For a variety of reasons, energy use in the agro-food sector continues to rise, and in many countries, is highly dependent on fossil fuels, contributing significantly to greenhouse gas emissions. It is therefore becoming urgent to consider how the food supply chain can improve its energy efficiency.

Markets that function well within a stable regulatory and policy environment are key to improving the productivity and sustainability of the food and agriculture sector. This report contains the main findings and policy lessons gained from a series of wide-ranging country reviews on how government policies can improve sectoral productivity and sustainability through their impact on innovation, structural change, natural resource use, and climate change. Improving the policy environment would require rolling back those policies that distort markets the most and retain farmers in uncompetitive and low-income activities, harm the environment, stifle innovation, slow structural and generational change, and weaken resilience.

This report synthesises the experience of OECD countries in developing and implementing policies, programmes and initiatives related to green growth in the agricultural sector, based primarily on material provided by governments.

Energy Efficiency: Concepts and Calculations is the first book of its kind to provide an applied, systems oriented description of energy intensity and efficiency in modern economies across the entire energy chain. With an emphasis on analysis, specifically energy flow analysis, lifecycle energy accounting, economic analysis, technology evaluation, and policies/strategies for adopting high energy efficiency standards, the book provides a comprehensive understanding of the concepts, tools and methodologies for studying and modeling macro-level energy flows through, and within, key economic sectors (electric power, industrial, commercial, residential and transportation). Providing a technical discussion of the application of common methodologies (e.g. cost-benefit analysis and lifecycle assessment), each chapter contains figures, charts and examples from each sector, including the policies that have been put in place to promote and incentivize the adoption of energy efficient technologies. - Contains models and tools to analyze each stage at the macro-level by tracking energy consumption and how the resulting data might change energy use - Includes accessible references and a glossary of common terms at the end of each chapter - Provides diagnostic figures, tables and schematics within the context of local, regional and national energy consumption and utilization

Food systems around the world face a triple challenge: providing food security and nutrition for a growing global population; supporting livelihoods for those working along the food supply chain; and contributing to environmental sustainability. Better policies hold tremendous promise for making progress in these domains.

Norway is performing unevenly across its four agricultural policy objectives. While Norway enjoys a high level of food security and is meeting its aim of maintaining agricultural production across the country, both environmental performance and the efficient creation of value added along the food chain are compromised by support policies linked to production levels.

This review of taxation in agriculture in 35 OECD countries and emerging economies outlines the diversity of tax provisions affecting agriculture, provides an overview of cross-country differences in tax policy, and confirms the widespread use of tax concessions specifically for agriculture, although their importance and modalities differ across tax areas and countries.