OECD and Civil Society Share Sustainable Development Goals.
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Representatives of business, unions, non-governmental organisations and other stakeholders participate in all OECD sustainable development meetings and workshops. At one recent OECD workshop, for example, Helio International explained how it evaluates government proposals for energy policies.
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Priorities for future work by OECD Committees are identified as well. In 2008, these include sustainable consumption and production, education for sustainable development, corporate social responsibility, and governance for sustainable development.
The involvement of civil society in these policy discussions brings to light the potential impacts on all societal partners. Stakeholder participation is not only good practice from the standpoint of governance, but it makes it easier for governments to assess the sustainability of policy proposals and align the economic, social and environmental aspects of sustainable development.These activities and more can be found at the OECD sustainable development website www.oecd.org/sustainabledevelopment. Contact Candice Stevens. |
Wikigender
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Improving gender equality is a serious priority for many countries, judging from their commitment to the 1979 UN Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women and to the 2000 UN millennium goal of empowering women and combating discrimination. The question is where to begin and how?
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Involving the public in the debate is one way to acquire a better understanding of the obstacles to gender equality and address them through appropriate policies. Wikigender provides an open forum to exchange information on the situation of women and allows users to post comments, edit articles or create new entries. By fostering a bottom-up dialogue, Wikigender should attract local allies such as workers’ unions, business associations and teachers who can help build pressure for change. www.wikigender.org Contact: Denis Drechsler, tel 33 1 45 24 96 01.
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Affordable Prices For Fixing the Environment
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To meet increasing demands for food and biofuels world agricultural land use will need to expand by an estimated 10% to 2030; 1 billion more people will be living in areas of severe water stress by 2030 than today; and premature deaths caused by ground-level ozone worldwide would quadruple by 2030.
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The 2008 OECD Environmental Outlook projects that world GDP will almost double by 2030.The OECD policy simulation shows that it would cost just over 1% of that growth to implement policies that can cut key air pollutants by about a third, and contain greenhouse gas emissions to about 12% instead of 37% growth under the scenario without new policies.
OECD recommends use of policy mixes, and to keep the costs of action low these should be heavily based on economic and market-based instruments. Examples are the use of green taxes, efficient water pricing, emissions trading, polluter-pay systems, waste charges, and eliminating environmentally harmful subsidies (e.g. for fossil fuels and agriculture). But more stringent regulations and standards (e.g. for transport and building construction), investment in research and development, sectoral and voluntary approaches, and eco-labelling and information are also needed.
The Outlook identifies ways to share the cost of policy action globally. Developed nations have been responsible for the majority of greenhouse gas emissions to date, but rapid economic growth in emerging economies - particularly Brazil, Russia, India and China - means that by 2030 the annual emissions of these 4 countries together will exceed those of the 30 OECD countries combined. Fair burden-sharing and distributional aspects will be as important as technological progress and the choice of policy instruments. For further information: www.oecd.org/environment/outlookto2030. |
OECD Forum 2008: Climate Change, Growth, Stability
Discussions over the two days will focus on:
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Climate change: Building a solid economic footing to combat climate change after 2012; designing a post-Kyoto regime; determining the role for biofuels, nuclear energy, innovation and sustainable development; managing environmental risks through insurance; making cities sustainable.
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Growth: Dealing with risks following the shocks of financial turmoil; cooling housing markets and higher energy and commodity prices; boosting economic growth; education and growth; jobs and growth; open markets for trade and investment; innovation, IPR and growth.
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Stability: Responding to the recent financial turmoil; financial market turbulence; fhe role of private equity funds; corporate governance; energy prices; co-operation in the MENA region; realising the potential of women in the economy.
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The OECD Forum is a "multi-stakeholder summit" which brings together business and labour leaders, civil society personalities, government ministers and leaders of international organisations to discuss the hottest issues on the international agenda.Civil Society Organisations benefit from special rates. For further information or to register for the Forum: www.oecd.org/forum2008 or Meggan.dissly@oecd.org
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OECD and ILO Advancing G8 Mandate on Corporate Responsibility
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A High-Level Roundtable on Corporate Responsibility: Employment and Industrial Relations: Promoting Responsible Business Conduct in a Globalising Economy will take place 23-24 June 2008 in Paris.
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This year’s Corporate Responsibility Roundtable will be devoted to a high-level policy dialogue between governments, business, labour and other stakeholders around the theme “Employment and Industrial Relations: Promoting Responsible Business Conduct in a Globalising Economy”. It will be organised under the auspices of the OECD Investment Committee and the Employment, Labour and Social Affairs Committee, in close co-operation with the International Labour Organisation (ILO).
This dialogue has been endorsed at the highest political level. At their 2007 Annual Meeting, OECD Ministers invited the Organisation to organise with ILO in 2008 a high-level meeting with the involvement of major non-OECD economies and social partners in order to support private sector effort in the area of employment and industrial relations within the framework provided by the OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises. In Dresden on 6-8 May 2007, and in Heiligendamm on 6-8 June 2007, G8 Labour and Employment Ministers and G8 Leaders subsequently committed themselves to actively promote internationally agreed corporate social responsibility and labour standards, notably the OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises and the ILO Tripartite Declaration of Principles concerning Multinational Enterprises and Social Policy. They also invited the OECD to foster a high-level dialogue between the G8 and leading emerging economies on global corporate responsibility challenges.
The OECD and ILO share the conviction stated in the 2007 G8 Declaration that “a globalisation process complemented with social progress will bring sustainable benefits to both industrial and developing countries”. The two organisations also act as the depositaries of the two foremost corporate responsibility instruments for implementing this objective. For further information contact Marie-france.Houde@oecd.org or Peter.Tergeist@oecd.org |
Calendar of recent and coming OECD events involving civil society
5-6 December 2007
Beijing: OECD-China Multi-Stakeholder Symposium on Chinese and OECD Government Approaches to Encouraging Responsible Business Conduct. The symposium discussed a background report that outlines China’s recent progress in encouraging responsible business conduct (RBC), examined remaining challenges and offered proposals for advancing work in this area. Stakeholders include Chinese and OECD government, business, labour and civil society representatives. This event took place in the context of OECD co-operation with China on investment policies, which began in 1995. For details, please see www.oecd.org/daf/investment/development. For further information, please contact kenneth.davies@oecd.org.
February 2008
3-6 Gatineau, Canada: International Forum on Civil Society and Aid Effectiveness. This is one of the events leading up to the Forum in Accra Ghana 2-4 September. A full set of documents from the conference is available at http://ccic.ca/e/002/aid.shtml
21 Paris: OECD High-Level Parliamentary Seminar on Financial Market Trends drew 40 parliamentarians from 20 countries to examine with OECD experts the imact of subprime loans on the world economy, the role of private equity and sovereign wealth funds, and the need for financial education of the public. Contact: meggan.dissly@oecd.org
21-22 Paris: Global Forum on Competition featured joint sessions with representatives from the consumer policy world. The discussion centred on the interface between competition and consumer policies and recent economic theory in this area. Other sessions considered switching costs as a barrier to competition and a detriment to consumers and the role of consumers in promoting pro-competitive reforms. There were also a peer review of Ukraine and a discussion of the challenge for China of adopting competition law and policy in China. www.oecd.org/competition/globalforum or contact helene.chadzynska@oecd.org.
March 2008
3-6 Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic: Global Forum on Education 2008 on the theme of Improving the Effectiveness of Education Systems, with particular emphasis on teaching and teachers and innovation. The publication Reviews of National Policies for Education: Dominican Republic was launched on 6 March.
17 Paris: Joint OECD-IMF Meeting: Structural Reforms in Europe. Angel Gurría, Secretary General of the OECD, and Dominique Strauss-Kahn, Managing Director of the IMF will lead the discussion with policy-makers, academics, entrepreneurs and union representatives, on structural reforms needed in labour, product and financial markets to boost jobs, productivity and prosperity in Europe. For further information, contact Meggan.Dissly@oecd.org
27-28 Paris: OECD Global Forum on International Investment (GFII) will focus on best practice in promoting investment for development. The relationship between investment and development was a key theme during the 2007 G-8 Summit, which called upon “UNCTAD and the OECD to jointly engage industrialized countries, emerging economies and developing countries in the development of best practices for creating an institutional environment conducive to increased foreign investment and sustainable development.”
The GFII seeks to promote investment for growth and sustainable development by engaging governments worldwide and interested stakeholders in peer learning and dialogue on emerging issues facing the investment policy community. See www.oecd.org/daf/investment/gfii for further information or contact Michael Gestrin.
31 Paris: Deadline for commenting on the OECD Working Group on Bribery’s Consultation Paper: Review of the OECD Instruments on Combating Bribery of Foreign Public Officials in International Business Transactions Ten Years after Adoption (www.oecd.org/daf/nocorruption). This is an opportunity for civil society to have its say in the Working Group’s review of the OECD anti-bribery instruments, including on such issues as the bribery of foreign public officials through intermediaries, bribery of private sector agents, bribery of foreign political party officials, the need for increased awareness of transnational bribery, and internal company controls for the prevention of foreign bribery. Contact: Patrick Moulette.
April 2008
28-29, Paris: OECD Environment Ministers meeting to discuss the environmental trends and projections in the OECD Environmental Outlook to 2030. The discussions will be also be 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. 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. Special rates for civil society. For more information on speakers and themes as well as to register: www.oecd.org/forum2008. or contact Meggan.dissly@oecd.org
23-24 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. See Feature IV or contact marie-france.houde@oecd.org or peter.tergeist@oecd.org
August 2008
31-1 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 General Conference on the theme The quality, relevance and impact of higher education: www.oecd.org/edu/imhegeneralconference2008. The OECD Programme of Institutional Management (IMHE) interacts directly with civil society through its membership forum serving higher education institutions. It plays a prominent role in helping keep members up to date with the latest innovations in education and in management, by using an interactive, dynamic approach to make available a greater scope for information exchange, experience sharing and enhanced professionalism. Website: www.oecd.org/edu/higher
V. Recent or Upcoming OECD Publications of interest to civil society
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 mathematics and reading. ThePISA survey of the knowledge and skills of 15-year-olds shows that some countries have seen significant improvements in student performance since 2000. Korea further increased its strong reading performance between 2000 and 2006 by 31 score points, the equivalent of almost a school year, mainly by raising the proportion of top-performers. Poland increased its reading performance by 29 score points over the same period. Mexico and Greece saw significant improvements in mathematics performance between 2003 and 2006. However, across the OECD area as a whole learning outcomes have generally remained flat, while expenditure on education in OECD countries rose by an average of 39% between 1995 and 2004.
Teaching, Learning and Assessment for Adults: Improving Foundation Skills Adults with low skills in language, literacy and numeracy (LLN) are numerous in many OECD countries. But what is known about whether and how programmes are meeting the needs of diverse learners? This study looks specifically inside the programmes for adult LLN learners, with a focus on formative assessment – referring to the frequent assessment of learner understanding and progress to identify needs and shape teaching and learning. Drawing upon evidence gathered in country reports, exemplary case studies and international literature reviews, it examines the impact and implementation of different teaching, learning and assessment practices for adult LLN learners; the way innovative programmes address the very diverse needs and goals of this population; and the policies that support or hinder effective practice.Relevant case studies and international literature reviews are available for free on the website (in the Table of Contents section). A companion report which studies formative assessment in lower secondary schools was published in 2005 under the title Formative Assessment: Improving Learning in Secondary Classrooms.
Students with Disabilities, Learning Difficulties and Disadvantages: Policies, Statistics and Indicators - 2007 Edition This book provides an internationally comparable set of indicators on educational provision for students with disabilities, learning difficulties and disadvantages (DDD). It highlights the number of students involved, where they are educated – special schools, special classes or regular classes – and in what phases of education – pre-primary, primary, lower secondary and upper secondary education. It also includes information on the physical provision and on student/teacher ratios and discusses policy implications concerning special education. A strong and consistent finding is the preponderance of the number of boys over girls among DDD students in a wide range of analyses. This new edition presents for the first time trends in the data for students with DDD from 1999 to 2003. It presents quantitative and qualitative data for the school year 2002-03 in the following OECD countries : Belgium (Flemish and French Communities.), the Czech Republic, Finland, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Japan, Korea, Mexico, the Netherlands, Poland, the Slovak Republic, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey, the United Kingdom (England) and the United States and in the non-member economy Chile.
FRENCH TITLE: Élèves présentant des déficiences, des difficultés et des désavantages sociaux: Politiques, statistiques et indicateurs - Édition 2007
Protecting Pensions: Policy Analysis and Examples from OECD Countries. This volume looks at various methods of protecting pension benefits. It provides in-depth information on the application of these methods in OECD countries and analyses their advantages and drawbacks. Methods of risk sharing amongst pension fund beneficiaries, providers and sponsors are discussed through an analysis of insured pension contracts and of the pension systems in place in Denmark and Iceland. Contact: Edward Smiley +331 45 24 98 07.
International Investment Perspectives 2007: Freedom of Investment in a Changing World. International Investment Perspectives is an annual publication. The 2007 issue contains two core analytic sections. The first includes four articles related to OECD work on Freedom of Investment, National Security and “Strategic” Industries. The second analytic section contains a series of articles that focus on the new opportunities arising from FDI, and the changing nature of the international economy in which investment takes place. Contact: Edward Smiley +331 45 24 98 07.
OECD Investment Policy Review of Egypt. In July 2007, Egypt became the 40th country to adhere to the OECD Declaration on International Investment and Multinational Enterprises. As part of the process, Egypt undertook a thorough review by OECD members of its international investment policies using the Policy Framework for Investment. This publication presents the results of this review. One of the main findings of the review is that international investors responded quickly to the government’s policy reform efforts: foreign direct investment into Egypt increased eightfold in just three years, diversifying away from the petroleum sector and bringing investment to a broad range of manufacturing and service industries. However, the review also shows that investment climate reforms take time and many challenges still lie ahead. Contact: Edward Smiley +331 45 24 98 07.
2007 Annual Report on the OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises
Corporate Responsibility in the Financial Sector . The Guidelines are recommendations on international business conduct in such areas as labour, environment, consumer protection and the fight against corruption. The recommendations are made by the adhering governments and, although they are not binding, governments are committed to promoting their observance. This book provides an account of what the 39 adhering governments have taken over the 12 months to June 2007 to enhance the contribution of the Guidelines to the improved functioning of the global economy. This publication also contains the results of the 2007 OECD Roundtable on Corporate Responsibility which focused on the OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises and the financial sector.
Investment for Development: 2007 Annual Report provides a record of the OECD Investment Committee’s co-operation programmes with non-member economies and their results. These extensive co-operation activities are organised around three dimensions: global events, regional initiatives and dialogue with individual countries. This report documents how these initiatives help to strengthen implementation capacities and best practices among non-members, drawing on the broad applicability of the principles and expertise the OECD has developed in the area of international investment, including the positive contribution of responsible international business.
OECD Observer Magazine No 264: Improving childcare across the OECD and giving families greater choice form the cover article of the latest issue of OECD Observer, No 264. “Babies and Bosses: What lessons for governments” by Willem Adema looks at how governments could do more to help mothers and indeed both parents to strike a better work-family balance. Climate change is also in focus: In the Bali road map, Adrian Macey, New Zealand’s Climate Change ambassador, reflects on the UN conference in Bali last December; and we ask if Clean Development Mechanisms help reduce emissions. The Observer looks at the OECD’s anti-bribery convention which is 10 years old. Readers’ letters discuss immigration and China. Observer articles are also available at www.oecdobserver.org
OECD Working Papers:
No. 56 French Migratory Policy at a Turning Point (La Politique migratoire Française à un tournant)(2007), Martine Durand and Georges Lemaître (in French only). Contact: georges.lemaitre@oecd.org
No.57 Unauthorized Migrants in the United States: Estimates, Methods and Characteristics (2007), Jeffrey Passel
No. 58 Trends in International Migration Flows and Stocks, 1975-2005 B. Lindsay Lowell (2007). Contact: georges.lemaitre@oecd.org
No. 59 Public Employment Service (Service public de l'emploi : Audit du Service public de l'emploi au Luxembourg), David Grubb. (www.oecd.org/els/documentsdetravail).
Audit of the public employment service in Luxemburg. Up until the second millennium, Luxemburg managed to maintain one of the lowest unemployment rates in Europe, but, like many other European countries, may now have to start spending more on active policies for employment and adopt “activation” strategies. At the public presentation of this audit, which took place on September 27th, the Labour and Employment Minister announced the transfer of the Public Employment Service to a new location in the South of the country, and opened the discussion on its future status with the participation of social partners. Contact: david.grubb@oecd.org
No. 61 Addressing Labour Market Duality in Korea, Social, Employment and Migration Working Papers, D. Grubb, J-K. Lee and P. Tergeist (www.oecd.org/els/workingpapers).
Good aggregate employment outcomes have in recent years gone hand‑in‑hand with great concern in society about emerging and persistent labour market duality, due to the rapid increase of temporary employment and other flexible or atypical work arrangements, usually called “non‑regular” work in Korea. After long delays, related to the differing stances of the social partners, the Act on the Protection of Fixed‑term and Part‑time Employees came into effect this July. This paper sets out OECD experts' analysis of the situation and policy measures including anti-discrimination legislation, revisions of employment protection legislation (EPL) and extending the social safety net to worker groups that have still low coverage rates. Contact: peter.tergeist@oecd.org
German version of the International Migration Outlook : Internationaler Migrationsausblick: SOPEMI – Ausgabe 2007. Contact: thomas.liebig@oecd.org
A synthesis of the thematic review Babies and Bosses: Reconciliation of Work and Family Life will be published in November. Contact: willem.adema@oecd.org
Higher Education and Regions: Globally Competitive, Locally Engaged
In order to be competitive in the globalising knowledge economy, the OECD countries need to invest in their innovation systems at the national and regional levels. As countries are turning their production towards value-added segments and knowledge-intensive products and services, there is greater dependency on access to new technologies, knowledge and skills. And, with the parallel processes of globalisation and localisation, the local availability of knowledge and skills is becoming increasingly important. OECD countries are thus putting considerable emphasis on meeting regional development goals, by nurturing the unique assets and circumstances of each region, particularly in developing knowledge-based industries.
No More Failures: Ten Steps to Equity in Education
This OECD report on equity in education challenges the assumption that there will always be failures and dropouts and students who can’t or won’t make it in school. It argues that equity in education is a key objective of education systems that needs to be addressed on three fronts: the design of education systems, education practices and resourcing. Among the issues explored are tracking, streaming and academic selection; school choice; secondary education structures and second chance programmes; grade repetition; links between school and home; early childhood education; resource allocation; targets for equity; and the special needs of migrants and minorities. Based on an OECD study in ten countries, this book offers a valuable comparative perspective on how different countries have handled equity in education.
FRENCH TITLE: En finir avec l'échec scolaire: Dix mesures pour une éducation équitable
Understanding the Brain: The Birth of a Learning Science
Drawing on rapidly developing work in cognitive neuroscience and brain research, this book reveals new insights into how we learn. It shows what the latest brain imaging techniques and other advances in the neuroscientific field actually reveal about how the brain develops and operates at different stages in life from birth to old age and how the brain acquires skills such as reading and counting. It also presents scientific insights into diagnosis and remediation to conditions such as dyslexia or Alzheimer’s disease.
Giving Knowledge for Free: The Emergence of Open Educational Resources
Learning resources are often considered key intellectual property in a competitive higher education world. However, more and more institutions and individuals are sharing their digital learning resources over the Internet, openly and for free, as Open Educational Resources (OER). This study asks why this is happening, who is involved and what the most important implications of this development are.
Evidence in Education: Linking Research and Policy
This volume brings together international experts on evidence-informed policy in education from a wide range of OECD countries. It looks at the issues facing educational policy makers, researchers, and stakeholders – teachers, media, parents – in using evidence to best effect. It focuses on the challenge of effective brokering between policy makers and researchers, offers specific examples of major policy-related research, and presents perspectives from several senior politicians.
Cross-border Tertiary Education: A Way towards Capacity Development Co-edition with the World Bank
The purpose of this book is to cast light on the opportunities and challenges presented by the growing mobility of higher education programmes and providers, especially for developing countries willing to leverage cross-border higher education as a tool for development. The book discusses the concept of capacity-building through cross-border education, emphasising the critical role of quality assurance and trade negotiations.
The Social Economy: Building Inclusive Economies, produced by the OECD LEED Programme.
Nuclear Energy
Regional Development and Community Support in Radioactive Waste Management
Article published in NEA News, 2007, No. 25.1.
Stakeholder Involvement in Decommissioning Nuclear Facilities
International Lessons Learnt, 40 pages. ISBN: 978-92-64-99011-1.
Free on request (download at www.nea.fr or write to neapub@nea.fr). This study reviews decommissioning experience with a view to identifying stakeholder concerns and best practice in addressing them. Also available in French: Implication des parties prenantes dans le déclassement des installations nucléaires - Enseignements internationaux
Fostering a Durable Relationship Between a Waste Management Facility and its Host Community
Adding Value Through Design and Process
60 pages. ISBN: 978-92-64-99015-9.
Free on request (download at www.nea.fr or write to neapub@nea.fr). This report identifies a number of design elements (including functional, cultural and physical features) that favour a durable relationship between the facility and its host community by improving prospects for quality of life across generations (see Article III). Also available in French: Créer un lien durable entre une installation de gestion de déchets et sa collectivité d'accueil - Valeur ajoutée à travers la conception et les processus.
Further information about the activities of the NEA as related to civil society may be found at: http://www.nea.fr/html/civil/welcome.html
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