appropriate policy responses. The report provides a comparative overview of practices in 16 countries to anticipate future skill needs in the health workforce, and of how such information is used by policy makers and social partners to foster a better alignment with labour market needs. Analysis is based on interviews with institutions that are responsible for anticipating skill needs in the health workforce, a virtual peer-learning workshop and desk research.

How can fossil fuel producers and mineral-rich developing countries design realistic, just and cost-effective low-carbon transition pathways? Taking into account the heterogeneity of low-carbon trajectories, the Equitable Framework and Finance for Extractive-based Countries in Transition (EFFECT) provides options for policy makers, industry and finance institutions in search of the answers. The report aims to help them seize the transformational opportunities linked to sustainable, low-carbon growth. It identifies ways of mitigating the transition’s impacts on fossil fuel industries, workers and poor households, and of preventing the risks of high-carbon lock-in and stranded assets. Recognising the shared responsibility of consuming and producing countries in reducing fossil fuel production and use, EFFECT advocates for transformative partnerships for technology transfer, green finance and capacity building. Ultimately, it supports an equitable sharing of the transition’s benefits and costs, both across and within countries.

Occupational exposure limits (OELs) are derived internationally by many government agencies and professional organisations. The absence of a globally harmonised approach contributes towards differences in derivation approaches and resulting OEL values. The purpose of this report is to summarise the results of a survey of OECD stakeholders on OEL derivation activities, with the goal of highlighting similarities and differences. The report presents roles, responsibilities and scope of the responding organisations; methods of OEL development; successes and challenges of OEL development; and interest in and potential areas of focus for international harmonisation of OELs. The discussions within the report can be used to inform potential priorities or opportunities for international collaboration or case studies.

As countries seek to learn from the COVID-19 crisis and increase their resilience for the future, evaluations are important tools to understand what worked or not, why and for whom. This report is the first of its kind. It evaluates Luxembourg’s responses to the COVID-19 crisis in terms of risk preparedness, crisis management, as well as public health, education, economic and fiscal, and social and labour market policies. While Luxembourg’s response to the pandemic has been particularly agile, preserving the country’s resilience will require maintaining high levels of trust in government, reducing inequalities, and laying the foundations for inclusive growth. The findings and recommendations of this report will provide guidance to public authorities in these efforts.

Spanish society values families and family life highly, but the way that families look and live has been changing drastically over the past decades. From being one of the countries with the highest fertility rates in Europe, Spain now has the lowest rate in the region and the legalisation of divorce and social acceptance of co-habitation has led to a decline in the traditional nuclear family model. At the same time, the share of mothers who are employed increased by more than 50% over the past two decades, though it remains below the OECD average. While family law has evolved quite strongly alongside these societal changes, family policy – i.e. the combination of benefits, services, tax breaks and leave arrangements that support family members in raising and providing care to minor children and other dependent persons – has undergone some changes but few major reforms. This report suggests ways to adapt Spain’s family policy to incorporate family diversity into the national policy framework, improve family well-being, reduce child poverty and make family life easier for all.

This guide provides a framework to strengthen the role of development co-operation for mobilising foreign direct investment (FDI) and enhancing its positive impact in developing countries. The guide reviews a broad range of financial and technical solutions for enhancing the impact of FDI on sustainable development, and outlines ways donors can consider the impact of FDI on their strategies, thus supporting the design, implementation and monitoring of FDI-related assistance.

Foreign direct investment (FDI) is an important source of finance for governments looking to meet global commitments on sustainable development. But, beyond the quantity of FDI, its quality also matters. The FDI Qualities Policy Toolkit complements the OECD Policy Framework for Investment by providing more detailed and tailored guidance on priorities for policy and institutional reforms that can enhance the impacts of investment in four areas of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs): productivity and innovation, job quality and skills, gender equality, and decarbonisation.

Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) provides an important source of financing in Jordan but its reform momentum needs to be sustained and deepened so that the benefits of investment can be shared more widely across society. This report examines how FDI can help Jordan meet Sustainable Development Goals in areas of productivity and innovation, job quality and skills, gender equality and decarbonisation. It provides an overview of the country’s institutional framework for investment and sustainable development and analyses arrangements to ensure policy coordination, stakeholder consultation and evaluation of policy impacts. It also examines the mix of government policies that are currently in place to attract the investment that contributes to sustainable development, noting areas for priority policy reforms.

To support Mexico’s supreme audit institution, the ASF (Auditoría Superior de la Federación), in fulfilling its mandate, this report analyses good practices in OECD countries for incorporating governance issues into public works audits. It provides examples and assesses different strategic considerations for ASF’s infrastructure audit organisation and practices, including objectives and resources. Finally, it analyses infrastructure auditing practices in the context of emergencies.