This Environment Working Paper aims to identify and assess trends in trade patterns in the context of recent policy developments.

The annual reported export weight of plastic scrap and waste fell by 50% over the past 4️ years, from around 12.4 Mt/year in 2017 to 6.2 Mt/year in 2021. Preliminary data indicates a continuing trend.

Exports to non-OECD countries remain significant, albeit reduced. 

The economic consequences for firms investing in green innovation, and therefore their incentives to innovate, are not well understood.

A new OECD Environment Working Paper empirically assesses the economic returns on innovation in cleaner vehicles. The results show that, when vehicle fuel prices increase, firms having previously successfully filed green patents experience an increase in their market share. 

A new OECD Environment Working Paper takes stock of scientific findings to date regarding the distributional effects of policies discouraging car use in urban areas.

It describes the mechanisms responsible for the distributional effects of these policies and offers insights regarding how such policies can be designed to minimise adverse equity outcomes.

We have seen a growing number of countries strengthen their emission reduction pledges by updating their Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) or by pledging carbon neutrality targets towards mid-century.

But with the increasing urgency of the climate crisis, what are countries actually doing to implement these targets and how has the climate policy landscape evolved over the last decade or so?

Is the green transition in need of skills?