Environment
The objectives of the Global Forum were 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 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 well-being by lowering the quantity and quality of resources or due to health impacts, etc. In this context, environmental policies can curb the negative feedback 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 Global Forum aimed to shed some light on this important debate.