Environmental pressures are becoming more tightly linked, with climate change, biodiversity loss, pollution and resource demand reinforcing each other in ways that require far more integrated policy action, according to a new OECD report.
The OECD Environmental Outlook on the Triple Planetary Crisis outlines how these challenges intersect and provides a roadmap for governments to sequence and combine measures that harness synergies while managing trade-offs.
The report warns that poorly designed interventions risk worsening pressures elsewhere, such as expanding renewables without considering land or waste impacts.
The analysis shows climate change is expected to overtake land-use change as the main driver of biodiversity loss by 2050, placing greater strain on terrestrial and marine ecosystems.
Biodiversity loss then weakens natural resilience to extreme weather and pollution, with direct consequences for air, water and soil quality.
Policies addressing these pressures are also deeply interconnected. Climate mitigation can cut co-emitted air pollutants but renewable deployment can create new demands on land and materials.
OECD Secretary-General Mathias Cormann said countries need to coordinate measures if they want effective results that reflect national circumstances.
A stocktake of national documents across ten countries shows that while governments recognise links between climate and biodiversity, connections with pollution are often overlooked.
Policies explicitly designed to manage trade-offs remain limited.
The report identifies several levers for more coherent action, including aligning finance with integrated environmental goals, managing land and material pressures in the clean-energy transition, advancing circular economy approaches and improving food system sustainability.
It also urges countries to close research gaps and embed interlinkages more clearly in national reporting.
OECD warns climate, nature and pollution policies must be aligned appeared first on Energy Live News.