As environmental pressures continue to rise, governments throughout the OECD area have not been sitting back. If anything, the stringency of their policy measures has been increasing on the whole, not least to combat pollution and climate change. And as the evidence shows, stringent environmental policies can be introduced without hurting overall productivity.

Third Annual Conference on the theme of "Fiscal Policies and the Green Economy Transition: Generating Knowledge – Creating Impact" held at the University of Venice from 29 through 30 January 2015. The press release is available.

Embracing green growth can secure strong, stable and sustainable development. An increasing number of developing countries have formulated and/or implemented innovative policies to pursue green growth, notably in Africa. Zambia, in particular, is committed to drawing up an Inclusive Green Growth Strategy (IGGS) that builds upon a nationally-defined and comprehensive definition of green growth.

Ever plodded through flood waters to get to a conference? In late January, the Green Growth Knowledge Platform (GGKP) held their 3rd annual conference in Venice, Italy. The flooded city reminded attendees about the real world changes that are occurring and the need for continued action towards going green.

"Green growth" and transport combines several different concepts that are central to sustainable mobility, including sustainable economic activity, reduced environmental impact and sustained growth in high quality jobs.

Knowledge sharing is critical in fostering urban green growth. Cities in dynamic Asia urgently need to adopt and strengthen green growth models that take into account rapid urbanisation, industrialisation, and motorisation.

Climate change and, more generally, environmental damage have quantifiable economic and health costs, which weigh on long-term growth and well-being. If left unchecked, climate change is projected to decrease global GDP by 0.7 to 2.5 % by 2060. At the same time, the costs to society of air pollution already appear substantial–equivalent to some 4% of GDP across OECD countries and even higher in some rapidly developing economies.

This report summarises the current situation in fisheries and aquaculture, observing that in many parts of the world these sectors are at risk and do not reach their full potential.

On 7 May 2015, the Green Growth Knowledge Platform (GGKP) will hold a webinar on 'Trade and Green Growth: Measuring the impact of environmental policy on economic competitiveness' from 1-2 PM Geneva time.

This year’s OECD Ministerial Council Meeting, which we are honoured to chair, will address the issue of investment. The timing could not be better. Growth prospects have improved, but there is still a lot of work to be done. Investment has been hit especially hard since the crisis started and has yet to recover.

“Neither economists nor market participants, nor indeed governments foresaw a financial crisis of the type and magnitude we have now. The collapse of trust and subsequent credit freeze in the wake of the Lehman Brothers collapse was a shock.”

For many years one of the predominant conventional wisdoms in both business and policymaking circles was that cutting greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions necessitates a sacrifice in economic growth.

The OECD’s Annual Meeting at Ministerial Level reinforced member governments’ support across a broad range of key OECD work.

The 2011 Green Growth Strategy provided initial guidance to governments on how to achieve economic growth and development, while preventing costly environmental damage and inefficient resource use. What progress have countries made in aligning economic and environmental priorities since 2011?

Mainstreaming greening in employment and skills strategies requires a strong partnerships between public, private and not-for-profit organisations in order to maximise innovation and to manage smoothly labour market transitions from brown to green energy and employment. In this timely report, CEDEFOP and the OECD provide evidence and policy analysis to foster an equitable shift to greener economies and more sustainable societies.

So, for those interested in considering how to foster a green industrial revolution, it will be worthwhile to plan a trip to the OECD Green Growth and Sustainable Development Forum* in Paris this December.

Achieving green growth requires ambitious transition management policies in key sectors such as energy, transport, water and agriculture. Provided that the pace of innovation in a number of these key areas is growing faster than ever before, the Forum examined how to foster the "next industrial revolution" by harnessing the potential of systems innovation policies to support green growth.

Join the Green Growth Knowledge Platform (GGKP) for a webinar on 20 April from 16:00-17:30 (Geneva time), to debate where and how the way we measure our progress towards an inclusive green economy, including how this relates to the SDGs can be improved.

The adoption of the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) signals a clear commitment to set the world on track for a more just, prosperous and sustainable future, in which all children can reach their full potential. The challenge of sustainable development is an intergenerational one: effective action now will both improve children’s lives today and create a better future for children tomorrow.

Join the Green Growth Knowledge Platform (GGKP) for a webinar on 25 May 2016, 9:00-10:40am (CST, Costa Rica time) to explore issues affecting the LAC region, including: inclusive green growth, implementation of clean, efficient, resilient and socially inclusive innovations. Please note that the webinar will be held in Spanish.

Further structural reforms are needed to help the business sector boost productivity growth and overcome the key challenges of sluggish investment in advanced economies and excess capacity in emerging economies, according to a new OECD report.

The Fourth Green Growth Knowledge Platform (GGKP) Annual Conference will take place on the theme of “Transforming Development through Inclusive Green Growth” during 6-7 September 2016 at the International Convention Center on Jeju Island, Republic of Korea.

Join the GGKP for a webinar on 1 November from 3:00pm - 4:30pm (Geneva time) to learn more about the Global Green Growth Institute (GGGI)'s Green Growth Potential Assessment (GGPA) tool which helps countries find ways to turn risks into green growth opportunities, and the ways in which it has been applied to unlock green growth potential in Colombia and Peru.

There are now 45 Adherents to the 2009 OECD Declaration on Green Growth. Georgia has joined Costa Rica, Colombia, Croatia, Kazakhstan, Latvia, Lithuania, Morocco, Peru, Tunisia, as well as OECD members in having adhered to the Declaration.

Despite a challenging global environment, the growth prospects of Emerging Asia (Southeast Asia, China and India) remain robust over the medium term, according to the latest edition of the OECD Development Centre’s Economic Outlook for Southeast Asia, China and India.

Read our latest December edition and all previous issues of the newsletter. The December issue draws your attention to the OECD work on Mainstreaming Biodiversity, highlights recent Green Growth news such as the launch of GGKP’s BIG-E Database and Georgia’s adherence to the OECD Green Growth Declaration. It also highlights the OECD’s most recent publications.

The Fifth GGKP Annual Conference will be hosted by the World Bank on the topic of sustainable infrastructure, to stimulate research on these issues and foster interdisciplinary dialogue where relevant.The scientific committee therefore calls for contributions on any aspect of the infrastructure agenda, particularly for developing countries, with a focus on sustainability. Deadline for preliminary versions by 15 June 2017.

Estonia needs to move faster to reduce its dependence on oil shale so it can advance towards a greener economy and reduce air pollution and waste generation, according to a new OECD report.

Korea has improved access to environmental services and become a world leader in climate change mitigation technology.

Integrating measures to tackle climate change into regular economic policy will have a positive impact on economic growth over the medium and long term, according to a new OECD report prepared in the context of the German Presidency of the G20.

Many countries have become more efficient in using natural resources and the services provided by the environment, generating more economic output per unit of carbon emitted and of energy or raw materials consumed. Yet progress is too slow, and if emissions embodied in international trade are included, advances in environmental productivity are more modest, a new OECD report shows.

Germany recovered rapidly from the 2008-09 recession, with GDP topping pre-crisis rates during 2011 and unemployment falling significantly. Public finances are sound, but further reforms are needed to transform its growth model to thrive as a knowledge-based economy.

This note is taken from Chapter 2 of Economic Policy Reforms: Going for Growth 2012.

A moderate recovery is underway in the major advanced economies, according to the OECD’s latest Interim Economic Assessment. Growth is proceeding at encouraging rates in North America, Japan and the UK. The euro area as a whole is out of recession, although output remains weak in a number of countries.

Despite the harsh external economic environment, Germany has managed to reduce unemployment significantly while buttressing the long-term sustainability of its public finances. Drawing on the expertise and experience of OECD member countries, this report sets out key policy priorities to boost productivity growth and social inclusion.

Germany’s current economic success offers a good platform for achieving sustainable and inclusive growth, but further reforms will be necessary over the medium and long term, according to the latest OECD Economic Survey of Germany.

A moderate expansion is underway in most major advanced and emerging economies, but growth remains weak in the euro area, which runs the risk of prolonged stagnation if further steps are not taken to boost demand, according to the OECD’s latest Interim Economic Assessment.

Going for Growth 2015: Key findings for Germany

Achieving strong growth in the global economy remains elusive, with only a modest recovery in advanced economies and slower activity in emerging markets, according to the OECD’s latest Interim Economic Outlook.

The German economy is undergoing a robust expansion, with record-low unemployment and real wage gains underpinning domestic demand while strong exports are driving business investment. The strong fiscal position will offer opportunities for funding structural reforms and public investment to meet future challenges, according to a new report from the OECD.

This report was prepared to help Korea identify and address main social policy challenges. It suggests specific policy options and a strategy to “go social”, based on the practices and reforms that have worked well in other countries.

Can both less income inequality and more growth be achieved? A recent OECD study sheds new light on the link between policies that boost growth and the distribution of income.

OECD and ILO heads call upon the Ministers of Labour and Employment of the G20 countries to put a greater, renewed emphasis on employment policies to help economies accelerate and sustain the recovery, achieve higher levels of decent work and get out of the debt trap, at the G20 Meeting in Mexico.

The OECD has launched its Skills Strategy to help governments build economic resilience, boost employment and reinforce social cohesion. Despite the pressure on public finances, spending on education and skills is an investment for the future and must be a priority.

Breaking down barriers to gender equality in education, employment and entrepreneurship would create new sources of economic growth and help make better use of everyone’s skills, according to a new OECD report.

The Regional Growth Core Schönefelder Kreuz and the Technical University of Applied Sciences Wildau in partnership with the OECD Local Economic and Employment Development Programme (LEED) are working on defining and collecting measurable indicators at the regional/ local level that can inform over time of transition to low-carbon economic and industrial activities.

Chile's OECD membership presents challenges both in the context of changing patterns of production and consumption, and in the framework of a more sustainable economy. Specifically, green growth emphasizes improving growth rates, particularly through greening existing industries, as well as through new eco-businesses.

This report presents, for the first time a local ‘green growth’ indicator framework. This indicator framework was developed from the OECD ‘green growth’ strategy at the national level, but modified to highlight issues of transition that are most relevant for local areas.

The OECD LEED Delivering Local Development work stream examines the local and regional framework conditions and instruments for intervention to achieve successful local economic development in participating countries and localities. It covers strategic themes encompassing finance and investment, building the knowledge base, delivery vehicles and economic strategies (including the local development impacts from global events).

High-growth firms (HGFs) – firms able to grow fast over a short period of time – contribute to most new jobs in advanced economies.