Reports

This report explores evidence-based action areas to increase and accelerate the mobilisation of private finance for climate action in developing countries, and the role of international public finance providers in doing so. It draws on best-available data to provide disaggregated analysis of the sectoral, geographic and other features of private finance mobilised by public climate finance and presents key economy-wide, sector-specific, and institutional challenges to private finance mobilisation. The analysis is anchored in the context of the USD 100 billion climate finance goal, initially set for 2020 and extended to 2025, while also providing insights related to mobilising private finance for climate action in developing countries more broadly.

The Southern African Development Community (SADC) is a large and dynamic regional economic community (REC) with the second highest level of regional integration among all African RECs. It has also been at the forefront of regional investment policymaking in Africa, with the Finance and Investment Protocol, the Investment Policy Framework, and the SADC Model Bilateral Investment Treaty. However, like much of Africa, SADC faces difficulties in attracting foreign direct investment which can contribute to sustainable development in the region. This report introduces newly developed OECD tools and analysis to the SADC region, including both FDI Qualities and a database on investment incentives. It is designed as a baseline diagnostic to explore ways to reinvigorate the reform of the SADC investment climate in order to prepare the region for the African Continental Free Trade Area, while also focusing on how to improve sustainable outcomes from investment. The report explores the national regulatory framework encapsulated in national investment laws and how this compares with initiatives at a regional level, investment promotion and facilitation in SADC, investment incentives, investment for green growth and responsible business conduct.

This report explores how institutional investors can apply risk-based due diligence as recommended by the OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises on Responsible Business Conduct and help them prevent and mitigate adverse climate impacts associated with their investee companies on society and the environment. It provides practical recommendations on how to conduct due diligence as a way to connect climate commitments at portfolio level with real-economy impacts and draws on other frameworks and tools for assessing, managing or disclosing climate impacts associated with investments.

Carbon lock-in occurs when high-emission infrastructure or assets continue to be used, despite the possibility of substituting them with low-emission alternatives, thereby delaying or preventing the transition to near-zero or zero-emission alternatives. Transition finance, which focuses on the dynamic transformation and decarbonisation of hard-to-abate sectors, frequently faces the issue of carbon lock-in, particularly in considerations of investment feasibility and eligibility. Despite most transition finance approaches incorporating lock-in avoidance as a core principle, existing transition instruments and approaches put in place varying or limited mechanisms to prevent lock-in. Building on the OECD Guidance on Transition Finance, this report takes stock of how carbon lock-in risk is addressed in existing transition finance approaches (such as taxonomies, roadmaps, or guidance), financial instruments, and relevant public and private investment frameworks and methodologies. The report provides good practices on the integration of credible mechanisms to prevent carbon lock-in, address greenwashing risks and build confidence in the market. It can inform both public and private actors in the development of transition finance approaches, standards for green, transition and sustainability-linked debt, frameworks for corporate transition plans, or broader climate-related disclosure frameworks.

Half a century after independence, Bangladesh has achieved impressive progress. The country has transformed from one of the poorest nations into a global textile manufacturing hub capable of meeting its medical needs almost entirely through domestic pharmaceutical production. The country will graduate from the least developed country (LDC) category in 2026 and aspires to be a high-income nation through industrialisation by 2041. Meeting this challenge requires accelerating economic transformation through diversification and innovation. This Production Transformation Policy Review (PTPR), implemented with the support and collaboration of the European Union (EU), and in partnership with the UN Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), identifies concrete options for supporting Bangladesh’s development. It calls for leveraging digitalisation to address persistent fragilities and it advocates for a new pact based on shared responsibilities between the national government, the private sector and international partners to shift to a new development phase and ensure sustainable, smooth and irreversible graduation.

The OECD Corporate Governance Factbook provides easily accessible and up-to-date information on the institutional, legal and regulatory frameworks for corporate governance across 49 jurisdictions worldwide. Issued every two years, the Factbook complements the G20/OECD Principles of Corporate Governance and serves as a useful tool to track how the Principles are being implemented. It is also actively used by governments, regulators and other stakeholders to compare national frameworks and obtain information on latest trends. Prepared in parallel to the 2023 review of the Principles, this edition takes account of the new recommendations in the Principles on sustainability, company groups, and virtual and hybrid shareholder meetings. The Factbook also highlights the latest developments in the global market and corporate ownership landscape, the role and rights of shareholders, and the duties and responsibilities of boards.

Post-war reconstruction in Ukraine will face challenges in public procurement, including corruption risks and lengthy procedures. Strengthening existing legal and institutional foundations, aligned with international standards, is crucial. Streamlining procurement, ensuring transparency, and promoting equality for domestic and foreign companies are vital. Central procurement institutions require support, extending to regional and local authorities. A transparent legal framework can pave the way for efficient and accountable procurement, enabling a resilient future. A unified legal framework for awarding all contracts for the reconstruction of Ukraine, regardless of the source of financing, would streamline the tendering process. It is recommendable that the framework, fully aligned with international standards, be based on the Ukrainian public procurement legislation. The multiplication of procedural rules and requirements would lead to an increase of the administrative burden and the time required of procurement officers as well as economic operators.

The COVID 19 pandemic has inflicted a series of shocks on the global economy, not least impacting global trade and investment. During the same time, several countries adopted new foreign direct investment (FDI) related policies. This paper presents novel preliminary evidence on the effects of these new FDI policies and COVID-19-related supply-chain disruptions on cross-border investment. It employs, among others, granular data on FDI policies and investment projects undertaken in a wide range of sectors in 175 host economies worldwide by investors from 46 home countries. It finds that a combination of FDI policies and COVID-19-related measures has a statistically significant and economically meaningful negative effect on the probability of a new cross-border greenfield investment project occurring during the sample period. The effect is the strongest in sectors with high R&D intensity.