Environmental indicators, modelling and outlooks

OECD Environmental Outlook to 2050: The Consequences of Inaction

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Humanity has witnessed unprecedented growth and prosperity in the past decades, with the size of the world economy more than tripling and population increasing by over 3 billion people since 1970. This growth, however, has been accompanied by environmental pollution and natural resource depletion. The current growth model and the mismanagement of natural assets could ultimately undermine human development.

The OECD Environmental Outlook to 2050 asks “What will the next four decades bring?” Based on joint modelling by the OECD and the Netherlands Environmental Assessment Agency (PBL), it looks forward to the year 2050 to find out what demographic and economic trends might mean for the environment if the world does not adopt more ambitious green policies. It also looks at what policies could change that picture for the better.

This Outlook focuses on four areas: climate change, biodiversity, freshwater and health impacts of pollution. These four key environmental challenges were identified by the previous Environmental Outlook to 2030 (OECD, 2008) as “Red Light” issues requiring urgent attention.

In the Press
News releases	International media coverage (English, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Spanish) Opening Remarks by Angel Gurría, OECD Secretary-General, delivered at the Meeting of the Environment Policy Committee at Ministerial Level, 29 March Act now or face costly consequences, warns OECD, 15 March 2012. The Water Challenge: sharing a precious commodity, 7 March 2012 Political courage in Durban needed to combat climate change, says Angel Gurría, OECD Secretary-General, 24 November 2011
Speech	Opening Remarks by Angel Gurría, OECD Secretary-General, delivered at the Meeting of the Environment Policy Committee at Ministerial Level, 29 March 2012
Article	Green Growth: Making it Happen, by Angel Gurría, OECD Secretary-General, Article published in Europe's World, 7 February 2012
OECD Insights Blog	Avoiding death by diesel, by Simon Upton, OECD Environment Director, 19 June 2013

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OECD Environmental Outlook to 2050: The Consequences of Inaction

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