This paper provides a concrete example of how policy analysts can use empirical programme evaluation studies to perform ex-post assessments of environmentally related tax policies.

Plastics are an important material in the economy but present a challenge for waste management, resource efficiency and the environment. Low rates of recycling and high rates of environmental leakage represent key sustainability challenges for plastics as well as product designers and producers.

Climate change and outdoor air pollution are two of the most challenging environmental issues that modern society faces. These challenges are strongly linked through their emission sources, the sectors they affect and the policies that can be implemented to reduce emissions.

This paper presents the potential benefits and challenges of enhanced international co-ordination on carbon pricing and outlines the different types and levels of co-ordination that are available for national and sub-national governments.

Large-scale catastrophic and smaller recurrent disasters generate considerable economic losses. Over the past thirty years, damages from major disasters have increased significantly.

The Convention on Biological Diversity’s 15th Conference of the Parties (CBD COP15) in 2020 marks a critical juncture for one of the defining global challenges of our time: the loss of biodiversity and ecosystem services, which underpin nearly all of the Sustainable Development Goals.

Good quality and sustainable infrastructure that meets the needs of women, men, children, minorities, people with disabilities and other vulnerable groups is essential for human well-being, economic growth and environmental sustainability.

A clean energy revolution in sub-Saharan Africa is urgently needed to win the fight against energy poverty, to promote robust development and to make it more sustainable. Clean energy can unlock sustainable economic growth, improve human health and well-being and enable women and children to lead more productive lives.

This report provides an overview of methodologies to evaluate the effectiveness of policy instruments for biodiversity, covering impact evaluation, cost-effectiveness analysis and other more commonly used approaches. It then provides an inventory of biodiversity-relevant impact evaluation studies, across both terrestrial and marine ecosystems.

Infrastructure networks will be affected by the physical impacts of climate variability and change, but will also play an essential role in building resilience to those impacts. Extreme events illustrate the extent of this potential exposure.