The OECD Global Forum on Environment on "Towards Quantifying the Links Between Environment and Economic Growth" will be held on 24-25 October 2016 at the OECD Conference Centre, Paris.
BACKGROUND
The objectives of the Global Forum are to provide a platform for policy experts, academics and government officials from OECD and developing countries to explore how a well-managed natural environment can contribute to economic growth and how such an effective and efficient regulatory system can be designed. The Forum is organised across three themes:
- how economic growth affects the environment;
- how environmental degradation affects economic growth; and
- how environmental policies can help to make the most out of environmental protection and economic growth.
The links between the economy and the environment are manifold: the environment provides resources to the economy, and acts as a sink for emissions and waste. Natural resources are essential inputs for production in many sectors, while production and consumption also lead to pollution and other pressures on the environment. Poor environmental quality in turn affects economic growth and wellbeing by lowering the quantity and quality of resources or due to health impacts, etc. In this context, environmental policies can curb the negative feedbacks from the economy on the environment (and vice-versa). But how effective they are and whether they generate a net benefit or a net cost to society is the subject of much debate and depends on the way they are designed and implemented.
While the main mechanisms that link the economy and the environment are qualitatively known, assessments of environmental policies are often hampered by a lack of consistent metrics to compare the costs and benefits of policy changes, or by a more general lack of empirical evidence. The economic costs of biophysical and environmental consequences of policy inaction, and the associated benefits of new policies, are often not quantified. Therefore, economic discussions are often dominated by the very visible costs of policy action. Thus, it is essential to improve the toolkits that economists use to assess the benefits of environmental policies. This OECD Global Forum on Environment aims to shed some light on this important debate.
The keynote speakers at the Forum will be Janez Potočnik [biography], Co-Chair of International Resource Panel and Anil Markandya [biography], Distinguished Professor at the Basque Centre for Climate Change.
This event will be chaired by Catherine L. Mann [biography], OECD Chief Economist.
Find more information on Registration, Logistical Note, Agenda information here.