April 2004: Representatives from 37 countries attended the OECD Environment Ministers meeting from 19-21 April 2004 in Paris, France.
On 19 April, participants engaged in a consultation with stakeholder partners, during which representatives from business, trade unions, and environmental NGOs highlighted the responsibility of governments to set policy frameworks, establish targets, provide notification of planned policies, and address their social implications. The environment ministers met from 20-21 April, during which they assessed their progress in implementing the OECD Environmental Strategy for the First Decade of the 21st Century, which was adopted in 2001. Ministers shared experiences in enhancing the effectiveness and efficiency of policies, and discussed experiences with partnerships with other ministries, other countries and NGOs.

Among their many decisions and outputs were the: endorsement of a draft Recommendation of the Council on the Use of Economic Instruments in Promoting the Conservation and Sustainable Use of Biodiversity; adoption of a Ministerial Statement highlighting priorities and support for the recommendations of the OECD Ad Hoc Group on Sustainable Development, which will be presented to the 13-14 May 2004 OECD Meeting of Council at Ministerial Level; endorsement of a draft Recommendation of the Council on Material Flows and Resource Productivity and a draft Recommendation of the Council on Assessment and Decision Making for Integrated Transport and Environmental Policy; and a request that the OECD include analysis of subsidy reform and the costs of inaction in the next OECD Environmental Outlook. The Environment Ministers agreed to meet again no later than 2008.
Links to further information
Chair’s Summary of the meeting
Draft Recommendations endorsed by the Environment Ministers
Statement by Environment Ministers on Further Work at the OECD on Sustainable Development