OECD CivSoc                     July 2008 Newsletter 10

 

Calendar of recent or upcoming OECD events with Civil Society

Recent or Upcoming OECD Publications

 

Useful Links:
OECD civil society

Business and Industry Advisory Committee to the OECD

Trade Union Advisory Committee to the OECD

 

Contact us at:
CivilSociety@oecd.org

  

Sustainable Development

OECD Ministers Meeting in Seoul on the Future of the Internet
Ministers and stakeholders met on 17-18 June 2008 in Seoul to consider the  social, economic and technological trends shaping the development of the Internet Economy. In addition, three non-governmental stakeholder Forums took place in Seoul the day before the Ministerial meeting, on 16 June. The Forums, organised by civil society and organised labour, business and the Internet technical community, had the objective to contribute to the Ministerial dialogue, providing the perspective of different stakeholders. Read more
   

ENV Outlook

April in Paris with the OECD Environment Ministers
OECD countries met at the end of April for the first time in four years to discuss how to fight climate change and maintain competitiveness.  The governments of four countries which are now candidates for OECD membership–Chile, Estonia, Israel and Slovenia–participated at the conference, as did Brazil, China, Indonesia and South Africa.At the April meeting, environment ministers stressed that “climate change is not just an environmental challenge, but also an economic challenge”. Read more
   

Forum2008
OECD Forum 2008: Climate Change, Growth, Stability
The 2008 OECD Forum was the first one to be held at the new Conference Centre at OECD headquarters in Paris on 3-4 June. Some 1600 participants – from government, civil society, academia, the media, business – mingled in the spacious, ship-shaped hallway lined by huge, lighted pots of plants in fluo colours, making the atmosphere festive despite the serious topics under discussion: climate change, growth, stability. Read more
   
This Newsletter has been prepared by the Public Affairs Division of the OECD for the purpose of informing the public of OECD cooperation with civil society. The Public Affairs Division acts as a clearing house for information about OECD dialogue with civil society. OECD staff who are in contact with civil society through consultations, workshops or other activities contribute to this newsletter.
 
OECD Ministers Meeting in Seoul on the Future of the Internet

Three major trends – Convergence, Creativity and Confidence – are influencing the policy environment for the Internet Economy. Individually, they reflect significant shifts in the use and functionality of the Internet. Collectively, they represent a major transition in the evolution of the Internet and the economic system that has developed around it. It has thus become increasingly necessary that policies supporting the Internet Economy be carefully crafted and co-ordinated across policy domains, borders and stakeholder communities.
Ministers and stakeholders met on 17-18 June 2008 in Seoul to consider the social, economic and technological trends shaping the development of the Internet Economy. In addition, three non-governmental stakeholder Forums took place in Seoul the day before the Ministerial meeting, on 16 June. The Forums, organised by civil society and organised labour, business and the Internet technical community, had the objective to contribute to the Ministerial dialogue, providing the perspective of different stakeholders. The results of the Forums are available on the Stakeholder pages of the Ministerial meeting website.
seoul
Overall, the Seoul Ministerial, the first such OECD event in Asia, attracted 2300 participants. This included the President of Korea and some 22 Ministers, 8 Deputy or Vice-Ministers and 25 Ambassadors from 43 countries, plus leaders and experts from business, civil society and the internet technical community. The main outcome of the meeting was the adoption of the Seoul Declaration on the Future of the Internet Economy by the 30 OECD Member countries as well as 9 non-members and the European Community.

Results from the stakeholder Forums were reported during the first Ministerial plenary. A civil society and trade union forum in particular urged that policy goals for the Internet Economy be considered within the broader framework of the protection of human rights, the promotion of democratic institutions, access to information and the provision of affordable and non-discriminatory access to advanced communications networks and services. Specific recommendation stressed the need for OECD countries to: i) defend freedom of expression and, in this context, oppose mandated filtering, censorship and criminalisation of content that is protected under international freedom of expression standards; ii) protect privacy and transparency by, for example, establishing international data standards that are legally enforceable; and iii) address the learning and training needs of workers and environmental issues. In addition, they urged that a civil society advisory committee to the OECD be established.
In his closing remarks at the end of the Ministerial meeting, the OECD Secretary-General, Angel Gurría, welcomed the contributions that non-governmental stakeholders had made to the Ministerial and recommended that a process be initiated to formalise the participation of civil society and the technical community in the work of the OECD on the Internet Economy.
 
April in Paris with the OECD Environment Ministers
ENVcover OECD countries met at the end of April for the first time in four years to discuss how to fight climate change and maintain competitiveness. The governments of four countries which are now candidates for OECD membership–Chile, Estonia, Israel and Slovenia–participated at the conference, as did Brazil, China, Indonesia and South Africa. The OECD is strengthening its relations with the latter countries in a programme of “enhanced engagement”. Representatives of business, labour and non-government organisations were invited to the ministerial meeting as well, rather than being consulted in the margins of the meeting.
Four years ago it was not evident that climate change would become the main dimension of the sustainable development challenge. It also has a bearing on other priority issues, including biodiversity loss, health impacts of pollution and water scarcity/shortage.
At the April meeting, environment ministers stressed that “climate change is not just an environmental challenge, but also an economic challenge”. In fact, moving towards a low-carbon society needs to be a process involving all areas of government, and this demands co-ordination and co-operation among the various ministries of finance, agriculture, transport, energy, industry, trade, development co-operation and so on.
Environment ministers appealed to colleagues in finance, economy and trade ministries as those responsible for getting the financial incentives right–taxes, subsidies, and tariffs, etc–to strengthen the use of market-based approaches in moving towards a global carbon price and to keep the costs of action manageable. The potential role of sectoral approaches was also mentioned.
Local authorities also had a major role to play, ministers said, and businesses and trade unions will also need to be key partners in addressing climate change.
Climate change is a challenge, but also an opportunity, and ministers said that some countries that move early can reap competitive advantages, in areas like renewable energy technologies. On the other hand, ministers also warned about the costs of waiting too long, or pursuing “business as usual” policies. Climate change is a reality, and inaction will merely delay costs, was the common view.
The meeting echoed the main findings of OECD Environmental Outlook to 2030 by emphasising the economic aspects of climate change and other environmental challenges. “As the evidence laid out in OECD Environmental Outlook to 2030 shows, it is economically rational to implement ambitious climate policies, especially when we take into account eco-benefits”, says Lorents G. Lorentsen, chief of the OECD Environment Directorate. “Countries need to put in policies to encourage green energy and buildings now in particular because new investments in energy infrastructures and building construction around the world over the next 10-20 years could lock in their environmental performance for decades to come,” he added.
Public and private sector financing will need to be mobilised, not least to encourage technological development, deployment and transfer to poorer countries. Environment ministers welcomed the idea of an international funding mechanism to help distribute the costs of action, and asked finance and economy ministers to take the lead in developing one.
Read the Chairs' Summary of the meeting.
 
OECD Forum 2008
The 2008 OECD Forum was the first one to be held at the new Conference Centre at OECD headquarters in Paris on 3-4 June. Some 1600 participants – from government, civil society, academia, the media, business – mingled in the spacious, ship-shaped hallway lined by huge, lighted pots of plants in fluo colours, making the atmosphere festive despite the serious topics under discussion: climate change, growth, stability.
 Forum2008entrance
The Forum could not have been more timely in developing these themes, as OECD Secretary-General Angel Gurría pointed out. The global economy is weakened due to financial market turbulence, the turnaround in the global housing cycle, and soaring energy and food prices. The sub-prime crisis has revealed the vulnerability of the new financial order.  Innovation in finance, like the securitization of almost any form of debt into a tradable asset, might have been a way to spread risk, but it also introduced new weaknesses. And climate change may be a long-term threat but it requires immediate, radical action. 
GurriaCarstens Angel Gurría, OECD Secretary-General has called on national and international institutions, including the OECD, to react better to anticipate crises and improve the communication regarding the issues at stake. In the opening session of the Forum, Mr. Gurría emphasised the need for immediate policy action to reduce carbon emission by 50% between now and 2050, saying “Dear friends, we ARE the environment!”  Agustin Carstens, Secretary of Public Finance and Credit, Mexico, highlighted the social dimension of climate change and the disproportionate burden facing the poor. He warned that soaring commodity prices and a “serious humanitarian crisis” are grave immediate threats and urged that countries adopt policies to mitigate the impact of this crisis on the poor.
The Forum confirmed once again its role as the centre of crucial discussions between leaders from governments, civil society and the media on these important issues.  It is a place to seek common ground for workable solutions to the most pressing policy challenges of our time, and the solutions can only be found through an enhanced dialogue and co-operation among all stakeholders. www.oecd.org/forum2008
 

Calendar of recent and coming OECD events involving civil society

2008 April June August/September
2008 October November December

April 2008

28-29, Paris: OECD Environment Ministers met to discuss the environmental trends and projections in the OECD Environmental Outlook to 2030.  The discussions centered on environmental co-operation between OECD countries and emerging economies; competitiveness, eco-innovation and climate change; strengthening co-operation across government for ambitious climate change policies. See article above - contact: Amy Plantin.

June 2008

3-4 Paris: OECD annual Forum: Climate Change, Growth, Stability. The annual OECD Forum contributes to the openness of the OECD to civil society, enhances the visibility of the OECD's work and constitutes a multi-stakeholder consultation for the annual meeting of OECD ministers. See article above and www.oecd.org/forum2008.

16, Paris: Meeting between OECD Working Group on Bribery and Consultation Partners. Thirty representatives of civil society, the private sector, multi-lateral institutions and the legal profession, who responded to the Working Group on Bribery’s Consultation Paper on the Review of the OECD Instruments on Combating Bribery of Foreign Public Officials in International Business Transactions (www.oecd.org/daf/nocorruption), met with the Working Group on Bribery. The consultation partners shared their ideas for strengthening measures for preventing, detecting, investigating and prosecuting cases of bribing foreign public officials. These ideas along with their earlier written contributions will comprise a significant part of the Working Group’s review of the instruments. This project is tentatively due for completion in the first half of 2009.

17-18, Seoul: OECD Ministerial meeting on Future of the Internet Economy brought together ministers from more than 40 countries to discuss these issues with global business leaders, technical experts and academics and to agree on new ways to improve global co-ordination. Major challenges remain to ensure the future of the Internet economy, from security and competition issues to strengthening its role in enhancing social and economic development. See article above.

23-24, OECD-ILO High-Level Roundtable on Corporate Responsibility: Employment and Industrial Relations: Promoting Responsible Business Conduct in a Globalising Economy, organised under the auspices of the OECD Investment Committee and the Employment, Labour and Social Affairs Committee.  
Contact marie-france.houde@oecd.org or peter.tergeist@oecd.org

27, Paris: Eighth International Forum on African Perspectives, co-organized by the OECD Development Centre and the African Development Bank, gathered high-level personalities from government, the private sector and civil society to discuss issues of importance to Africa’s economic and social development.  Development decision makers discussed how Africa can capitalize on five years of steady economic growth. The objective is challenging: to promote a frank, moderated discussion, under the media’s watch, between the panels and a large audience from African and OECD countries. What effect will rising commodity prices have on that growth? What are the best investment opportunities on the continent?  What lessons can Africa learn from Asian economic successes such as those of China and India? How prepared are African governments to train young people to be competitive in a job market which increasingly requires highly-skilled labour?
Contact: Henri-Bernard.Solignac-Lecompte@oecd.org

30, Paris: International  conference on Corporate social responsibility and local development, organised by the Centre for Entrepreneurship, SMEs and Local Development in cooperation with the International Association of Trade Union Organizations of the OAO LUKOIL. The objective of the conference was to share experiences on how tough CRS strategies, public and private sector, Trade Unions and local community organisations can partner to support sustainable development at local level, with a particular focus on Russia. International best practices were presented to nourish the debate. The seminar provided an update on the international guidelines regulating CSR, review the role of Trade Unions in promoting CSR, and examined in detail ways to ensure sustainable development in mono-industrial cities through co-operation between the main stakeholders.

August/September 2008

31 August - 1 September: Accra, Ghana: Civil Society Organisations Forum preceding the Third High-Level Forum on Aid Effectiveness 2-4 September. This is not an OECD event, but will make an important contribution to the aid effectiveness process. Information about the Forum is available at www.betteraid.org - contact Göran Eklöf.

September 2008

2-4, Accra, Ghana: Third High-Level Forum on Aid Effectiveness with ministers from over 100 countries, heads of bilateral and multilateral development agencies, donor organizations, and 80 representatives of civil society organizations from around the world. Their common objective is to help developing countries and marginalized people in their fight against poverty by making aid more transparent, accountable and results-oriented. The Forum on Aid Effectiveness will:
- review progress in improving aid effectiveness
- broaden the dialogue to newer actors
- chart a course for continuing international action on aid effectiveness
Contact: Göran Eklöf

8-10, Paris: The Institutional Management Higher Education (IMHE) General Conference on the theme Outcomes of higher education: quality, relevance and impact: www.oecd.org/edu/imhegeneralconference2008. IMHE is a membership forum serving policy-makers in national and regional authorities, managers of higher education institutions, researchers and civil society by providing strategic analysis and advice on institutional leadership, management, research and innovation in a global knowledge economy, and reform and governance in higher education. Website: www.oecd.org/edu/higher

11-12, Paris: OECD Workshop on Education for Sustainable Development will explore how the OECD can contribute to the development of strategies, curricula and sustainable schools for the UN Decade of Education for Sustainable Development (2005-2014) and education for sustainable consumption as part of the Marrakech Process (see Agenda). Contact: Candice Stevens

24-25, Geneva: WTO Public Forum 2008: “Trading into the Future”
The OECD is organising a session at the WTO Public Forum on the topic of trade and climate change. The IPCC and the IEA have both identified a significant potential for mitigating emissions of greenhouse gases through the diffusion of existing, commercially available technologies. Trade and investment are clearly important vehicles for facilitating such diffusion. Yet various tariff and non-tariff measures continue to pose significant obstacles to the importation of climate-change mitigation technologies. Drawing on work undertaken by the OECD and others, this session will explore the extent and nature of these obstacles, and priorities and procedures for their removal. Among other speakers that the OECD has invited to this event will be Dr. Kamal Gueye, Senior Programme Manager for the International Centre for Trade and Sustainable Development (ICTSD), and Mr. Joe Allen, Director of the Remanufacturing Division of Caterpillar Inc.

October 2008

21-22, Indonesia: Global Forum on Financial Education co-organized with Bank Indonesia

20-21, Paris: OECD Annual Meeting of Sustainable Development Experts (AMSDE)
will discuss sustainable investment and corporate responsibility, innovation for sustainability, and education for sustainable development.
Contact: Candice Stevens

November 2008

5-7, Paris: Joint Meeting of the Chemicals Committee and Working Party on Chemicals, Pesticides and Biotechnology

10-12, Gaudalajara, Mexico: OECD/ITF Global Forum on Sustainable Development on Transport and Environment in a Globalising Economy. Contact: Amy.Plantin@oecd.org

17-18, Paris: Conference on Environmental Compliance Assurance: Trends and Good Practices. Contact: Amy.Plantin@oecd.org

December

1-2, Paris: Global Forum on Sustainable Development on Water Pricing and Financing

Date to be decided:  NEA/RPWM/Forum on Stakeholder Confidence The Forum on Stakeholder Confidence of the Nuclear Energy Agency was created to facilitate sharing of experience about the societal dimension of radioactive waste management. The FSC holds regular meetings gathering operators, regulators, R&D and governmental decision makers from 16 countries. It organises country-based workshops at which representatives of civil society review and analyse their national process of radioactive waste management, exchanging directly with international FSC members in a roundtable setting. The FSC in May published a set of flyers condensing the lessons learned from these stakeholder events. The flyers and other publications, available at http://www.nea.fr/html/rwm/fsc.html, will be of interest to all those dealing with socio-technical decision making.

 

Recent or Upcoming OECD Publications of interest to civil society

Financial Awareness and Education on Insurance and Private Pensions;  to be published in July 2008

Agricultural Policies in OECD Countries released 26 June 2008
How are rising food prices affecting government support to farmers?  How is agriculture policy changing?  These are among the issues addressed in Agricultural Polices in OECD Countries: Monitoring and Evaluation to be released on 26 June 2008.

Economic Assessment of Biofuel Support Policies, publication Fall 2008. The report analyses the implication of existing and new policy programmes supporting biofuel production and use with respect to the objectives behind governments’ intervention and to agricultural markets. Contact: Martin.VONLAMPE@oecd.org

OECD-FAO Agricultural Outlook 2008-2017
The report covers the outlook for commodity markets during the 2008 to 2017 period, and brings together the commodity, policy and country expertise of OECD and FAO. It analyses world market trends for the main agricultural products, as well as biofuels and provides an assessment of agricultural market prospects for production, consumption, trade, stocks and prices of the included commodities.
www.agri-outlook.org Contact pavel.vavra@oecd.org

Highlights of the OECD-FAO Agricultural Outlook: 2008-2017 The OECD-FAO Agricultural Outlook 2008-2017 presents the latest forecasts of trends and prices of farm products and assesses the challenges and uncertainties ahead.

Environmental Performance of Agriculture in OECD countries since 1990
In OECD countries, agriculture uses on average over 40% of land and water resources, and thus has significant effect on the environment. This report provides the latest and most comprehensive data and analysis on the environmental performance of agriculture in OECD countries since 1990. This report (and the summary) examines the environmental impacts of agriculture since 1990 across the 30 OECD countries. A dedicated website provides full details of the publication and a supporting database online at: www.oecd.org/tad/env/indicators Contact, Keven.Parris@oecd.org

Agricultural Policy Design and Implementation: A Synthesis Are current agricultural policies based on measurable objectives? Is the current policy set adequately addressing stated objectives? What could an improved agricultural policy set look like and how to get onto a reform trajectory?
These are some of the questions addressed in this publication. It draws on several projects that were undertaken in recent years under the auspices of the OECD and summarizes practical recommendations concerning the pathway to agricultural policy reform.

Environment Outlook to 2030:  How much will it cost to fix the environment?  The OECD's 2008 Environmental Outlook says that global efforts to tackle the main environmental challenges - climate change, biodiversity loss, water scarcity and risks to human health - are achievable and affordable. See article on the Environment above or www.oecd.org/environment/outlookto2030.
PISA 2006: Science Competencies for Tomorrow’s World presents the results from the most recent PISA survey, which focused on science and also assessed

OECD Observer Magazine
Internet economy: A closer look, OECD Observer No. 268, July 2008 (www.oecdobserver.org): The Internet has emerged in the last two decades not only as a means of communication and exchange between people, governments and business all over the world, but as a critical support system of our economic and social way of life. This raises important policy questions, about confidence, security, convergence and development, which ministers gathered in Seoul have discussed at the 2008 OECD ministerial meeting on the Future of the Internet Economy, 17-18 June.

 

Articles contributed by civil society

Net Disillusion, a humourous view on Facebook from French writer and businessman, Jacques Rosselin.
http://www.oecdobserver.org/news/fullstory.php/aid/2682/

Internet Time, by Henry Copeland, founder and director of Blogads, one of the world’s largest blog-specific advertising companies, and Pressflex, a web-hosting company dedicated to the needs of small journals and magazine, and larger commercial titles, such as FT Business.
http://www.oecdobserver.org/news/fullstory.php/aid/2681/

Removing road blocks on the information highway, by David J. Hanger, President of the European Federation of Magazine Publishers
http://www.oecdobserver.org/news/fullstory.php/aid/2670/

Medicine and the Internet: A healthy relationship?, by Francis Slattery, general practitioner, Paris.
http://www.oecdobserver.org/news/fullstory.php/aid/2680/

See also OECD Observer No. 267, May-June 2008

Climate change: A new Contract,by John Sweeney, President of AFL-CIO and TUAC
http://www.oecdobserver.org/news/fullstory.php/aid/2625/

Water and the OECD: Towards a symbiotic relationship, by Asit K. Biswas, President of the Third World Centre for Water Management, Mexico, and Cecilia Tortajada, Scientific Director of the International Centre for Water, Zaragoza, Spain
http://www.oecdobserver.org/news/fullstory.php/aid/2621/

Busting Cartels for Development, by Pradeep S. Mehta, Secretary-General of CUTS International
http://www.oecdobserver.org/news/fullstory.php/aid/2620/

Since its creation, the OECD has had co-operative activities with civil society, principally through the Business and Industry Advisory Committee to the OECD (BIAC) and the Trade Union Advisory Committee (TUAC). Over the last decade, this co-operation has been complemented by increasing activities with other civil society organisations.

For further information about OECD cooperation with civil society, see the OECD civil society web page or contact:CivilSociety@oecd.org