Environmental challenges are becoming increasingly interconnected, with climate change, biodiversity loss, pollution and resource pressures reinforcing one another in ways that require policies in each area to work together more effectively, according to a new OECD report.
The OECD Environmental Outlook on the Triple Planetary Crisis: Stakes, Evolution and Policy Linkages provides a comprehensive evidence base to understand how these environmental challenges intersect. The Outlook's policy roadmap provides guidance on how governments can sequence and combine measures to better harness synergies across policy tools while managing potential trade-offs - for example, ensuring that renewable-energy deployment does not create unintended pressures on natural habitats or generate new waste-management challenges at the end of technology lifecycles.
The analysis shows, for example, that climate change is projected to have surpassed land-use change as the main driver of biodiversity loss by 2050, increasing pressures on terrestrial and marine ecosystems. Biodiversity loss, in turn, weakens ecosystem resilience to extreme weather events and pollution, with direct consequences for air, water and soil quality.
The Outlook also highlights the close interconnections between policies addressing each of these environmental challenges. For instance, climate mitigation policies targeting greenhouse gas emissions can also reduce co-emitted air pollutants. On the other hand, expansion of renewables like solar and wind, while contributing to climate change mitigation, can lead to potential adverse impacts on biodiversity.
"Understanding the linkages between environmental challenges like climate change, biodiversity loss and pollution is essential for designing effective policy responses," OECD Secretary-General Mathias Cormann said. "By co-ordinating their policy measures aimed at addressing these challenges, countries can more effectively advance their environmental objectives in line with their unique circumstances."
A first stocktake of national documents across ten countries (Argentina, Australia, Canada, China, France, India, Indonesia, Japan, Peru and Uganda) further illustrates this need. While all countries recognise two-way interlinkages between climate change, biodiversity loss and pollution in their Biennial Transparency Reports and National Biodiversity Strategies and Action Plans, there are some gaps in coverage. Interlinkages between climate change and biodiversity are relatively well covered, whereas links with pollution - including how climate and biodiversity pressures may increase pollution risks - are generally not reflected. Policies explicitly aimed at managing trade-offs, especially for pollution, remain limited.
The report identifies practical levers for more integrated and effective policy responses:
- Aligning financing and investment with integrated climate, biodiversity and pollution objectives.
- Managing potential trade-offs in the clean-energy transition, including land pressures, material demand and end-of-life impacts.
- Transforming resource use and advancing circular economy approaches to reduce waste, pollution and primary material demand.
- Improving the sustainability of food systems and land use to reduce emissions, strengthen biodiversity and enhance resilience to climate and water stresses.
- Addressing key gaps in research and assessment and including considerations of interlinkages in national reporting and planning.
The OECD Environmental Outlook will be launched during a Green Talk LIVE webinar on 26 November from 15:00 to 16:30 CET. Details and registration here.
