Background Reading

Background Reading / General Information about the OECD

Meeting of the OECD Council at Ministerial Level - Key Information
This brochure provides ministers, senior officials, the media and the public with the lastest information on OECD work pertaining to the issues that will be discussed during the Ministerial Meeting.

Background Reading

Please read the articles below from the OECD Observer, No. 267, May-June 2008, on the challenges to come:

• Open, representative and relevant, editorial by Mr Gurría
• Economic instruments in the fight against climate change by Christine Lagarde, Minister of Economy, Industry and Employment, France, and Chair of the 2008 OECD Ministerial Council Meeting
• Interview with Doris Leuthard, Federal Councillor, Head of the Federal Department of Economic Affairs, Vice-Chair of the 2008 OECD Ministerial Council Meeting with Mexico, by Haig Simonian
  Switzerland Correspondent for the Financial Times
• Tackling global challenges and the OECD, by Yasuo Fukuda, Prime Minister of Japan

Please find below more information on the topics dicussed during the meeting:

World economy and the political economy of reform

• OECD Economic Outlook No. 83, June 2008
  Growth is weakening and inflation is likely to remain high across most OECD countries, according to the Economic Outlook. US activity will stay flat through 2008 while the Euro area economy growth will be restrained by tighter credit and lower export market growth.
• Economic Policy Reforms: Going for Growth 2008
• Remarks by Mr. Gurría for the launch of Going for Growth 2008
• What is the economic outlook for Europe, the United States and Japan? An interim assessment (1.08 Mb)
• Keynote address by Mr Gurría at the OECD-IMF Conference on Structural Reform in Europe
• African Economic Outlook 2008
• Factbook 2008: Economic, Environmental and Social Statistics
  The OECD Factbook is the best-selling, innovative title from the OECD.  It provides a global overview of today’s major economic, social and environmental indicators, presenting them clearly and concisely, and in a range of user-friendly formats.
• More OECD work on Economics and Growth

The economics of climate change

• OECD Environmental Outlook to 2030
  This publication provides analyses of economic and environmental trends to 2030, and simulations of policy actions to address the key challenges. It shows that tackling the key environmental problems we face today -- including climate change, biodiversity loss, water scarcity and the health impacts of pollution -- is both achievable and affordable.
• Remarks by Mr. Gurría for the launch of the 2008 OECD Environmental Outlook
• Tackling climate change, editorial by Mr. Gurría, OECD Observer No 266, March 2008
• Economic Aspects of Adaptation to Climate Change: Costs, Benefits and Policy Instruments
  This report provides a critical assessment of adaptation costs and benefits in key climate sensitive sectors, as well as at national and global levels. It moves the discussion beyond cost estimation to the potential and limits of economic and policy instruments - including insurance and risk sharing, environmental markets and pricing, and public private partnerships - that can be used to motivate adaptation actions.
  

Events

• Meeting of the Environment Policy Committee (EPOC) at Ministerial Level: Environment and Global Competitiveness
• Transport and Energy: The Challenge of Climate Change, organised by the International Transport Forum 
• Towards integrated policies, by Anu Vehviläinen, Finnish Transport Minister and Chair of the First International Forum international in Leipzig, May 2008
• OECD-UNEP Conference on Resource Efficiency
• OECD Participation in UN Climate Change Conference in Bali

Speeches by the Secretary-General

• Climate Change: A Matter of Political Will
  Remarks by Mr. Gurría, at the OECD Forum 2008 - Session: Climate Change: Mobilising Political Will
• Changing Climate Change: The New Dimension of Economics
  Remarks by Mr. Gurría at the Opening session of the OECD Forum 2008
• Resource productivity and the "3Rs"
  Speech by Mr. Gurría, at the G8 Environment Ministers Meeting 2008
• A European Approach to the Climate Change Challenge
  Speech by Mr. Gurría to the European Commission Seminar on Climate Change
• Keynote Speech by Mr. Gurría at the Seminar on “Sustainable Development and Climate Change: International and National Perspectives”
• The Economics of Climate Change: The Fierce Urgency of Now
  Speech by Mr. Gurría - OECD High Level Panel Discussion on Ensuring a Sound Economic Basis for the Post-2012 Climate Change Framework, United Nations Climate Change Conference in Bali

Policy Briefs

• Climate Change: Meeting the Challenge to 2050
• Climate Change Policies
• Putting Climate Change Adaptation in the Development Mainstream
• Biofuels for Transport: Policies and Possibilities
• Health and the Environment
• Preserving Biodiversity and Promoting Biosafety
• The Political Economy of Environmentally Related Taxes
• Making Environmental Spending Count
• Feasible Financing Strategies for Water Supply and Sanitation
• Keeping Water Safe to Drink
• Improving Water Management: Recent OECD Experience
• Improving Recycling Markets
• Assessing Environmental Policies
• The Social Dimension of Environmental Policy
• Peer Review: a Tool for Co-operation and Change

Others

• Energy-Efficient Technology and Alternative Fuels, International Transport Forum
• Ministers' roundtable on climate change, OECD Observer No. 266, March 2008
• Economics climate: Markets must be used to help fight climate change. Here is why., OECD Observer No. 267, May-June 2008   
• Climate change: a new contract, by John Sweeney, President of AFL-CIO and TUAC, OECD Observer No. 267, May-June 2008   
• Other articles on climate change from the OECD Observer
• More OECD work on Climate Change

The multilateral trading system

• Regionalism and the Multilateral Trading System
• Doha: the low hanging fruit, by Mr. Gurría
• Key Graphs: Biofuels and Agriculture
• Welcome remarks & Rising food prices and developing countries
  Speeches by Mr. Gurría at 46th Development Assistance Committee (DAC) High Level Meeting
• OECD-FAO Agricultural Outlook 2008-2017: highlights, news release and press conference
• Food Prices: The grain of truth, by Loek Boonekamp, OECD Trade and Agriculture Directorate, OECD Observer No. 267, May-June 2008
• More OECD work on Trade and Agriculture

Sovereign wealth funds

• OECD countries stay open to commercial investments by sovereign wealth funds
• Sovereign Wealth Funds and Recipient Country Policies
• Sovereign wealth funds: Should sovereign wealth funds be treated differently than other investors? An OECD project has set out to answer this question, by Carolyn Ervin, Director, OECD Directorate for Financial and Enterprise Affairs, OECD Observer No. 267, May-June 2008  
• Subprime crisis: A capital issue, by Adrian Blundell-Wignall, Deputy Director, OECD Directorate for Financial and Enterprise Affairs, OECD Observer No. 267, May-June 2008
• Preventing investment protectionism
• Conference on Sovereign Wealth Funds in the Global Investment Landscape: Building Trust
• Sovereign Wealth and Pension Fund Issues
• Opening remarks by Mr. Gurría at the Global Forum on International Investment
• More OECD work on Investment

OECD activities and strategic orientations

• A New OECD for New Global Challenges 
  Speech by Mr. Gurría to the Norwegian Parliament
• The OECD, Globalisation and Innovation: Responding to a Changing Global Economy
  Public Lecture by Mr. Gurría at the Tallinn University of Technology, Estonia
• OECD enlargement and engagement with non-members

General Information about the OECD

• OECD Work on G8 priorities for 2008 Summit
• OECD Annual Report 2008 (.pdf, 6.92 Mb)
  It is the only publication that brings the full breadth of the OECD's work into one volume. It is a key instrument for explaining the work of the OECD, while presenting insights into major world economic developments and providing transparency.
• Previous meetings of the OECD Council at Ministerial Level: 2007, 2006, 2005 and 2004.