Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development

The gross nutrient balances (N and P) are calculated as the difference between the total quantity of nutrient inputs entering an agricultural system (mainly fertilisers, livestock manure), and the quantity of nutrient outputs leaving the system (mainly uptake of nutrients by crops and grassland). Gross nutrient balances are expressed in tonnes of nutrient surplus (when positive) or deficit (when negative). This calculation can be used as a proxy to reveal the status of environmental pressures, such as declining soil fertility in the case of a nutrient deficit, or for a nutrient surplus the risk of polluting soil, water and air. The nutrient balance indicator is also expressed in terms of kilogrammes of nutrient surplus per hectare of agricultural land to facilitate the comparison of the relative intensity of nutrients in agricultural systems between countries.

The gross nutrient balances (N and P) are calculated as the difference between the total quantity of nutrient inputs entering an agricultural system (mainly fertilizers, livestock manure), and the quantity of nutrient outputs leaving the system (mainly uptake of nutrients by crops and grassland). Gross nutrient balances are expressed in tonnes of nutrient surplus (when positive) or deficit (when negative). This calculation can be used as a proxy to reveal the status of environmental pressures, such as declining soil fertility in the case of a nutrient deficit, or for a nutrient surplus the risk of polluting soil, water and air. The nutrient balance indicator is also expressed in terms of kilogrammes of nutrient surplus per hectare of agricultural land to facilitate the comparison of the relative intensity of nutrients in agricultural systems between countries.

This dataset contains bilateral commitment data on aid in support of environment sustainability and aid to biodiversity, climate change mitigation, climate change adaptation and desertification from the Development Assistance Committee (DAC) Creditor Reporting System (CRS) database. In their reporting to the DAC CRS, donors are requested to indicate for each activity whether or not it targets environment and the Rio Conventions (biodiversity, climate change mitigation, climate change adaptation and desertification). A scoring system of three values is used, in which aid activities are "marked" as targeting environment as the "principal objective" or a "significant objective", or as not targeting the objective. The environment marker identifies activities that are "intended to produce an improvement in the physical and/or biological environment of the recipient country, area or target group concerned" or "include specific action to integrate environmental concerns with a range of development objectives through institution building and/or capacity development". A large majority of activities targeting the objectives of the Rio Conventions fall under the DAC definition of "aid to environment". The Rio markers permit their specific identification.

This dataset describes the emissions to the atmosphere released as a result of production and consumption processes. The productive activities are broken down by economic activity and the household consumption activities are broken down by purpose (transport, heating, and other activities). Air emissions include emissions of individual greenhouse gases (GHG) as well as air pollutants such as sulphur dioxide, nitrogen oxides, and particulate matter. The emissions are also aggregated (using equivalence factors) to report on environmental pressures: global warming potential, acidifying gases and ozone precursors.

This database includes annual, quarterly and monthly information on carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions related to commercial passenger, freight, and general aviation flights, on both a territory and a residence basis, for 186 countries. These CO2 emissions are estimated by the OECD, based on a consistent methodology across countries. The main source used for the estimation of these CO2 emissions is a database compiled by the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) with all commercial passenger and freight flights around the world.

OECD Indicators on Carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions embodied in international trade (TeCO2) are derived by combining the 2021 editions of OECD Inter-Country Input-Output (ICIO) Database and of International Energy Agency (IEA) statistics on CO2 emissions from fuel combustion. In this release of TeCO2, emissions from fuels used for international aviation and maritime transport (i.e. aviation and marine bunkers) are also considered.Production-based CO2 emissions are estimated by allocating the CO2 emissions to the 45 target industries in OECD ICIO and, to household final consumption of fuels, by both residents and non-residents.Demand-based CO2 emissions are calculated by multiplying the intensities of the production-based emissions (c) with the global Leontief inverse (I-A)(-1) and global final demand matrix (Y) from OECD ICIO, taking the column sums of the resulting matrix and adding residential and private road emissions (FNLC), i.e. direct emissions from final demand: colsum [ diag(c) (I-A)(-1) Y ] + FNLC.For more information, see TeCO2 web page: http://oe.cd/io-co2.

This indicator reports the amount of carbon emissions from fossil fuel combustion embodied in imports and exports in mega tonnes of CO2 (MtCO2) for 63 countries and 34 industries between 1995 and 2011.

The indicator reports the hypothetical amount of carbon emissions from fossil fuel combustion embodied in imports if imported goods were produced with a carbon intensity (i.e. emissions factors) equal to that of the importing country at a given time – the Equal Carbon Intensity (ECI) assumption. It covers 65 countries and 34 industries between 1995 and 2011.

This dataset provides information on the level of public equipment installed by countries to managed and abate water pollution. It shows the percentage of national population connected to "public" sewerage networks and related treatment facilities, and the percentage of national population connected to "public" wastewater treatment plants, and the degree of treatment. Connected here means actually connected to a wastewater plants through a public sewage network. When analysing these data, it should be kept in mind that the optimal connection rate is not necessarily 100%. It may vary among countries and depends on geographical features and on the spatial distribution of habitats. The interpretation of those data should take into account some variations in countries' definitions, as reflected in metadata. Data source(s): Joint OECD/Eurostat questionnaire on Inland Waters. Data for non-OECD countries is sourced from UNSD (https://unstats.un.org/unsd/envstats/country_files)

This dataset traces net changes in terms of volume in the growing stock of standing wood on forest land. Forest depletion and growth describe balances or imbalances in different types of forests. The intensity of use of forest resources reflects various forest management methods and their sustainability. These data should be read in connection with other indicators, in particular land use changes and forest quality (species diversity, forest degradation), and be complemented with data on forest management practices and protection measures. Please bear in mind that definitions and estimation methods vary for some countries.

The OECD, in cooperation with the EU, has developed a harmonised definition of urban areas which overcomes previous limitations linked to administrative definitions (OECD, 2012). According to this definition an urban area is a functional economic unit characterised by densely inhabited “city core” and “commuting zone” whose labour market is highly integrated with the core. The Metropolitan database provides indicators of 649 OECD metropolitan areas identified in 33 OECD countries and the functional urban areas of Colombia. Comparable values of population, GDP, employment, and other indicators are presented.

This dataset provides selected information on national emissions of air pollutants: man-made emissions of sulphur oxides (SOx), nitrogen oxides (NOx), particulate matter (PM), carbon monoxide (CO) and volatile organic compounds (VOC). Categories presented are based on the NFR (nomenclature for reporting) 2014 classification. 

Dataset provides information on selected economic aspects of environmental management. It includes tables on expenditure, which help to identify the financial consequences of environmental policies: public and private pollution abatement and control expenditure; public research and development financing for environmental protection; official development assistance, including aid in support of environment. Dataset also includes data concerning revenues from environmentally-related taxes.

As countries are increasingly using a wide range of policy measures to address agri-environmental issues, indicators provide crucial information to monitor and analyse the effects of those policies on the environment. They can also help the understanding and analysis of the environmental effects of future policy scenarios and agricultural projections. To help improve measurement of the environmental performance of agriculture, OECD has established a set of agri-environmental indicators, with development of the indicators in cooperation with Eurostat and FAO. These indicators inform policy makers and society on the state and trends in agri-environmental conditions, and can provide a valuable aid to policy analysis.

The OECD Environmental Policy Stringency Index (EPS) is a country-specific and internationally-comparable measure of the stringency of environmental policy. Stringency is defined as the degree to which environmental policies put an explicit or implicit price on polluting or environmentally harmful behaviour. The index ranges from 0 (not stringent) to 6 (highest degree of stringency). The index covers 28 OECD and 6 BRIICS countries for the period 1990-2012. The index is based on the degree of stringency of 14 environmental policy instruments, primarily related to climate and air pollution.

Unit of measure used Environmental protection (EP) includes all purposeful activities directly aimed at the prevention, reduction and elimination of pollution or any other degradation of the environment resulting from production or consumption processes. The scope of Environmental Protection is defined according to the Classification of Environmental Protection Activities (CEPA), which distinguishes nine different environmental domains. Activities such as energy and material saving are only included to the extent that they mainly aim at environmental protection. An important example is recycling which is included only to the extent that it constitutes a substitute for waste management. Excluded are: (i) activities that, while beneficial to the environment, primarily satisfy technical needs or health and safety requirements for the protection of the workplace. (ii) expenditure linked to mobilisation of natural resources (e.g., water supply). (iii) calculated cost items such as depreciation (consumption of fixed capital) or the cost of capital as this questionnaire only records actual outlays. (iv) payments of interest, fines and penalties for non-compliance with environmental regulations or compensations to third parties etc., as they are not directly linked with an environmental protection activity. Environmental Protection Expenditure can be evaluated both according to the abater principle and the financing principle. This distinction makes it possible to aggregate different sectors and industries without double counting. Expenditure according to the abater principle (EXP I), includes all expenditure that the sector has for measures they themselves execute. Any economic benefits directly linked with the environmental protection activities (Receipts from by-products) are deducted in order to calculate the net amount of money spent by the sector for their own activities. The financing principle (EXP II) measures how much money a particular sector (directly) contributes to overall environmental protection activities, wherever they are executed. This means that the part of EXP I that was directly financed by others (through subsidies or revenues received) should be deducted, while the part of EXP I in other sectors that this sector finances directly (through subsidies or fees paid) should be added. The framework is based on double entry bookkeeping, where each activity and expenditure item has an abater (producer) and a financing side. This means that much expenditure by specialised producers is financed by the users of their services, mainly business sector and households. This will be recorded as Revenues for the Specialised producers (Table 4), and fees/purchases in Business and Households (Tables 2 and 3). Specialised producers include the production of environmental protection services by public and private corporations or quasi-corporations for the use of other units, mainly financed by the users of these services. These are mainly activities within ISIC Rev. 4/NACE Rev. 2 division and classes 37, 38.1, 38.2 and 39 such as: 37 Sewerage, 38.1 Waste collection, 38.2 Waste treatment and disposal, 39  Remediation activities and other waste management services. This sector is the sum of two components: a) Public specialised producers: All corporations and quasi-corporations that are subject to control by government units. Control is defined as the ability to determine general corporate policy by choosing appropriate directors, if necessary (Table 4A). b) Private specialised producers: All corporations and quasi-corporations that are not subject to control by government units (Table 4B). Specialised producers could also include for example the activities of e.g. volunteer environmental organisations or secondary environmental activities. These should be entered along with a footnote describing the coverage. CEPA domains: a column "pollution abatement and control" (PAC) has been kept in the questionnaire to ensure continuity with earlier data series.

EAMFP growth measures the residual growth in the joint production of both the desirable and the undesirable outputs that cannot be explained by changes in the consumption of factor inputs (including labour, produced capital and natural capital). Therefore, for a given growth of input use, EAMFP increases when GDP increases or when pollution decreases. As part of the growth accounting framework underlying the EAMFP indicator, the growth contribution of natural capital and growth adjustment for pollution abatement indicators are derived: Growth contribution of natural capital - measures to what extent a country's growth in output is attributable to natural resource use; Growth adjustment for pollution abatement - measures to what extent a country's GDP growth should be corrected for pollution abatement efforts - adding what has been undervalued due to resources being diverted to pollution abatement, or deducing the ‘excess' growth which is generated at the expense of environmental quality.

Air pollution is considered one of the most pressing environmental and health issues across OECD countries and beyond. According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), exposure to fine particulate matter (PM2.5) has potentially the most significant adverse effects on health compared to other pollutants. PM2.5 can be inhaled and cause serious health problems including both respiratory and cardiovascular disease, having its most severe effects on children and elderly people. Exposure to PM2.5 has been shown to considerably increase the risk of heart disease and stroke in particular. For these reasons, population exposure to (outdoor or ambient) PM2.5 has been identified as an OECD Green Growth headline indicator. The underlying PM2.5 concentrations estimates are taken from van Donkelaar et al. (2016). They have been derived using satellite observations and a chemical transport model, calibrated to global ground-based measurements using Geographically Weighted Regression at 0.01° resolution. The underlying population data, Gridded Population of the World, version 4 (GPWv4) are taken from the Socioeconomic Data and Applications Center (SEDAC) at the NASA. The underlying boundary geometries are taken from the Global Administrative Unit Layers (GAUL) developed by the FAO, and the OECD Territorial Classification, when available. The current version of the database presents much more variation with respect to the previous one. The reason is that the underlying concentration estimates previously included smoothed multi-year averages and interpolations; while in the current version annual concentration estimates are used. Establishing trends of pollution exposure should be done with care, especially at smaller output areas, as their inputs (e.g. underlying data and models) can change from year to year. We recommend using a 3-year moving average for visualisation.

Freshwater abstractions:   This dataset shows water abstractions by source (surface and ground water) and by major uses. Water abstractions refer to water taken from ground or surface water sources and conveyed to the place of use. If the water is returned to a surface water source, abstraction of the same water by the downstream user is counted again in compiling total abstractions.   When interpreting those data, it should be borne in mind that the definitions and estimation methods employed by member countries may vary considerably.   Data source(s): Joint OECD/Eurostat questionnaire on Inland Waters. Data for non-OECD countries is sourced from UNSD (https://unstats.un.org/unsd/envstats/country_files)  

The OECD Green Growth database contains selected indicators for monitoring progress towards green growth to support policy making and inform the public at large. The database synthesises data and indicators across a wide range of domains including a range of OECD databases as well as external data sources. The database covers OECD member and accession countries, key partners (including Brazil, China, India, Indonesia and South Africa) and other selected non-OECD countries.

This dataset presents trends in man-made emissions of major greenhouse gases and emissions by gas.   Data refer to total emissions of CO2 (emissions from energy use and industrial processes, e.g. cement production), CH4 (methane emissions from solid waste, livestock, mining of hard coal and lignite, rice paddies, agriculture and leaks from natural gas pipelines), nitrous oxide (N2O), hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs), perfluorocarbons (PFCs), sulphur hexafluoride (SF6) and nitrogen trifluoride (NF3). Data exclude indirect CO2.   Intensities (per unit of GDP and per capita) as well as index are calculated on gross direct emissions excluding emissions or removals from land-use, land-use change and forestry (LULUCF).   The GDP used to calculate intensities is expressed in USD at 2010 prices and PPPs.

These data are part of a larger database, hosted on a different website, which includes both quantitative and qualitative data, as well as graphs.

Rivers Data show water quality of selected rivers. Water quality is measured in terms of annual mean concentrations of dissolved oxygen and BOD; of nitrates, phosphorus and ammonium; and of lead, cadmuim, chromium and copper. The rivers selected are main rivers draining large watersheds in the countries chosen; the measurement locations are at the mouths or downstream frontiers of the rivers. These parameters provide information concerning the state and trends of pollution by organic matter and nutrients, heavy metals and other metals. In reading the data, one should compare trends rather than absolute values, since measurement methods vary by country. Lakes Data show trends in annual mean concentrations of phosphorus and nitrogen in selected lakes. These parameters concern nutrient concentrations and related degrees of eutrophication of lakes and reservoirs. The interpretation of these tables should take into account variations in the methods of sampling (e.g. sampling location and number of measurements at different sampling locations and in different years).

Land resources are one of the four components of the natural environment: water, air, land and living resources. In this context land is both: a physical "milieu" necessary for the development of natural vegetation as well as cultivated vegetation;a resource for human activities.  The data presented here give information concerning land use state and changes (e.g. agricultural land, forest land).  Land area excludes area under inland water bodies (i.e. major rivers and lakes).   Arable refers to all land generally under rotation, whether for temporary crops (double-cropped areas are counted only once) or meadows, or left fallow (less than five years). These data are not meant to indicate the amount of land that is potentially cultivable.  Permanent crops are those that occupy land for a long period and do not have to be planted for several years after each harvest (e.g. cocoa, coffee, rubber). Land under vines and trees and shrubs producing fruits, nuts and flowers, such as roses and jasmine, is so classified, as are nurseries (except those for forest trees, which should be classified under "forests and other wooded land").  Arable and permanent crop land is defined as the sum of arable area and land under permanent crops.  Permanent meadows and pastures refer to land used for five years or more to grow herbaceous forage crops, either cultivated or growing wild (wild prairie or grazing land).  Forest refers to land spanning more than 0.5 hectare (0.005 km2) and a canopy cover of more than 10 percent, or trees able to reach these thresholds in situ. This includes land from which forests have been cleared but that will be reforested in the foreseeable future. This excludes woodland or forest predominantly under agricultural or urban land use and used only for recreation purposes.

Air pollution is considered one of the most pressing environmental and health issues across OECD countries and beyond. According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), exposure to fine particulate matter (PM2.5) and ground-level ozone (O3) have potentially the most significant adverse effects on health compared to other pollutants. PM2.5 can be inhaled and cause serious health problems including both respiratory and cardiovascular disease, having its most severe effects on children and elderly people. Exposure to PM2.5 has been shown to considerably increase the risk of heart disease and stroke in particular. For these reasons, population exposure to (outdoor or ambient) PM2.5 has been identified as an OECD Green Growth headline indicator. Exposure to ground-level ozone (O3) has serious consequences for human health, contributing to, or triggering, respiratory diseases. These include breathing problems, asthma and reduced lung function (WHO, 2016; Brauer et al., 2016). Ozone exposure is highest in emission-dense countries with warm and sunny summers. The most important determinants are background atmospheric chemistry, climate, anthropogenic and biogenic emissions of ozone precursors such as volatile organic compounds, and the ratios between different emitted chemicals.

This dataset presents trends in amounts of municipal waste generated (including household waste), and the treatment and disposal method used. The amount of waste generated in each country is related to the rate of urbanisation, the types and pattern of consumption, household revenue and lifestyles.

The data presented here refer to the latest year available, which corresponds to the late 2000s for most countries. The data on the state of threatened species build on country replies to the Annual Quality Assurance (AQA) of OECD environmental reference series. These data are harmonised through the work of the OECD Working Party on Environmental Information (WPEI). Some where updated or revised on the basis of comments from national Delegates and in the framework of the OECD Environmental Performance Reviews. When interpreting these data, it should be borne in mind that the number of species known does not always accurately reflect the number of species in extistence and that varying definitions can limit comparability accross countries. The data presented here show numbers of known species and threatened species with the aim of indicating the state of mammals, birds, freshwater fish, reptiles, amphibians and vascular plants.

This dataset covers the uses of wildlife resources and related pressures from human activities: fish production; catches of fish and other aquatic animals and products and the management of wildlife resources: biosphere reserves and wetlands of international importance; major protected areas.

As countries are increasingly using a wide range of policy measures to address agri-environmental issues, indicators provide crucial information to monitor and analyse the effects of those policies on the environment. They can also help the understanding and analysis of the environmental effects of future policy scenarios and agricultural projections. To help improve measurement of the environmental performance of agriculture, OECD has established a set of agri-environmental indicators, with development of the indicators in cooperation with Eurostat and FAO. These indicators inform policy makers and society on the state and trends in agri-environmental conditions, and can provide a valuable aid to policy analysis.

The Regional Database contains annual data from 1995 to the most recent available year (generally 2014 for demographic and labour market data, 2013 for regional accounts, innovation and social statistics).   In any analytical study conducted at sub-national levels, the choice of the territorial unit is of prime importance. The territorial grids (TL2 and TL3) used in this database are officially established and relatively stable in all member countries, and are used by many as a framework for implementing regional policies. This classification - which, for European countries, is largely consistent with the Eurostat classification - facilitates greater comparability of regions at the same territorial level. The differences with the Eurostat NUTS classification concern Belgium, Greece and the Netherlands where the NUTS 2 level correspond to the OECD TL3 and Germany where the NUTS1 corresponds to the OECD TL2 and the OECD TL3 corresponds to 97 spatial planning regions (Groups of Kreise). For the United Kingdom the Eurostat NUTS1 corresponds to the OECD TL2. Due to limited data availability, labour market indicators in Canada are presented for a different grid (groups of TL3 regions). Since these breakdowns are not part of the OECD official territorial grids, for the sake of simplicity they are labelled as Non Official Grids (NOG).

The OECD Sustainable Ocean Economy Database synthesizes available ocean-related datasets and indicators from across the Organisation to improve their discoverability and comparability. The database brings together relevant indicators from the Environment Directorate (ENV), the Trade and Agriculture Directorate (TAD), the Centre for Entrepreneurship, SMEs, Regions and Cities (CFE), the International Transport Forum (ITF), the International Energy Agency (IEA), and others.

This dataset presents the latest data on the state of threatened species, by species type.    When interpreting these data, it should be borne in mind that the number of species known does not always accurately reflect the number of species in existence and that varying definitions can limit comparability across countries.   Data source(s): OECD Annual Quality Assurance (AQA) questionnaire.

This dataset presents national-level data on water made available for use, by sector. The interpretation of those data should take into account some variations in countries' definitions, as reflected in metadata. Data source(s): Joint OECD/Eurostat questionnaire on Inland Waters. Data for non-OECD countries is sourced from UNSD (https://unstats.un.org/unsd/envstats/country_files)