Can electric vehicles drive climate change action in India?
By Trupti Deshpande, Former Senior Associate and Spurthi Ravuri, Senior Associate, Center for Study of Science, Technology and Policy (CSTEP)
The COVID-19 pandemic disrupted the transportation sector globally, pushing more people away from public transport and towards privately owned cars. How has it impacted emissions in India and can electric vehicles be the answer to “cleaner and greener” transportation?
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Stopping the leaks: a fresh look at tax breaks for foreign aid
By Rachel Morris, Policy Analyst – Financing for Sustainable Development (Development Co-operation Directorate), and Joseph Stead, Senior Policy Analyst – Tax and Development (Centre for Tax Policy and Administration), OECD
Faced with the worst economic downturn since World War II, developing country governments are scrambling to maximise resources to stay afloat. During the COVID-19 pandemic, developing countries took a massive hit to their government revenues: USD 689 billion fewer revenues were generated in 2019 compared to 2020.1 The poorest countries are now faced with an increasing gap to finance the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) due to higher financing needs and fewer resources to spend on recovery. In addition to declining government revenues, increasing pressures on available foreign aid mean that resources to avoid debt and climate crises are stretched2. With government revenues in developing countries expected to remain almost 20% below pre-pandemic levels, every penny counts, especially those coming from tax revenues. But tax exemptions can stand in the way of maximising tax revenues.
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How to make gender equality work for everyone
By Laura Parry-Davies, Digital Communications Officer, OECD Development Centre
The pandemic has set equal rights for women and girls back significantly. What can the international community do to reverse this trend and put social, economic and physical equality back on track?
Experts from UN Women, London School of Economics and Political Science, MenCare Global Fatherhood Campaign, and the OECD gathered to discuss next steps for empowering young women and girls as part of the OECD Development Centre’s 60th Anniversary Dialogues.
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The fourth Industrial Revolution and the reskilling challenge: a view from the Global South
By Ramiro Albrieu, Senior Researcher and Megan Ballesty, Project Co-ordinator, Center for the Implementation of Public Policies for Equity and Growth (CIPPEC-Argentina, member of the Southern Voice network)
The fourth industrial revolution is redefining the role of people in the workplace and, consequently, challenging 20th century education systems.
Many of the breakthroughs in the field of applied artificial intelligence and related technologies enable the automation of “codifiable” or repetitive tasks, representing hard-to-beat competition for workers performing them. Societies are therefore making efforts to redirect human capital investments away from learning goals associated with performing routine and repetitive tasks. Although this goal is clear, the specific features of policy frameworks to achieve it are hard to design, as they are highly context-dependent. A few examples follow.
Accelerating the green energy transition in emerging markets in times of crisis
By Maurizio Bezzeccheri, Head Latin America region, Enel; Francesco Ciaccia, Manager, Eni; and Marta Martinez, Climate Change and Alliances, Iberdrola 1
The world is in the midst of an unprecedented and complex global energy crisis. Governments across emerging markets face two apparently conflicting priorities: ensuring immediate energy security and accelerating the energy transition to address the longer-term challenge of climate change. But are these priorities truly conflicting? And what can the private sector do to change the calculus by accelerating the green transition in times of crisis?
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G20 – a unique opportunity to advance digital public infrastructure
By Liv Marte Nordhaug, Co-Lead, Digital Public Goods Alliance
Faced with recurrent shocks and crises, countries everywhere are looking to build more resilient and inclusive digital foundations for public and private service delivery. As they enter this next stage of their digital journeys, advanced and emerging economies alike should apply an infrastructure mindset that drives inclusion, empowerment, and innovation. India’s G20 presidency offers a unique opportunity to convene the international community around advancing this agenda.
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Our top 5 blogs of 2022!
Here are our most popular blogs of the past year
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Migration is accelerating – How can everyone benefit?
By Laura Parry-Davies, Digital Communications Officer, OECD Development Centre
The number of migrants in the world has increased by more than 46% in the last 30 years. Yet, global development agendas have, up-to-this-point, failed to adequately integrate the role of human mobility into country strategies for growth and wellbeing. What needs to change?
Experts from the World Bank, African Union, United Nations University Centre for Policy Research and the OECD Development Centre discussed – drawing on related work and insights – as part of the OECD Development Centre’s 60th Anniversary Dialogues.
It is time to give highly indebted countries a fresh start
By Rachid Bouhia, Economist, and Patrick Kacmarczyk, Consultant, UNCTAD[1]
Fast deterioration of financial conditions in the Global South
Sustained investments are a prerequisite for attaining the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Without stable financial conditions, however, these investments are not possible. Roller coaster capital markets prevent investors in the real economy from predicting their rate of return, leaving only financial speculators in the game.
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The Energy Transition or Development – Will Developing Countries Need to Choose?
By Laura Parry-Davies, Digital Communications Officer, OECD Development Centre
Countries with low access to energy and minimal contributions to greenhouse gas emissions are being asked to prioritise the low-carbon transition over economic growth.
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