Sustainable public procurement in the midst of the climate crisis

Young entrepreneurs have a huge role to play as slow productivity growth, climate change, demographic change and the digital transition come together in a perfect storm for many economies. The new OECD-EU “Missing Entrepreneurs” report finds that if youth (18-29 years old) participated in early-stage entrepreneurship at the same rate as “core age” men (30-49 years old), there would be an additional 3.6 million “missing youth entrepreneurs” in OECD countries. This accounts for about 11% of the total number of “missing entrepreneurs” in the OECD as young people face a range of barriers to success. David Halabisky from the OECD and Anita Tiessen, the CEO of Youth Business International, unwrap issues around money, mindset and motivation for young people in the world of business. Guest: Anita Tiessen, CEO of Youth Business International Host: David Halabisky

According to the UN Refugee Agency, more than 100 million people were forcibly displaced in 2022. With Russia's war of aggression against Ukraine, Europe has seen the biggest refugee crisis since the Second World War with more than 6 million people fleeing Ukraine. This is a big challenge for refugee protection and reception systems. Clearly something public services cannot stem on their own. This is where the social and solidarity economy steps in and steps up to both support governments and fill gaps and public support. This podcast discusses how the social and solidarity economy can fast track the labour-market integration of refugees and migrants. Guests: Anne Kjaer-Bathel: Co-founder and CEO of ReDI School of Digital Integration, Berlin Thomas Liebig, Principal Administrator, OECD Directorate for Employment, Labour and Social Affairs
Host: Christine Langenbucher

Digitalisation in procurement comes with a variety of opportunities, but also challenges. Can digital resources such as artificial intelligence, e-procurement and data systems improve the ways governments obtain services and goods? This podcast is the third and final episode of a series in collaboration with the MAPS Initiative, Methodology for Assessing Procurement Systems. Edwin Lau, OECD, Head of Division of Infrastructure and Public Procurement and Hunt La Cascia, Senior Public Sector Specialist at the World Bank, speak with us to help us understand the world of procurement digitalisation. Guests: Edwin Lau, OECD, Head of Division of Infrastructure and Public Procurement and Hunt La Cascia, Senior Public Sector Specialist at the World Bank Host: Robin Allison Davis Producer: Samia Basille

As urban heat waves become more frequent and severe, meet the leaders on the frontlines of responding to extreme heat in cities. The Chief Heat Officers for Santiago, Chile, and Athens, Greece, discuss their innovative strategies to spread awareness of the dangers of heat, keep vulnerable residents safe in scorching temperatures, and create more green spaces to cool their cities down. Guests: Cristina Huidobro, Chief Heat Officer for Santiago, Chile, and Elissavet Bargianni, Chief Heat Officer for Athens, Greece Host: Jessica Voorhees Learn more about OECD’s work on cities: https://www.oecd.org/cfe/cities/

Extreme heat is creating major challenges for cities. The urban “heat island” effect traps cities in a bubble of scorching temperatures, which endangers lives and puts pressure on emergency services and infrastructure. Often the poorest neighbourhoods bear the worst consequences of rising heat waves. Andrew Lombardi discusses how heat exacerbates inequalities in cities and breaks down what cities can do to save lives now and enhance heat resilience through better policies and practices. Guest: Andrew Lombardi, OECD Policy Analyst Host: Jessica Voorhees Learn more about OECD’s work on cities: https://www.oecd.org/cfe/cities/

In 2015, the United Nations released the Sustainable Development Goals to help create a more sustainable and equitable world. The 17 goals included procurement systems, calling governments to procure in a more sustainable manner. But how does this actually work? How can governments include sustainability in their procurement systems? And can sustainable public procurement help mitigate the climate crisis? Steven Schooner, Professor of Government Procurement Law at George Washington University, helps us to answer these questions and more on this podcast. This is the second episode in the series with MAPS. Guest: Steven Schooner, Professor of Government Procurement Law at George Washington University Host: Robin Allison Davis Producer: Samia Basille To learn more about the MAPS Initiative, go to MAPSinitiative.org.

Over the past few decades, as trade and investment barriers have lessened, and transport and communication costs have declined, multinational enterprises or MNEs have become an increasingly important fixture in the global economy. As these entities begin to represent a larger share of global economic activity, the importance of monitoring them and understanding their behaviour has never been greater. However, MNEs cross borders by definition, making them notably difficult to keep track of at the national level. The new OECD UNSD Multinational Enterprise Information Platform gathers together data on the world's largest multinationals from a range of public sources. These data cover the geographical and digital scope of individual multinationals and an array of indicators, complementing major recent reforms to the international tax system led by the OECD and in response to the challenges arising from digitalisation. But what new benefits does this initiative deliver? What does the data reveal? And how can it be used for economic analysis? And what does this say about where the global economy is heading? This OECD Podcast aims to address these questions and more in conversation with one of our own data experts. Host: Ashley Ward Guest: Graham Pilgrim, Head of Real-Time Data Analytics, OECD Statistics and Data Directorate Producer: Anna Wahlgren, Ashley Ward, Robin Allison Davis To learn more about the OECD's work with multinational enterprises, go to: https://www.oecd.org/sdd/its/mne-platform.htm

When governments need to buy anything from office supplies to infrastructure, the process is more complex than your ordinary shopping trip. How do we know that governments are using good judgement when purchasing items or awarding contracts? Who advises governments on these processes to ensure that they are transparent, efficient, and cost effective? That's where MAPS, the methodology for assessing procurement systems, steps in. Diana Viljoen, from Global Affairs Canada and member of the MAPS Technical Advisory Group will answer these questions and more on this podcast. This is the first episode in the series with the MAPS Network. Guest: Diana Viljoen, Global Affairs Canada; MAPS Technical Advisory Group Host: Robin Allison Davis To learn more about the MAPS Initiative, go to MAPSinitiative.org.

Retaining talent of all ages has become one of the most important issues facing employers today. How are people 55 to 64 faring in today’s labour market and how can we build an effective, multi-generational workforce? The OECD’s Shruti Singh and AARP’s Lona Choi-Allum explore what needs to be done to ensure that everyone's talents and skills are put to best use. Guests: Lona Choi-Allum, Senior Research Advisor, AARP Shruti Singh, Senior Economist, OECD Host: Kate Lancaster Producer: Robin Allison Davis To learn more about the AARP's work on the aging workplace, go to: www.aarpinternational.org/globalemployersurvey www.aarpinternational.org/globalemployeesurvey www.aarpinternational.org/llel To read the OECD report, Retaining Talent at All Ages, go to: https://doi.org/10.1787/00dbdd06-en

Bertrand Piccard est un « savanturier » psychiatre et explorateur. Il a fait le premier tour du monde en ballon en 1999, puis en avion solaire avec l'avion Solar Impulse en 2015-2016. En tant que Président de la Fondation Solar Impulse, il est aussi un « explorateur de solutions » face au plus grand défi de notre temps : le changement climatique. Après avoir survolé la terre, il travaille à sa sauvegarde et démontre que celle-ci est non seulement possible, mais aussi rentable. Il évoque ici des pistes innovantes et concrètes pour avancer : 1 500 solutions efficientes qui sont à la fois écologiques et rentables. Et face à un cadre juridique et réglementaire anachronique qui ne permet pasr toujours de mettre en place ces solutions, il propose 50 recommandations de loi clés en main pour le moderniser. Fidèle à l’esprit de pionnier de ses illustres ancêtres, Bertrand Piccard bouscule nos paradigmes et nos certitudes, ces dogmes qui nous font croire que beaucoup de choses sont impossibles. La protection de l'environnement est une aventure enthousiasmante, qui nécessite d'explorer de nouvelles manières de faire et de penser. Nous pouvons devenir les pionniers d’une saine modernité, dès maintenant... C’est ce que Bertrand Piccard démontre ici, avec la rigueur et l’ardeur d’un découvreur. Invité : Bertrand Piccard, Président de la Fondation Solar Impulse Animation : Anne-Lise Prigent Production : Robin Davis Pour en savoir plus Fondation Solar Impulse Lutter ensemble contre la crise climatique Forum inclusif sur les approches d'atténuation des émissions de carbone Page de l’OCDE sur l’environnement Pour s’abonner à la lettre d’information de l’OCDE : oe.cd/3JD Suivez-nous sur les réseaux sociaux : www.oecd.org/social-media © Podcasts de l’OCDE 2023