OECD Ministers Plead For Environment Despite Economic Concerns.

'OECD environment ministers on Tuesday stood by efforts to tackle climate change, despite arguments in some quarters that at a time of economic uncertainty, spending on green issues could damage competitiveness.

Ministers reasserted the goal of addressing global warming and outlined some of the challenges as to how to cut greenhouse-gas emissions in a border-free worldwide market, the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) said in a statement.

'Ministers noted that tackling climate change and moving towards low-carbon economies is a shared ambition, but moving to a low-carbon society will require structural shifts in the economy,' it said. 'This can create opportunities, but also competitiveness challenges (though often overstated), for particular industries, sectors and workers.' " [Agence France Presse/Factiva]

Kyodo News adds that "...The ministers said possible negative impact from the structural changes 'are most likely to be reduced if strong international cooperation and common policy frameworks can be agreed.'

The discussion at the Paris meeting will be reflected in a meeting of Group of Eight environmental ministers to be held in Kobe, Japan, in late May." [Kyodo News (Japan)/Factiva]

The meeting came as Dow Jones reports the OECD showed Tuesday that 'The rate of consumer-price inflation in the developed world rose slightly in March as the rise in food prices picked up. The Paris-based research organization said the annual inflation rate in its 30 member countries rose to 3.5 percent, from 3.4 percent in February, a level which matched a six-and-a-half year high reached in January. Over the month, consumer prices rose by 0.7 percent, up from 0.3 percent in February. The pickup in the inflation rate was due to a faster increase in food prices, and came despite a slowdown in the rise of energy prices. 'Among OECD members, Turkey had the highest annual inflation rate at 9.2 percent, while Japan had the lowest annual inflation rate, with prices rising by 1.2 percent...." [Dow Jones/Factiva]