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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 study evaluates the progress of fossil-fuel subsidy reform in Ukraine since its launch in 2016 using the OECD 'bottom-up', inventory, approach. It also identifies major subsidy schemes that need significant reform. The report reflects the energy subsidy policies and reforms in Ukraine prior to Russia’s full-scale invasion in February 2022. The analysis covers: budgetary transfers, government revenue foregone (or tax expenditure), induced transfers in the form of cross-subsidies or below market tariffs and transfer of risk to government. The study also covers fossil-fuels subsidies to production and consumption, particularly, for natural gas, coal and electricity generated from fossil fuels while support for energy efficiency and renewables is considered for comparative purposes. This report also briefly discusses the taxation and energy pricing policies in Ukraine that have had direct or indirect impact on the evolution of fossil-fuel subsidies in the country. Detailed estimates of all individual support measures are provided in the Annexes to the report.

Plastic products present several environmental, health, social and economic challenges that span from the extraction of raw materials to primary and final plastics production, to their distribution and use, and to the collection and sorting of plastic waste. International trade, which has facilitated the development of plastics supply chains, also comes with a range of challenges, such as a surge in demand for plastics ― notably in packaging ― difficulties to monitor plastics embedded in other products, and an increased risk of plastic waste leaking in countries that have less rigorous environmental regulations. Yet trade can also serve as a vehicle to access foreign pollution control technologies or to foster economies of scale for circular economy practices. Indeed, the implementation of circular economy solutions through trade policies is crucial in addressing plastic pollution. Such policies could include reduced tariffs on environmentally-friendly alternatives to plastic products; trade facilitation measures for reverse supply chains; or technical regulations, standards, labelling schemes, and conformity assessment procedures that promote product designs which will minimise pollution throughout the entire plastic lifecycle.

Nature-based solutions (NbS) aim to maintain, enhance and restore ecosystems to address a variety of social, economic and environmental challenges, including climate change and biodiversity loss. This paper applies the OECD’s framework to provide recommendations for how to encourage the use of NbS by Hungarian municipalities. It illustrates some of the key challenges in the local implementation of NbS in Hungary and provides international examples of how they are tackled in diverse contexts. It also discusses the role of reforms about the enabling environment to mobilise further public and private investment in climate adaptation.

The scale of Uzbekistan’s green transition requires a marked increase in private financing to fill the existing spending gap. The outsized role of the state in Uzbekistan’s economy and its underdeveloped domestic capital market act as significant constraints and call for a diversification of sources to finance the green transition. Since 2021, Uzbekistan has made green bonds a central part of its strategy to fill the financing gap and mobilise new sources of capital for its domestic green infrastructure projects. This publication explores the current market and institutional set-up in Uzbekistan, the reforms that have led to recent issuances of both sovereign and corporate thematic bonds, and the remaining barriers to further uptake of the instrument. The report also provides policy recommendations related to the market's institutional set up, Uzbekistan's regulatory framework for debt capital markets and emerging opportunities for further green bond use aimed at key stakeholders, including policy makers and market participants.

Global warming is likely to reach 1.5°C as early as in 2030, with current climate action falling short of meeting the Paris Agreement goals and a mounting risk of tipping beyond the ability of human societies to adapt. Building on broader OECD work on climate, this report proposes a new OECD territorial climate indicator framework and demonstrates that the potential to mitigate greenhouse gas emissions, adapt to climate impacts and address vulnerabilities varies across different territories. The report also presents a policy framework of 9 recommended actions to help decision makers unleash more effective climate action and resilience, both by integrating a territorial approach into national and subnational climate policies and by mainstreaming climate objectives into urban, rural and regional policies. The report summarises the analysis into a checklist for national and local governments to implement a territorial approach to climate and resilience policies, as well as a compendium of 36 best practices from cities, regions and countries from all around the world.