OECD Environmental Performance Reviews: Australia 2019

Australia has managed to decouple economic growth from the main environmental pressures and has made impressive progress in expanding protected areas. However, it is one of the most resource- and carbon-intensive OECD countries, and the state of its biodiversity is poor and worsening.  Advancing towards a greener economy will require strengthening climate-change policy and mainstreaming biodiversity more effectively across sectors. This is the third Environmental Performance Review of Australia. It evaluates progress towards sustainable development and green growth, and includes special features on threatened species protection and sustainable use of biodiversity and chemical management. Link to OECD library

ASSESSMENT AND RECOMMENDATIONS - The Assessment and recommendations present the main findings of the OECD Environmental Performance Review of Australia and identify 50 recommendations to help Australia make further progress towards its environmental policy objectives and international commitments. The OECD Working Party on Environmental Performance reviewed and approved the Assessment and recommendations at its meeting on 6 November 2018. Actions taken to implement selected recommendations from the 2007 Environmental Performance Review are summarised in the Annex.

CHEMICAL MANAGEMENT - This chapter reviews Australia’s frameworks relating to chemical management, with a particular focus on industrial chemicals. It includes legislation and policies across all tiers of government, provides an overview of the main challenges associated with chemical management and discusses strengths and weaknesses of the system. While it is too soon to know the effects of state/territorial and Commonwealth legislative and policy reforms currently being developed, the chapter looks into how they may address gaps in the risk management system and what else could be done.