Seminar on “Sustainable Development and Climate Change: International and National Perspectives”

In this seminar organised by the Norwegian government, Mr. Gurría reminded that achieving ambitious climate stabilisation goals is possible provided all major emitting countries and sectors act immediately. He underlined that this will require significant changes in how we consume and how we produce but doing nothing is not an option, because the costs and consequences are a multiple of the known costs of action.

Launch of the 2008 OECD Environmental Outlook

At the worldwide launch of this report in Oslo, hosted by Norway's Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg, OECD Secretary-General reminded that solutions to the key environmental challenges are available, achievable and affordable, especially when compared to the expected economic growth and the costs and consequences of inaction.

The Economics of Climate Change: The Fierce Urgency of Now

In his speech, Mr. Gurría presented the climate change policies that should be put into place to limit further deterioration. Answering the crucial question "who pays for it", he noted that the countries who provoked climate change have a greater capacity to pay than those who joined the group of large emitters more recently.

Related Documents

• Presentation given by the OECD Secretary-General, Bali-OECD side event
• OECD Participation in UN Climate Change Conference in Bali

Renewable Energy and Environmental Taxes

The high price of some new non-polluting energy technologies makes it hard for them to compete with traditional energy sources. To curb industrial pollution, many OECD countries have intrduced poollution taxes.