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We are facing a series of converging planetary emergencies linked to the environment, the economy, and our social and political systems, but we will not meet these challenges using the tools of the last century. We need to rethink the role of the economy in improving the well-being of people and the planet. As the world’s leading intergovernmental forum on economic policy, the OECD has a central role to play in creating a new economic narrative. OECD Secretary-General Angel Gurría therefore invited a high-level group of experts to contribute their proposals on what needs to change in economic policy and policymaking. This report summarises their conclusions. The Advisory Group argues that we need to go beyond growth, to stop seeing growth as an end in itself, but rather as a means to achieving societal goals including environmental sustainability, reduced inequality, greater wellbeing and improved resilience. This requires updating the philosophy, tools and methods underpinning the analysis that influences economic decision-making. Drawing on developments across the modern field of economics and political economy, the report argues for a new approach which recognises the rootedness of economic systems and behaviour in the relationship between people, social institutions and the environment.
The least developed countries (LDCs) are the furthest from achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). They are also likely to be hit the hardest by the COVID-19 crisis and badly need the additional private finance that blended finance can unlock. Yet evidence shows that too little private finance is mobilised for investment in LDCs. How can this be fixed?
The Blended Finance in the Least Developed Countries 2020 report is the third edition and second joint UNCDF-OECD report. It builds on UNCDF research and transactional experience, OECD data and analysis on private finance mobilized by official development finance, and a series consultations with and contributions by blended finance experts, LDC governments, UN missions, donors, civil society and research institutions. The report provides an update on the deployment of blended finance in LDCs. It also analyses its potential role in helping those countries recover from the COVID-19 crisis, and provides an Action Agenda for unlocking capital for the achievement of the SDGs in LDCs, as called for in the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the Addis Ababa Action Agenda.
In Kenya, collaboration across sectors to foster sustainable development has been recently gaining momentum. Development players have started to work together more closely due to the ambitious scope of Agenda 2030, the limited financial resources available and the need to achieve greater scale. Other factors influencing this trend include new development strategies and tools such as venture philanthropy and the use of basket funds to pursue more sustainable development. Governments, which are the primary drivers of development, have been keen to plug into these new vehicles. Some have provided non-state players, such as the private sector, social businesses, and philanthropists, with a strong policy and regulatory environment, while others have co-financed initiatives. However, the nature, scope and impact of these partnerships have not often been captured. This study provides an overview of the current state of collaboration between foundations and the government in Kenya and offers recommendations for enhancement. It is based on the three pillars of the Guidelines for Effective Philanthropic Engagement (“the Guidelines”): dialogue, data and knowledge sharing, and partnerships. The Guidelines were developed under the leadership of the OECD Network of Foundations Working for Development (netFWD), together with the Worldwide Initiatives for Grantmaker Support (WINGS), the European Foundation Centre (EFC), the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), the Stars Foundation and the Rockefeller Foundation.
This report analyses the experiences of India, Kenya, Mexico and Myanmar in implementing the Guidelines for Effective Philanthropic Engagement, to bring foundations and governments closer together on a theme of common interest. This report compares the results of surveys led in the four countries between 2015 and 2016 to diagnose the level and nature of engagement between foundations and governments (see Box 2 for more information). The report starts by sketching the country contexts and highlighting their specificities. It then presents some key findings on aspects such as differences in the level of engagement between countries or the benefits of dialogue, as well as transversal challenges. It ends by suggesting drivers for engagement. The report will be updated as more countries commit to implement the Guidelines.
Collaboration between governments, civil society and corporations is acquiring increasing importance in the international agenda as a solution to the complex problems currently affecting our societies. It has become clear that issues such as climate change, persistent poverty, increasing inequality, social exclusion and other major current challenges cannot be tackled by a single sector alone. Given this reality, it is encouraging to see that more and more initiatives featuring various forms of collaboration are being enacted to tackle major social issues. However, despite progress, there is limited knowledge of these initiatives in different countries. This study aims at filling this gap by examining in Mexico how foundations and federal government (FG) departments and agencies have been engaging with each other.
This publication summarises the main findings of a series of high-level expert workshops, organised with support by the European Commission, to deepen the understanding how OECD countries can move towards a broad‑based form of innovation policy for regions and cities. Weaknesses in technology and knowledge diffusion are weighing on productivity growth and innovation in OECD countries, particularly in firms that are distant from the technological frontier (global or national). This in turn weakens their capacity to meet future challenges and undermines inclusive growth.
This report examines where current tools for innovation policy are too narrowly focused, targeting mainly research and development as well as science and technology-based interventions. It seeks to help empower firms to benefit from global trends and technological change, in order to better adapt to the different capacity and innovation eco‑systems across regions and cities.
This report analyses the skills and capacities governments need to strengthen evidence-informed policy-making (EIPM) and identifies a range of possible interventions that are available to foster greater uptake of evidence. Increasing governments’ capacity for evidence-informed is a critical part of good public governance. However, an effective connection between the supply and the demand for evidence in the policy-making process remains elusive.
This report offers concrete tools and a set of good practices for how the public sector can support senior officials, experts and advisors working at the political/administrative interface. This support entails investing in capability, opportunity and motivation and through behavioral changes. The report identifies a core skillset for EIPM at the individual level, including the capacity for understanding, obtaining, assessing, using, engaging with stakeholders, and applying evidence, which wasdeveloped in collaboration with the European Commission Joint Research Centre.
It also identifies a set of capacities at the organisational level that can be put in place across the machinery of government, throughout the role of interventions, strategies and tools to strengthen these capacities. The report concludes with a set of recommendations to assist governments in building their capacities.
The work of early childhood education and care (ECEC) professionals is the major driver of the quality of an ECEC system. As evidence accumulates on the strong benefits of investing in early education, countries need effective policies to attract, maintain and retain a highly skilled workforce in the sector. This report looks at the makeup of the early childhood education and care workforce across countries, assessing how initial preparation programmes compare across different systems, what types of in-service training and informal learning activities help staff to upgrade their skills, and what staff say about their working conditions, as well as identifying policies that can reduce staff stress levels and increase well-being at work. The report also looks at which leadership and managerial practices in ECEC centres contribute to improving the skills, working conditions and working methods of staff.
The OECD Starting Strong Teaching and Learning International Survey (TALIS Starting Strong) is the first international survey that focuses on the early childhood education and care workforce. It offers an opportunity to learn about the characteristics of ECEC staff and centre leaders, their practices at work, and their views on the profession and the sector. This second volume of findings, Building a High-Quality Early Childhood Education and Care Workforce, examines factors that influence the skills development of ECEC professionals, their working conditions and well-being at work, and leadership in ECEC centres.
Many countries are dealing with challenges stemming from nuclear and radiological legacy sites. In particular, managing these sites in an open and transparent fashion while taking into account the views of all relevant stakeholders and building confidence in the solutions adopted is an ongoing challenge.
This report provides information on the challenges and lessons learnt in legacy management and regulation based on practical experience documented in 13 case studies and site visits conducted by the OECD Nuclear Energy Agency. A preliminary framework for a stepwise process to help reach an accepted and sustainable end-state is proposed based on this experience. The complex challenges and interactions among stakeholders in progressing in a harmonised, step-by-step manner are also examined in depth. The report concludes with recommendations for future international collaborative work to improve and test the preliminary framework, and to examine and address the complexity of the relevant interactions.
Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is a biological mechanism whereby a microorganism evolves over time to develop the ability to become resistant to antimicrobial therapies such as antibiotics. The drivers of and potential solutions to AMR are complex, often spanning multiple sectors. The internationally recognized response to AMR advocates for a ‘One Health’ approach, which requires policies to be developed and implemented across human, animal, and environmental health. To date, misaligned economic incentives have slowed the development of novel antimicrobials and limited efforts to reduce antimicrobial usage. However, the research which underpins the variety of policy options to tackle AMR is rapidly evolving across multiple disciplines such as human medicine, veterinary medicine, agricultural sciences, epidemiology, economics, sociology and psychology. By bringing together in one place the latest evidence and analysing the different facets of the complex problem of tackling AMR, this book offers an accessible summary for policy-makers, academics and students on the big questions around AMR policy.
At a moment when many countries of the MENA region are looking to accelerate economic growth and build more stable, open societies, this report argues that greater women’s economic empowerment holds one of the keys. It asserts that despite challenges some countries are facing in guaranteeing women equal access to economic opportunity, progress is underway and can be further nurtured through targeted, inclusive and coordinated policy actions. Building on the conclusions of a first monitoring report released in 2017, the report analyses recent legislative, policy and institutional reforms in support of women’s economic empowerment in Egypt, Jordan, Morocco and Tunisia and seeks to identify success factors that have helped anchor reform. Moreover, it delivers actionable examples and practical tools for policy makers to help them transform policies into effective actions for women’s economic empowerment.
This is Volume 13b in the OECD Nuclear Energy Agency (NEA) “Chemical Thermodynamics” series. It is the second part of a critical review of the thermodynamic properties of iron, its solid compounds and aqueous complexes, initiated as part of the NEA Thermochemical Database Project Phase IV (TDB IV), and a continuation of Part 1, which was published in 2013 as volume 13a. The database system developed at the NEA Data Bank ensures consistency not only within the recommended data sets of iron, but also among all the data sets published in the series. This volume will be of particular interest to scientists carrying out performance assessments of deep geological disposal sites for radioactive waste.
This OECD Emission Scenario Document (ESD) is intended to provide information on the sources, use patterns, and potential release pathways of additive chemicals used in automotive finished lubricants. The document presents standard approaches for estimating the environmental releases of and occupational exposures to chemical additives used in automotive finished lubricants.
In 2017, the People’s Republic of China (hereafter, “China”) decided to implement a national emissions trading scheme (ETS) to limit and reduce CO2 emissions in a cost-effective manner. Set to start in 2020, the ETS will initially cover coal- and gas-fired power plants. It will allocate allowances (also known as permits), based on the plant’s generation output, with a different benchmark for each fuel and technology. China’s ETS, set to expand to seven other sectors, will be the world’s largest by far, covering one-seventh of global CO2 emissions from fossil-fuel combustion.
Cities are not only home to around half of the global population but also major centers of economic activity and innovation. Yet, so far there has been no consensus of what a city really is. Substantial differences in the way cities, metropolitan, urban, and rural areas are defined across countries hinder robust international comparisons and an accurate monitoring of SDGs. The report Cities in the World: A New Perspective on Urbanisation addresses this void and provides new insights on urbanisation by applying for the first time two new definitions of human settlements to the entire globe: the Degree of Urbanisation and the Functional Urban Area. Based on the definitions, the report presents new evidence of recent and future urbanisation trends and sheds light on the evolution of metropolitan areas around the globe. It examines whether and why quality of life differs between cities and other types of settlements. It analyses the relationship between economic development and the metropolitan system in countries around the world. Finally, it presents new evidence on the changing shape of cities and its impact on sustainability. The report demonstrates how globally consistent definitions of cities and metropolitan areas can contribute to more effective policy design.
As the necessity of energy system transformation gathers pace at a global level, North African countries are increasingly making efforts towards their respective clean energy transitions. Clean energy transitions offer opportunities for North African countries to transform their energy infrastructure in ways that can meet the region’s growing energy demand, create much-needed jobs and promote equitable socio-economic development, diversify their economies, and build climate change resilience, all while achieving low-carbon, sustainable, inclusive economic growth. Decarbonisation pathways are also instrumental for North African countries to achieve their climate and economic development ambitions. The region’s long-term economic development and climate policy objectives, encompassed in countries’ nationally determined contributions (NDCs) and the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 7 and set out in the vision of the African Union’s Agenda 2063, will require a transformation in how energy is supplied and consumed across the region.
This study’s primary aim is to explore ways to reduce heating-related residential sector emissions using a scenario analysis approach as the basis of a roadmap for Kazakhstan. The purpose of this roadmap is to help Kazakhstan formulate a policy framework and conditions to enable a household energy-use transition. It is intended to support and guide key government authorities as well as other stakeholders.
This report is an update with 2018 figures to the previous publication Climate Finance Provided and Mobilised by Developed Countries in 2013-17. It provides insights on the evolution of the following four components of climate finance over the period of 2013-2018: bilateral public climate finance, multilateral climate finance (attributed to developed countries), climate-related officially supported export credits, and private finance mobilised by developed countries public finance interventions. Building on past work, the report deepens the analysis by providing not only aggregate figures but also a further breakdown in terms of recipients and characteristics of climate finance commitments.
Africa is projected to experience increasing climate hazards for the remainder of the 21st century, which are likely to pose a challenge to hydropower generation in Africa. To minimise the adverse effects of climate change, hydropower is needed to enhance Africa’s resilience to climate change. Resilient hydropower can play a key role in allowing Africa to meet the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), implement clean energy transitions, and adapt to climate change. This report aims to enhance the climate resilience of African hydropower through a climate risk and impact assessment, and by introducing potential resilience measures. It qualitatively assesses climate risks to African hydropower and examines potential climate impacts quantitatively, comparing two climate scenarios. Based on the assessment, it identifies measures to enhance climate resilience and provides policy recommendations.
This report provides a broad and evidence-based analytical perspective of the debate around the possible role of a Border Carbon Adjustment (BCA) to deal with climate change. The new context of divergent climate ambition has led to a resurgence of interest in BCAs. The paper provides an overview of different policy instruments that can limit carbon leakage, with a particular focus on the BCA option, and offers a technical review of the literature and of the legal specificities around BCA as well as of alternative instruments. The report also analyses the issue of fragmented climate policies in the broader perspective of the trade-climate nexus and discusses how other policy measures – especially those related to trade – can help support climate objectives (for example, reducing the existing barriers to trade in environmental goods, and removing environmentally harmful and trade distortive subsidies).