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The paper analyses the current system of environmental taxation and environmental expenditure in Ukraine, identifies issues in the way environmental tax policy is currently designed and implemented and highlights main areas where environmental taxation and expenditure could be improved. It uses data on environmental tax revenue and budgets from expenditure reports of the State Treasury Service of Ukraine over the period 2010 - 2020. Where available, preliminary data for 2021 were also included. The paper aims to support the government of Ukraine in reforming environmental taxation and public funding for environmental protection. Ukraine’s Post-War Recovery and Reconstruction Plan outlines ambitious plans for reform, including in the environmental domain. It envisions restructuring the current environmental tax system, expanding it to energy and transport and harmonising it with that of the European Union. It also foresees an analytical study systematising current taxes and payments in line with Eurostat classification standards. This paper can support these efforts.

The paper presents the understanding of and attitudes towards climate change and climate policies in Ukraine, using a survey on a representative sample of more than 1 500 Ukrainians. The survey was carried out between October 2021 and February 2022 and presents the situation before Russia’s large-scale invasion of Ukraine. The survey tests support for three main climate policies in detail: a green infrastructure programme, a carbon tax with cash transfers and a ban on combustion-engine cars. It shows that support for climate policies depends on three key factors: how people perceive the effectiveness of the policies in reducing emissions, how they perceive distributional impacts on lower-income households (inequality concerns), and if they think their household will gain or lose from the policy. The survey also shows that when citizens receive information that specifically addresses these concerns, they exhibit stronger support for the policy. How the policy is designed also matters: Ukrainians widely accept a carbon tax when its revenues finance green investments and/or compensate lower-income households. The paper highlights seven considerations for Ukraine policymakers to design measures that are effective and supported by citizens. Following Russia’s war of aggression and once conditions are right, Ukrainian policymakers can also use the survey results to guide the reform of the environmental tax system- one of the goals in Ukraine’s recovery and reform agenda. The survey in Ukraine that the paper describes was conducted as part of a large-scale OECD international survey of attitudes toward climate policies carried out on over 40 000 respondents in twenty countries.

This new web format for Country Notes on Fossil Fuel Support provides interactive on-line access to the latest data from the OECD Inventory of Support Measures for Fossil Fuels by country – identifying and estimating the value of support arising from policies that encourage the production or consumption of fossil fuels. The web version allows users to download, share and play with the data. Interactive graphics enable data visualisation, in national currency, by beneficiary and by energy product. These Country Notes provide, for each of the 50 economies covered in the Inventory, a snapshot of energy market structure, the current state of energy prices and taxes, and recent developments and trends in fossil fuel support. Data and country notes for the EU Eastern Partnership (EaP) countries have been collected and prepared as part of the GREEN Action Task Force.

The SME Policy Index: Eastern Partner Countries 2024 – Building resilience in challenging times is a unique benchmarking tool to assess and monitor progress in the design and implementation of SME policies against EU and international best practice. It embraces the priorities laid out in the European Union’s SME Strategy for a sustainable and digital Europe and is structured around the ten principles of the Small Business Act for Europe, which provide a wide range of measures to guide the design and implementation of SME policies. This report marks the fourth edition in this series, following assessments in 2012, 2016, and 2020. It tracks progress made since 2020 and offers the latest key findings on SME development and related policies in the countries of the Eastern Partnership (EaP). It also identifies emerging challenges affecting SMEs in the region and provides recommendations to address them. The 2024 edition benefits from an updated methodology that also offers a deeper analysis of policies to support the digital transformation of SMEs.

This adverse outcome pathway links inhibition of aromatase activity in teleost fish during gonadogenesis to increased differentiation to testis resulting in a male-biased sex ratio in the population, and ultimately, reduced population sustainability. Most gonochoristic fish species develop either as males or females and do not change sex throughout their life span. However, in species where sexual differentiation is controlled at least to some degree by environmental factors, there can be a window of development during gonadal differentiation that is sensitive to a variety of exogenous conditions. During this window, endocrine active chemicals, aromatase inhibitors in particular, have the potential to alter gonad development and sex differentiation. This AOP is referred to as AOP 346 in the Collaborative Adverse Outcome Pathway Wiki (AOP-Wiki).

This adverse outcome pathway links androgen receptor agonism in teleost fish during gonadogenesis to male-biased sexual differentiation and consequently, reduced population growth rate. Sex determination in teleost fishes is highly plastic; it can be genetically or environmentally influenced. Species with environmentally-based sex determination in particular can be very sensitive to exogenous chemicals during the period of differentiation. Exogenous hormones are of ecological concern because they have the potential to alter gonad development and sex differentiation. This AOP is referred to as AOP 376 in the Collaborative Adverse Outcome Pathway Wiki (AOP-Wiki).

Lung fibrosis is a dysregulated or exaggerated tissue repair process resulting in the thickening or scarring of lung tissue. It involves the presence of sustained or repeated exposure to a stressor and intricate dynamics between several inflammatory and immune response cells, and the microenvironment of the alveolar-capillary region consisting of both immune and non-immune cells, and the lung interstitium. This AOP is applicable to a broad group of stressors of diverse properties e.g. metal dusts, pharmacological products, fibres, microorganisms, chemicals, including novel technology-enabled stressors such as nanomaterials. This AOP is referred to as AOP 173 in the Collaborative Adverse Outcome Pathway Wiki (AOP-Wiki).