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COVID-19 is likely to leave long-lasting effects on local labour markets. It is accelerating a pre-existing trend towards automation, as firms look even more to new technologies to pandemic proof their operations. While automation offers the opportunity to boost productivity, it can also lead to job polarisation as vulnerable workers who lose their jobs may not have the skills needed in a changing labour market. This OECD report examines the potential impacts of automation on people and places across Australia. It also sheds light on policies and programmes that can help regions and cities to prepare for the future of work.

A clear, efficient, and modern regulatory framework for pesticides is essential for addressing their impacts on human health and the environment, supporting a life-cycle approach to their management, and ensuring crop protection and a sustainable agricultural industry. This report identifies the gaps, barriers, implementation flaws and inefficiencies that affect the regulatory framework of pesticides in Mexico. It takes stock of the regulatory framework and recent reforms, and identifies both the areas that pose the greatest challenge for the effective regulation of pesticides and those where regulation – or lack of it – in pesticides most affects policy objectives and economic activity. These challenges and practices are assessed in view of OECD principles and country experiences, and recommendations are provided to support better regulation efforts. The report finds that Mexico would benefit from adopting a comprehensive, mutually-agreed policy strategy for pesticides, recognising that pesticide management is a shared responsibility across national and local governments, the pesticide industry, pesticide users, as well as the general public.

From combating COVID-19 and climate change to tackling corruption and tax evasion, international organisations (IOs) play a critical role in helping countries find solutions to common problems. But for IOs to deliver optimal support to countries and their populations, the international instruments they develop need to be inclusive, well understood and have a tangible impact. This Compendium of International Organisation’s Practices gathers the experiences of some 50 IOs with different mandates, members and institutional frameworks to draw lessons for international rulemaking. It examines the diversity of instruments in the international rulemaking ecosystem; describes trends and challenges; and discusses how to strengthen the implementation and evaluation of international instruments, ensure efficient stakeholder engagement, and maximise opportunities for co-ordination across IOs. The IO Compendium is designed to serve not only all national and international policy practitioners, but also civil society actors, academic experts, private actors, and citizens who seek to understand, benefit from and possibly contribute to the international rulemaking process.

This policy paper analyses current practices related to the implementation of European Structural and Investment Funds (ESIF) in the Slovak Republic, in particular, the Operational Programme Research and Innovation (R&I). The Slovak Republic benefits from one of the largest shares of European Structural and Investment Funds (ESIF). However, the country ranks amongst the EU member states with the lowest absorption of R&I ESIF. In 2017, administrative inefficiencies and irregularities resulted in further decommitments by the European Commission. This paper identifies bottlenecks in the ESIF projects’ implementation across the entire project life cycle, from the preparation of calls to the execution of selected projects. It offers the Slovak Republic tailored policy recommendations to support the effective implementation of European funds for research and innovation and avoid further decommissioning. To ensure lasting changes, this policy paper proposes an action plan where all relevant stakeholders would contribute to effectively implementing transformational reforms.

Climate and environmental considerations have become pressing priorities for governments in recent years. International commitments such as the Paris Agreement, the Aichi Biodiversity Targets under the Convention on Biodiversity (CBD) and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) have spurred momentum across the OECD to prioritise green objectives to policy-making processes. As these efforts require systematic considerations across all parts of government, countries have identified the budget process as playing a key role in ensuring that priorities relating to the environment and climate change are part of the policy-making process. Thus, there has been an emergence of 'green budgeting' practices across the OECD. Countries use green budgeting as a tool of budgetary policy making to provide policy makers with a clearer understanding of the environmental and climate impacts of budgeting choices, while bringing evidence together in a systematic and co-ordinated manner for more informed decision making to fulfil national and international commitments. This publication presents the findings from the first survey on green budgeting across OECD countries and provides information on the extent to which countries have the key elements of an effective approach to pursue environmental and climate priorities.

This report acts as a descriptive guide to the experience of digital identity for individuals and a potential departure for future work to realise the opportunities offered by trusted and portable digital identity. It presents the policy and normative context for digital identity, uses of digital identity during the COVID-19 crisis and the necessary enabling conditions for successful development and adoption. This report was originally submitted to the G20 Digital Economic Task Force in July 2021.

The report on the G20 Survey on Agile Approaches to the Regulatory Governance of Innovation showcases ongoing efforts of G20 governments to revisit how they regulate in today’s fast-paced global innovation landscape. Survey results show that G20 members are keenly aware of the far-reaching implications of innovation in terms of both challenges and opportunities for regulatory policy and governance. In line with the OECD Recommendation on Agile Regulatory Governance to Harness Innovation, they are taking important steps in that respect. To facilitate mutual learning as well as the diffusion of good practices, the present report provides a range of examples of the measures adopted by governments in order to accommodate innovation-driven disruption while upholding fundamental rights, democratic values and the rule of law, and ensuring a sufficient level of protection for citizens and the environment.

This Compendium takes stock of the use of emerging technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI), fifth-generation mobile telecommunication technologies (5G), and the Internet of Things (IoT) across G20 members to sustain public service continuity and provide the basis for recovery from the COVID-19 crisis. It presents 120 practices in G20 members highlighting how governments can significantly transform themselves and make the best use of digital technologies and data to serve economies and societies better, foster international collaboration, and accelerate the development of the most successful use cases. This report was originally submitted to the G20 Digital Economic Task Force in July 2021.