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This report provides in-depth analysis of the drivers, impacts and best practices to address ghost fishing gear. It places the issues of abandoned, lost, or otherwise discarded fishing gear within the larger context of marine plastic pollution. Ghost gear is particularly harmful because it negatively affects fisheries, non-target species (e.g. entanglement of wildlife), habitats, navigational safety, and coastal tourism. As a significant source of marine pollution, ghost fishing gear contributes to environmental and health risks of plastic pollution. The report identifies good practices and policies to prevent gear loss, reduce its impacts, and to recover lost gear. It reviews current policy efforts at the international level and in G7 countries and recommends a comprehensive policy response through international co-operation and circular economy approaches.

Nature underpins all economic activities and human well-being. It is the world’s most important asset. Yet humanity is destroying biodiversity at an unprecedented rate, posing significant but often overlooked risks to the economy, the financial sector and the well-being of current and future generations. This report provides the latest findings and policy guidance for G7 and other countries in four key areas: measuring and mainstreaming biodiversity; aligning budgetary and fiscal policy with biodiversity; embedding biodiversity in the financial sector; and improving biodiversity outcomes linked to international trade. The report shows how Finance, Economic and Environment Ministries can drive the transformative changes required to halt and reverse the loss of biodiversity. This Policy Paper was prepared as an input document for the United Kingdom Presidency of the G7 in 2021.

Over the past decades, governments have gradually adopted more rigorous environmental policies to tackle challenges associated with pressing environmental issues, such as climate change. The ambition of these policies is, however, often tempered by their perceived negative effects on the economy. The empirical evidence in this volume – covering a decade of OECD analysis – shows that environmental policies have had relatively small effects on economic outcomes such as employment, investment, trade and productivity. At the same time, they have been effective at reducing emissions from industry. The policies can however generate winners and losers across firms, industries and regions: while the least productive firms from high-polluting sectors are adversely affected, more productive firms and low-pollution sectors benefit. Environmental policies can be designed and combined with other policies to compensate workers and industries that may lose and to emphasise their positive impacts.

Au cours de la décennie écoulée, l’Irlande a realisé des progrès inégaux en matière de découplage entre les principales pressions environnementales et l’activité économique. Les émissions de gaz à effet de serre, la production de déchets et la pollution de l’eau par les éléments nutritifs ont augmenté avec la forte croissance économique entre le milieu des années 2010 et le début de la pandémie de COVID-19. Le peuplement dispersé place, de loin, le transport routier en tête des modes de transports. Les politiques en matière de climat, d'économie circulaire et de biodiversité ont pris un nouvel élan, avec des initiatives politiques ambitieuses et de grands plans d'investissement public. Il convient de les mettre en œuvre sans tarder pour atténuer les pressions grandissantes exercées par l'intensification des pratiques agricoles, le développement démographique, l'étalement urbain et le trafic routier. Il est essentiel d'encourager les entreprises et les ménages à agir. Il faut pour cela fournir des signaux de prix cohérents pour l'utilisation de l'énergie et des ressources naturelles et pour mieux gérer la demande de déplacements, tout en tenant compte de l'accessibilité financière, de l'impact sur l'emploi et des disparités régionales. Ce rapport est le troisième Examen environnemental de l’Irlande. Il évalue les progrès réalisés en matière de croissance verte et de développement durable, avec un chapitre spécial consacré à la mobilité et au transport de marchandises durables. Cette version abrégée contient le résumé, ainsi que l’évaluation et les recommandations officielles du rapport, qui reposent sur les trois chapitres consacrés aux évolutions et faits récents, à la gouvernance et à la croissance verte, ainsi que sur le chapitre qui examinent en détail la soutenabilité de la mobilité et du transport de marchandises. La version intégrale du rapport est disponible en anglais sur le site de l’OCDE.

Blockchain is mainstreaming, but the number of blockchain for development use-cases with proven success beyond the pilot stage remain relatively few. This paper outlines key blockchain concepts and implications in order to help policymakers reach realistic conclusions when considering its use. The paper surveys the broad landscape of blockchain for development to identify where the technology can optimise development impact and minimise harm. It subsequently critically examines four successful applications, including the World Food Programme’s Building Blocks, Oxfam’s UnBlocked Cash project, KfW’s TruBudget and Seso Global. As part of the on-going work co-ordinated by the OECD’s Blockchain Policy Centre, this paper asserts that post-COVID-19, Development Assistance Committee (DAC) donors and their development partners have a unique opportunity to shape blockchain’s implementation.

Carbon pricing very effectively encourages the shift of production and consumption choices towards low and zero carbon options that is required to limit climate change. Are countries using this tool to its full potential? This report measures the pricing of CO2-emissions from energy use in 44 OECD and G20 countries, covering around 80% of world emissions. The analysis takes a comprehensive view of carbon prices, including fuel excise taxes, carbon taxes and tradable emission permit prices. The 'carbon pricing score' measures how close the 44 countries, together as well as individually, are to the goal of pricing all energy related carbon emissions at current and forward-looking benchmark values for carbon costs. The report highlights the structure of effective carbon rates across countries and sectors in 2018 and discusses change compared to 2012 and 2015. It also provides an outlook on recent trends in emissions trading in China and the European Union.

Policy action to avoid the impending societal costs of climate change is particularly warranted in transport sector, which is responsible for 30% of greenhouse gas emissions in OECD countries. To design appropriate interventions in this sector, policy makers should account for the recent emergence of shared mobility services in urban areas and their potential advantages in terms of emissions mitigation. This study estimates the impact that the widespread uptake of shared mobility services could have on the carbon footprint of urban transport. To this end, it simulates the share of each transport mode and aggregate emissions from passenger transport in 247 cities across 29 OECD countries between 2015 and 2050. The analysis indicates that they have the potential to eliminate, on average, 6.3% of urban passenger transport emissions by the end of this period.