adelphi provides expertise for the new OECD environmental report

The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) regularly prepares environmental reports about its member states – the so called “Environmental Performance Reviews” (EPR). For this purpose, an expert dialogue with representatives of businesses, organisations and unions took place in the middle of April. The focus centred on the development of the environmental policies over the last few years and current challenges.

The last “EPR Germany” dates from 2001 and the next one will follow in 2012. It will provide a detailed overview of the status of environmental protection in Germany in as many areas as possible. In addition to a comprehensive chapter on “sustainable development” and “Green Growth”, further thematic focuses will be on “climate protection” and “environmental innovations”. Walter Kahlenborn, Managing Director of adelphi and approved expert in these topics, attended the discussion to contribute his expertise.

The aim of the EPR is to investigate the environmental situation and policies of the OECD states from an external perspective and to make recommendations on this basis. The environmental reports are thereby based on a peer review method, whose central element is a “Review Mission” in the particular country. For this purpose, a delegation of OECD representatives and experts from other OECD states travels to the member states to exchange with professionals from politics, economics and civil society.

The reports and recommendations are subsequently presented at the OECD headquarters in Paris through the “Working Group on Environmental Performance” and then discussed and published in the OECD states. The mutual exchange of information is meant to accelerate sustainable development in all OECD member states, while the country-specific monitoring reports provide additional incentives to strengthen the efficiency of all measures in this field.