Published on October 26, 2015
Also available in: French
Environment at a Glance 2015 updates key environmental indicators and relevant socio-economic and sectoral indicators to track OECD country progress on major environmental issues and inform policy development and evaluation. This year's edition includes increased coverage of environmentally related taxation, ODA and R&D expenditure.
English | Environment at a Glance 2015 (Summary in English) | |
French | Environment at a Glance 2015 (Summary in French) Panorama de l'environnement 2015 | |
Spanish | Environment at a Glance 2015 (Summary in Spanish) Panorama sobre el medio ambiente 2015 | |
German | Environment at a Glance 2015 (Summary in German) Umwelt auf einen Blick 2015 | |
Japanese | Environment at a Glance 2015 (Summary in Japanese) 図表で見る環境 2015 | |
Italian | Environment at a Glance 2015 (Summary in Italian) Uno sguardo sull’ambiente 2015 | |
Chinese | Environment at a Glance 2015 (Summary in Chinese) 2015环境概览 | |
Czech | Environment at a Glance 2015 (Summary in Czech) Pohled na životní prostředí 2015 | |
Danish | Environment at a Glance 2015 (Summary in Danish) Miljøet 2015 - kort fortalt | |
Dutch | Environment at a Glance 2015 (Summary in Dutch) Milieu in een oogopslag 2015 | |
Estonian | Environment at a Glance 2015 (Summary in Estonian) Keskkond kiirpilgul 2015 | |
Finnish | Environment at a Glance 2015 (Summary in Finnish) Ympäristökatsaus 2015 | |
Greek | Environment at a Glance 2015 (Summary in Greek) Το Περιβάλλον με μια ματιά 2015 | |
Hebrew | Environment at a Glance 2015 (Summary in Hebrew) מבט אל הסביבה 2015 | |
Hungarian | Environment at a Glance 2015 (Summary in Hungarian) Környezetvédelmi körkép 2015 | |
Icelandic | Environment at a Glance 2015 (Summary in Icelandic) Umhverfið í hnotskurn 2015 | |
Korean | Environment at a Glance 2015 (Summary in Korean) 2015년도 환경부문 개요 | |
Norwegian | Environment at a Glance 2015 (Summary in Norwegian) Et blikk på miljøet – 2015 | |
Polish | Environment at a Glance 2015 (Summary in Polish) Środowisko w skrócie 2015 | |
Portuguese | Environment at a Glance 2015 (Summary in Portuguese) Panorama do Ambiente 2015 | |
Russian | Environment at a Glance 2015 (Summary in Russian) Панорама окружающей среды 2015 | |
Slovak | Environment at a Glance 2015 (Summary in Slovak) Letmý pohľad na životné prostredie 2015 | |
Slovene | Environment at a Glance 2015 (Summary in Slovenian) Pogled na okolje 2015 | |
Swedish | Environment at a Glance 2015 (Summary in Swedish) Miljöpolitisk översikt 2015: | |
Turkish | Environment at a Glance 2015 (Summary in Turkish) Tek Bakışta Çevre 2015 |
Preface | |||||||||||||||||||||||
Executive summary | |||||||||||||||||||||||
Reader's guide | |||||||||||||||||||||||
Additional information and country notes | |||||||||||||||||||||||
Environmental trends11 chapters available
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||
Sectoral and Economic Trends of Environmental Significance9 chapters available
|
the data to prove it
Environment at a glance 2015 highlights the many OECD countries that have succeeded in reducing their greenhouse gas emissions, and those that have increased their share of renewables in energy supply, improved their waste management, or innovated to more efficiently manage their water resources. The data are there to prove it: whether we are talking about natural resource consumption, waste generation or air emissions, decoupling is possible.
These positive developments are attributable both to the rise of the services sector and with it, the displacement of resource- and pollution-intensive production abroad, as well as to policy action and technical progress. The economic crisis also contributed to relieve some pressures on the environment.
Environment at a Glance also reveals where progress has slowed or is insufficient. There is substantial scope for strengthening air and climate policies, changing patterns of energy consumption, improving waste and materials management, preserving biodiversity and natural assets, and implementing more integrated policies – all critical components of green growth and sustainable development. Many positive developments still take place at the margin and policies often lack coherence, thus undermining efforts to reduce negative environmental impacts.
(selected) key findings
While many countries show a relative decoupling of water abstractions from GDP growth, in a third of countries, freshwater resources are under medium to high stress, and many countries have to cope with local or seasonal water shortages, which are expected to be exacerbated by climate change.
Landfill remains the major disposal method for municipal waste.
A person living in the OECD area generates on average 520 kg of waste per year; this is 30 kg less than in 2000, though still 20 kg more than in 1990.
The use of environmentally related taxes is growing but remains limited compared to labour taxes. Variations in energy tax rates, uneven price signals, low levels of taxation on fuels with high environmental impacts, and exemptions for fuel used in some sectors impede the transition to a low-carbon economy.
further reading
OECD work on...
social media & CONTACT