Publications & Documents

Since the 1990’s, the countries of Eastern Europe, the Caucasus and Central Asia (EECCA) have made great progress in pursuing economic development that is also environmentally sustainable. The countries, in collaboration with the GREEN Action Task Force hosted by the OECD, has developed a number of policies aiming to improve environmental quality and social well-being, while creating opportunities for strong economic growth and decent jobs in the region. This report was prepared as the OECD contribution to the ninth 'Environment for Europe' (EfE) Conference (5-7 October 2022). In this context, this report aims to: (i) take stock of progress on policy developments towards a green economy in the EECCA countries; (ii) showcase selected contributions from of the Green Action Task Force that integrate environmental and climate considerations into development pathways of the EECCA countries, and mobilise finance for action; and (iii) provide an outlook for the future, including priority actions that the Task Force in co-operation with the EECCA countries should take to enhance the momentum for green economy transition in the region.

Circular economy business models often rely on reverse supply chains and reverse logistics to close material loops, such as recycling waste and scrap into secondary raw materials, and extending product life by promoting direct reuse, repair, refurbishment and remanufacturing. Such activities can extend beyond borders and require the transboundary movement of end-of-life products to enable economies of scale. In this context, this report explores the opportunities and challenges for governments to facilitate cross-border reverse supply chains for a resource efficient and circular economy. It mainly focuses on the role of trade facilitation mechanisms and standards, and provides potential ways forward in utilising them to improve and strengthen cross-border reverse supply chains. The report also investigates other relevant policy responses such as addressing trade restrictions, combatting illegal waste trade, and introducing upstream policies such as eco-design initiatives that may work to support cross-border reverse supply chains.

It is increasingly recognised that women and girls tend to be disproportionately impacted by climate change and other environmental challenges, especially in developing countries. Yet, little research or policy action has focused on how gender equality and environmental goals can be mutually reinforcing. This policy paper examines linkages and synergies between these two policy agendas and explores the role of green policies, finance and infrastructure in supporting women’s empowerment and gender equality. The paper finds that while the interlinkages that shape the gender-environment nexus are starting to be acknowledged, further efforts are needed to foster synergies between gender and environmental goals in policy design, sustainable finance approaches as well as in infrastructure planning and implementation.

Ce rapport fournit une analyse de donnée désagrégée sur le financement climatique fourni et mobilisé en 2016-2020, ventilée par composantes, thèmes, secteurs et instruments financiers. Il explore également les tendances clés et fournit des éclairages relatifs à la répartition et à la concentration des financements climatiques fournis et mobilisés selon différentes caractéristiques et groupements de pays en développement. Le dernier chapitre du rapport fournit des informations supplémentaires sur les impacts et l'efficacité du financement climatique, ainsi que sur la pertinence des mesures d’atténuation et la transparence de la mise en œuvre. Les résultats complètent le rapport de l'OCDE Tendances agrégées du financement climatique fourni et mobilisé par les pays développés en 2013-2020.

Despite remarkable improvement in water supply and sanitation services, Estonia faces finance and investment challenges to keep up with social expectations and environmental health regulations. With downward demographic trends expected to affect water utilities revenues and the projected phasing out of EU water funding, which was essential in the rapid improvement of service provision over the last two decades, substantial efficiency gains are required to transition towards sustainable water service provision. Towards Sustainable Water Services in Estonia presents a strategy and action plan to promote efficiency gains for water supply and sanitation services in Estonia, focusing on the consolidation of service provision. The report provides consolidation scenarios and accompanying measures, including depreciation methods for granted assets, and benchmarking methods going beyond cost comparisons to performance levels and the ambition of development plans. It also shares insights for countries facing similar challenges or seeking to improve the efficiency of water service provision. The project was undertaken in collaboration with – and with the financial support of the Directorate-General for Structural Reform Support of the European Commission.

Since 2006 Lithuania has taken steps to ensure higher operational efficiency and to reduce the disparity in prices for water supply and sanitation services. However, progress has been slow. Concerns have emerged regarding representation of small municipalities in consolidated utilities and increased costs for some consumers. Reform of Water Supply and Wastewater Treatment in Lithuania presents practical options to implement the national strategy towards the consolidation of water supply and sanitation services in Lithuania as a tool to foster operational efficiency and financial sustainability of the sector. Analyses and recommendations benefitted from discussions in two pilot regions in Lithuania, to test the practicality of consolidation scenarios and accompanying measures. Particular attention is paid to tariff setting and different modes of benchmarking – including development plans benchmarking - as tools to incentivise performance. The report provides insights for countries facing similar challenges or seeking to improve the efficiency of water service provision. The project was undertaken in collaboration with – and with the financial support of – the Directorate-General for Structural Reform Support of the European Commission.

Innovation is key to reducing the environmental impacts of plastics. However, literature is generally lacking in the field of environmentally relevant plastics innovation. This paper develops an innovative conceptual framework to document and map environmentally relevant plastics innovation. Using this framework, it develops plastics innovation metrics using patents and trademarks to quantify trends over time, across countries, and to establish preliminary empirical links between policies and innovation outcomes. Plastic waste prevention and recycling innovation has increased slightly more rapidly than overall plastics innovation. In contrast, innovation in bioplastics have witnessed a significant slowdown in recent years. Another key finding of this analysis is that environmentally relevant plastics innovation is concentrated in OECD countries and China and that top inventor countries are not specialized in the same technologies. Finally, the patent analysis shows some empirical evidence that recycling regulations may have triggered innovative activity in plastic recycling.