Nuclear energy is attracting renewed public support. It is a virtually carbon-free energy source and can help produce a sizeable percentage of electricity needs in many countries. But while more people are prepared to accept nuclear energy, loving it is not easy, mainly because of the problem of nuclear waste. Treating it, burying it and generally making it safer are ongoing challenges. Can waste be minimised in the first place?

“You cannot really manage the environment without a strong economy.” The remark seems oddly appropriate, sitting in an office overlooking the expansive woodland of the Bois de Boulogne, a “green lung” in the wealthy if congested west of Paris.

On 22 March, World Water Day 2007, 21 Chinese environmental NGOs came together to launch a new “Green Choice Initiative”. Aimed at China’s vast consumer population, the hope is to encourage all individuals to consider a company’s environmental performance in guiding their daily purchasing decisions.

Dear editor, Angel Gurría is right to argue that “subsidies … should target cleaner energy innovations and practices, and not distort or protect markets.” (No. 258/259, December 2006). Unfortunately, apart from a few billion dollars being spent on R&D, distortions and protected markets are exactly what we are witnessing in the biofuels area.

Global electricity demand is growing rapidly. Demand for transport energy is also rising. Renewable energy is as yet not capable of matching the energy-density of fossil fuels, and it absorbs a lot of land, whether for cultivating biofuels or laying out solar panels. From solar to hydro, renewable sources are also unevenly distributed and supply can be irregular.

Global warming, finite fossil fuels and geopolitical risks make a shift to renewable energies inevitable. Though it is a challenge fraught with uncertainties, no action would be worse. An alternative, workable energy strategy is within reach.

Transport is the main cause of carbon dioxide emissions, ahead of power generation or industry. While aviation accounts for 14% of transport-based CO2 emissions in the EU, roads have a larger effect. In OECD countries, road transport accounts for over 80% of all transport-related energy consumption, for most of the accidents and the majority of air pollutant emissions, noise and habitat degradation.

A decade ago, used tyres ended up mostly in stockpiles, as an eyesore for landfill. Some 62% of old tyres went that way in 1994. Today, more are recycled for use in adhesives, insulation, brake linings, and conveyor belts, for instance.

Are we about to switch to new energy sources? Grandiose plans are being drawn up for installing veritable forests of giant wind turbines, turning crops and straw into fuel ethanol and biodiesel, and for tapping solar radiation by fields of photovoltaic cells. As with most innovations, there is excitement and high expectation. Will these developments and other renewable energy conversions one day replace fossil fuels? Eventually they will have to, but a reality check is in order.

Although natural phenomena such as volcanic eruptions or warm ocean currents, or even the earth’s tilt, might all contribute to global warming, carbon dioxide (CO2) generated by human activity–from running homes and factories to flying planes and mowing lawns–is accepted as a major culprit.

What actions are you taking to make energy more secure, cleaner and cost-effective? OECD Observer Ministers' Roundtable

The fisheries sector in OECD countries receives around $6.4 billion a year in transfers from governments. Around 38% of the transfers are provided for the management, research and enforcement of fisheries while 35% is directed to the provision of fisheries infrastructure, from harbour and landing facilities, to navigation services, and search and rescue support.

Many earlier civilisations at some point found themselves on an economic path that was environmentally unsustainable. Some understood what was happening and were able to make the needed adjustments and survive, even flourish. Others either did not understand the gravity of their situation or, if they did, could not adjust in time. They collapsed. Our global civilisation today is also on an economic path that is environmentally unsustainable, a path that is leading us toward economic decline and collapse.

Reconciling environmental conservation and the necessities of development will be very difficult in a developing county like mine. We know that the source of man’s welfare is the biosphere, and so to grow we must use its resources, particularly natural ones.

Waste processing is nothing new. In ancient Greek legend, Hercules is said to have charged a fee to clean out the Augean stables by diverting water from two rivers through a hole he created in the cattle yard, flushing the waste out the other end. Nowadays, processing waste is a major enterprise, but does it qualify as a good or as a service?

On 4 April OECD development and environment ministers meet in Paris. The aim is to push for more progress on the many areas that link the environment and development.

The county of Kent, known romantically as the “Garden of England”, has suffered its worst winter drought since the 1920s. In response, the UK Environment Agency warned in February 2006 that, unless serious water conservation measures were brought in by April, the county could within months witness scenes of people queueing in the streets for water as domestic supplies were being cut off.

Fish piracy, or illegal fishing activity, depletes global fish stocks and undermines efforts to ensure continued, renewable stocks for the future. It also damages the economic and social welfare of those involved in legal fishing, and reduces incentives to play by the rules. But despite national and international efforts, illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing continues to thrive worldwide.