What is urban sprawl and how does it impact the environment? This report uses new datasets to compute indicators for more than 1,100 urban areas in 29 OECD countries over the period 1990-2014 and provides a new perspective to the nature of urban sprawl and its causes and environmental, social and economic consequences.
Read moreThis report aims to provide the first comprehensive and consistent record of energy subsidies in the EaP region, with a view to improving transparency and establishing a solid analytical basis that can help build the case for further reforms in these countries (this study covers Armenia, Azerbaijan Belarus, Georgia, Moldova and Ukraine).
Read morePlastics have become one of the most prolific materials on the planet: in 2015 we produced about 380 million tonnes of plastics globally, up from 2 million tonnes in the 1950s. This report "Improving Markets for Recycled Plastics - Trends, Prospects and Policy Responses" looks at why this is the case and what we can do about it, as the pervasiveness of plastics is becoming an urgent public health and planetary problem.
Read moreWe help countries to design environmental policies that are both economically efficient and effective at achieving their environmental objectives.
video: PUSHING OUR CITY LIMITS
As the world’s cities are growing, urban sprawl is getting worse. An new OECD study of 1,100 cities shows 60% of space is now low-density. This erratic city growth is damaging the environment. What can policy makers and governments do to move towards more sustainable cities?
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missed the GREEN TALK live ON RETHINKING URBAN SPRAWL? watch the video recording
Cities are home to more than half of the world’s population and are the engines of economic growth and employment. However, cities also face major environmental, economic and social challenges, many of which are associated with the fact that urban development has occurred. Urban sprawl, a particular form of development, is often cited as a driver of several of these challenges, including greenhouse gas emissions, air pollution, road congestion and lack of affordable housing.
On 14 June, Walid Oueslati and Ioannis Tikoudis of the OECD Environment Directorate discussed the state, evolution and implications of urban sprawl, and policy actions to incentivise greener urban development patterns. The presentation drew on the OECD report Rethinking Urban Sprawl: Moving Towards Sustainable Cities. Watch the video recording.
OECD WORK ON ENVIRONMENT 2017-18
This brochure details how our Organisation is helping governments face up to cross-cutting, systemic challenges with a more holistic approach that is increasingly joining the dots between environment, growth and equity:
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