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This report analyses planned infrastructure projects, decision-making frameworks related to infrastructure development and strategic planning documents in eight countries in Central Asia and the Caucasus: Azerbaijan, Georgia, Kazakhstan, the Kyrgyz Republic, Mongolia, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan. It compares current investment flows with countries' national development objectives to identify misalignments and provides policy-makers with recommendations to improve the integration of climate change and other environmental concerns into infrastucture development decision-making processes. The report presents a comprehensive overview of infrastructure investment, primarily in the transport and energy sectors, throughout the region and identifies the risks and opportunities emerging from current investment patterns.

Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) play an important role in Georgia’s economy. SMEs provide more than 67% of employment and about 62% of gross value added. Although the environmental footprint of individual SMEs may be low, their aggregate impact in many respects exceeds that of large businesses. Commercial banks have an important role to play in providing access to green finance, particularly for SMEs. This report reviews the experience with green lending in the SME sector in Georgia. The analysis identifies the main challenges with lending to SMEs for green projects and discusses possible solutions. The report, in particular, looks at the role of the government and the policy instruments it can use to stimulate higher demand for green lending in the SME sector.

L’adaptation des zones côtières aux impacts du changement climatique est désormais une urgence. La hausse du niveau des mers et des pressions immobilières va certainement y accroître les risques, selon les prévisions. En quoi les processus nationaux de planification de l’adaptation des pays de l’OCDE peuvent-ils nous aider à répondre à ce défi ? C’est la question à laquelle répond cet ouvrage. Il expose clairement les diverses conceptions du partage des coûts et des responsabilités en matière de gestion des risques côtiers. Il examine ensuite si celles-ci encouragent ou dissuadent les ménages, les entreprises et les différents niveaux de gouvernement d’adopter des comportements qui réduisent les risques. Cet ouvrage décrit les instruments d’action que les autorités nationales peuvent employer pour favoriser une réaction efficiente, efficace et équitable face aux changements qui affectent le littoral. Il s’appuie sur de nouvelles analyses des coûts futurs de la hausse du niveau des mers et sur les principaux résultats de quatre études de cas (Allemagne, Canada, Nouvelle-Zélande et Royaume Uni). 

The Convention on Biological Diversity’s 15th Conference of the Parties (CBD COP15) in 2020 marks a critical juncture for one of the defining global challenges of our time: the loss of biodiversity and ecosystem services, which underpin nearly all of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Transformative changes are needed to ensure biodiversity conservation and sustainable use and the delivery of the ecosystem services upon which all life depends. This report sets the economic and business case for urgent and ambitious action on biodiversity. It presents a preliminary assessment of current biodiversity-related finance flows, and discusses the key data and indicator gaps that need to be addressed to underpin effective monitoring of both the pressures on biodiversity and the actions (i.e. responses) being implemented. The report concludes with ten priority areas where G7 and other countries can prioritise their efforts.

This report updates the data published in the 2015 OECD Compendium of Agri-environmental Indicators to present a summary of the environmental performance of agriculture in OECD countries as of end-2015. It also includes new and innovative material to further strengthen its relevance as a reference document. In particular, the four thematic chapters each cover a targeted set of indicators for which data coverage is generally more consistent across time in OECD countries and that capture the main pressures agriculture exerts on the environment. The thematic chapters cover the following areas: the interlinked issues of land use, pesticides and farmland birds; ammonia and greenhouse gas emissions, the main air pollutants from agricultural activities; nitrogen and phosphorus balances, two indicators that signal air and water pollution; and water use and irrigation in agriculture.

This new web format for Environment at a Glance Indicators provides real-time interactive on-line access to the latest comparable OECD-country data on the environment from the OECD Core Set of Environmental Indicators – a tool to evaluate environmental performance in countries and to track the course towards sustainable development. The web version allows users to play with the data and graphics, download and share them, and consult and download thematic web-books. These indicators provide key messages on major environmental trends in areas such as climate change, biodiversity, water resources, air quality, circular economy and ocean (forthcoming). They will be accompanied by a short Environment at a Glance report that presents a digest of the key messages stemming from the indicators.

Denmark's energy and carbon intensities are among the lowest in the OECD area. Green taxation as a share of GDP is the highest in the OECD, and the country is a leader in eco-innovation. Denmark has also achieved impressive results in the material recovery of most waste streams and reached a political agreement to move to a circular economy. It is an international standard setter for chemical risk assessment. However, municipal waste generation remains the highest in the OECD area. Many bodies of water do not reach good ecological status. Levels of exposure to fine particles remain above international standards. Terrestrial biodiversity suffers from the lack of well-connected protected areas. Further steps will need to be taken to achieve the stated goal of a climate neutral economy by 2050.This is the third Environmental Performance Review of Denmark. It evaluates progress towards sustainable development and green growth, with special features on waste, materials management and the circular economy and chemicals management.

This report calls for a better understanding of the effects of pharmaceutical residues in the environment, greater international collaboration and accountability distribution, and policy actions to prevent and remedy emerging concerns. Laboratory and field tests show traces of oral contraceptives causing the feminisation of fish and amphibians, and residues of psychiatric drugs altering fish behaviour. Antimicrobial resistance, linked to the overuse of antibiotics, has rapidly escalated into a global health crisis.Unless adequate measures are taken to manage the risks, pharmaceutical residues will increasingly be released into the environment as ageing populations, advances in healthcare, and intensification of meat and fish production spur the demand for pharmaceuticals worldwide. The report outlines a collective, life-cycle approach to managing pharmaceuticals in the environment. A policy mix of source-directed, use-orientated and end-of-pipe measures, involving several policy sectors, can help to improve health and protect the environment.