**OECD Environmental Outlook to 2050: The Consequences of Inaction.  Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development.  Paris: OECD, March 2012, 350p (8x10”), $112pb.   World population has increased by >3 billion since 1970 to 7 billion, and the size of the world economy has more than tripled.  This growth has pulled millions out of poverty, but it has been unevenly distributed and incurred major cost to the environment.  “Natural assets have been and continue to be depleted.”  Providing for 2 billion more people by 2050 and improving living standards for all will challenge our ability to manage and restore those natural assets on which all life depends.  “Failure to do so will have serious consequences, especially for the poor, and ultimately undermine the growth and human development of future generations.”  Looks forward to 2050 to suggest what demographic and economic trends might mean for the environment if the world does not adopt more ambitious green policies, using a “Baseline scenario” and a “450 Delayed Action Scenario.”  Focuses on four “red light” areas: 1) Climate Change: alternative growth pathways to stabilize GHGs at 450ppm, the level that has a 50% chance of keeping temperature rise to 2oC; 2) Biodiversity: loss of biodiversity is a major environmental challenge; “despite some local successes, biodiversity is on the decline globally and this loss is projected to continue; continuing with business as usual may have far-reaching adverse implications for human well-being, security and economic growth”; 3) Water: worldwide, cities, farmers, industries, energy suppliers, and ecosystems are increasingly competing for water; the situation is likely to deteriorate by 2050 without major policy changes; 4) Health and Environment: explores current and projected impacts of four key environmental factors: air pollution, unsafe water supply and poor sanitation, chemicals, and climate change (with emphasis on the incidence of malaria).   (ENVIRONMENT *  CLIMATE CHANGE * BIODIVERSITY * WATER * HEALTH AND ENVIRONMENT)

* Water Governance in OECD Countries: A Multilevel Approach.  Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development.  Paris: OECD, Feb 2012, 236p (8x10”), $105pb.  Addresses the main coordination gaps among ministries, levels of government, and local actors in terms of policy-making, financing, information, accountability, objectives, and capacity-building, and provides a platform of existing governance mechanisms to bridge them.  Data were collected through an extensive survey on water governance in 2010 to which 17 OECD countries contributed. The report 1) maps the allocation of responsibilities in water policy design, regulation and implementation; 2) identifies common multi-level governance bottlenecks for integrated water policy; 3) suggests main policy responses for managing mutual dependencies across levels of government in water policy design and implementation; 4) promotes decision-making that integrates actors at all levels; and 5) encourages adoption of relevant capacity-building, monitoring and evaluation tools.  (WATER * WATER GOVERNANCE: OECD)