In the Latin American and Caribbean region, infrastructure is critical for economic growth and improving human well-being, but poorly planned projects can cause significant conflicts. The nature of these conflicts is dynamic and multidimensional, often the result of the interaction of environmental, social, governance, and economic drivers over a long period. As the study we … [Read more...] about How to reduce and fix conflicts in infrastructure projects
How sustainable infrastructure can help us fight climate change
In October, a climate change report struck like a bolt of lightning. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) said that without a global transformation, the world would reach 1.5°C of warming in a little over a decade. In the case of Latin America and the Caribbean, rising sea levels and more extreme, more frequent climatic events such as hurricanes are … [Read more...] about How sustainable infrastructure can help us fight climate change
Delivering Sustainable Infrastructure
Most people have heard the old Indian parable of how six blind men construe an elephant to be respectively a wall, spear, snake, tree, fan, and a rope because of their physical experience with the animal. A lesson of the parable is that people can easily interpret the same concept in different ways based on their own experiences. Interpretations can be so dissimilar as to lead … [Read more...] about Delivering Sustainable Infrastructure
Meeting the challenge of sustainable infrastructure needs to meet the challenge with public-private collaboration?
Countries of Latin America and the Caribbean keep demonstrating their commitment to sustainable development. Adopting the 2030 Agenda and ratifying the Paris agreement showed their willingness to remain well below 2C degrees Celsius. Such commitments require mobilizing enormous amounts of resources, in particular from private sector investors. This week, I had the pleasure … [Read more...] about Meeting the challenge of sustainable infrastructure needs to meet the challenge with public-private collaboration?
Global Infrastructure, Science, and Earth Optimism
Three seemingly unrelated events bought thousands of people to a rainy Washington D.C. at the end of April 2017. The Global Infrastructure Forum (GIF) featured the UN and the multilateral development banks and their commitments to infrastructure to meet the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and the Paris Agreement. The Science March paralleled marches all around the world to … [Read more...] about Global Infrastructure, Science, and Earth Optimism