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Objectives, Background, Agenda
Objectives
The Workshop offered an opportunity to share country knowledge and experiences on a range of issues regarding agriculture and water resources, in particular to:
1. examine the sustainability – economic, social, environmental and institutional – dimensions of agriculture’s use and impact on water resources;
2. review current policy, market and voluntary approaches used by OECD countries to address agriculture and water resource use and quality issues; and,
3. explore the implications of possible policy options, market and voluntary approaches to make further progress in agriculture’s sustainable use of water resources with respect to improving economic efficiency, environmental and social effectiveness, and institutional performance.
The Workshop helped to:
1. raise awareness amongst OECD Member countries and globally of possible policy, market and voluntary approaches toward enhancing agriculture’s sustainable use of water resources and reducing harmful impacts on water quality, in the context of ongoing agricultural and water reform programmes; and,
2. guide the OECD’s Joint Working Party on Agriculture and the Environment (JWP) work on agri-environmental policy issues and the Working Party on Global and Structural Policies activities related to water and the environment.
Background
The OECD Environmental Strategy for the First Decade of the 21st Century (see http://www.oecd.org/dataoecd/33/40/1863539.pdf ) adopted by OECD Environment Ministers in 2001, focuses on three key economic sectors that affect the environment (one of which is agriculture) and three key environmental issues (one of which is water). By combining two of the key themes from the Strategy the Workshop provides an opportunity to provide input for the 2008 progress report to Ministers. In addition, policy developments related to water are important in the context of the ongoing agricultural policy reform agenda being undertaken across OECD countries.
Water is a critical issue in many OECD countries. In OECD (2003) Water: Performance and Challenges in OECD Countries (see http://www.oecd.org/dataoecd/12/38/2498050.pdf ), OECD notes that water resources in eight Member countries are already subject to high or medium-high stress and in a further eight Member countries water availability is becoming a constraint on development. The report also notes that since 1992 Member countries, while having achieved notable success in some areas, continue to require reform to safeguard water quality and aquatic ecosystems. In addition the impact and severity of the costs of droughts and floods for many countries is of growing concern and better strategies are required to effectively manage water in these situations, especially for agriculture which is usually the major user of water resources.
To assist OECD Members in better understanding the development and application of water use and water quality management policies, Australia offered to host an OECD Workshop, under the auspices of the OECD's Joint Working Party on Agriculture and the Environment (JWP), that focused on the objectives outlined below.
Agenda
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