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Four reasons why civil society should support sustainable infrastructure post COVID-19

April 18, 2020 por Graham Watkins - Guy Edwards - Catalina Aguiar Parera - Andrea Garcia Salinas - Daniel Taras 1 Comment


The coronavirus crisis is a critical priority for Latin American and the Caribbean decision makers as they respond to the health emergency and push social distancing to lower the curve.

The pandemic represents the region’s most severe economic challenge since the Great Depression and will cause between 1.8 and 5.5 percent of GDP growth reductions this year. Countries are focusing on saving lives and launching temporary economic and fiscal interventions to support the economy.

Amidst these responses, there are growing calls for economic recovery packages to not bail out sectors such as fossil fuels, mass tourism and airlines, which have contributed to the climate and ecological emergencies. Instead, green economic recovery packages should be prioritized that deliver on the Sustainable Development Goals and help to manage future risks of pandemics.

For example, 13 European ministers have called on the EU to make a Green Deal and climate neutrality goal for 2050 the basis for the economic recovery stating that they must not lose sight of the climate and ecological crisis. And in South Korea, the new government is set to advance plans to boost investment in renewable energy, introduce a carbon tax, and support workers to transition to green jobs with the aim of reaching net-zero emissions by 2050.

Sustainable infrastructure is central to a green and inclusive economic recovery

 

In Latin American and Caribbean, a focus on sustainable infrastructure could guide the economic recovery, which can boost growth and support efforts to achieve net-zero emission and climate-resilient economies. Before the pandemic, estimates suggested that this kind of transition could result in economic gains worth USD 26 trillion globally over the next 12 years compared to business-as-usual.

Infrastructure services including electricity, water, sanitation, transportation, logistics, and communications are the backbone for economic development and either directly or indirectly influence the attainment of all of the SDGs, including 72% of the targets.

The way we build future infrastructure will determine whether we can limit global heating to 1.5 degrees Celsius or not. With 70 percent of the forecast increase in emissions from developing countries set to come from infrastructure that has yet to be constructed built, decisions made today will determine whether the Paris Agreement and Sustainable Development Goals remain viable.

LAC citizens are also becoming increasingly vocal in their demands for quality public services and infrastructure. To meet demand for sustainable infrastructure while also confronting the climate crisis, LAC needs to increase its investment in infrastructure by at least 2% of its gross domestic product, in order to go from USD 150 billion to USD 250 billion per year.

Although sustainable infrastructure projects can entail upfront costs that are roughly 5 percent larger than those of the past, they can generate lower operating costs over the life of the investment, while also reducing risks.

The IDB Group’s Sustainable Infrastructure Framework attempts to address these challenges by promoting decision-making on infrastructure that is economically, financially, socially, environmentally and institutionally sustainable. It applies across the entire project cycle including the policy context, planning, procurement, design, construction, operations, and decommissioning.

How civil society can play a key role in promoting sustainable infrastructure

 

Civil society plays a vital role in driving momentum in sustainable infrastructure. It is a critical actor in improving and helping countries, banks, and investors advance this approach to ensure “we do projects right” and, more importantly, that “we do the right projects.”

The IDB is working to better engage with civil society to reflect on what works and what does not and to help everyone deliver sustainable development. Here are four reasons why civil society should help to shape the sustainable infrastructure agenda post-COVID-19:

1. Sustainable infrastructure plays a vital role in health. The coronavirus crisis has brought home to many the importance of renewable energy and green transport and how this reduces deadly air pollution. Effective water and sanitation systems and green areas improve air and water quality and have been critical to ensuring the relative well-being of people sheltered at home. Infrastructure is the basis of the transport services that provide access to health and communications infrastructure is essential for working remotely. Civil society has a key role in advocating for infrastructure that puts the health of citizens first.

2. Infrastructure affects biodiversity. Latin America and the Caribbean has 40% of the world’s biodiversity but we are losing the war against the loss of it. The main drivers are infrastructure, agricultural expansion, and invasive species. 70% of the remaining forest is within 1km of a forest edge and that 90% of new road construction will occur in developing nations. COVID-19 arises because we have been irresponsible in managing the interactions between people and nature. Civil society can help to raise the awareness and demand that infrastructure supports all life.

3. Infrastructure services are critical to sustainable development. In Latin America, over 80% of its population lives in cities, and will reach 90% in 25 years. We need increased infrastructure investments to deliver green public transport to ensure fair and inclusive growth as it brings greater access to service benefits. Civil Society can help guarantee that this new infrastructure serves people and the planet.

4. The infrastructure we build now will determine whether we can tackle the ecological and climate emergencies or not. Infrastructure projects have very long lifespan. Civil society has had a strained relationship with infrastructure projects because infrastructure can be both a solution and a driver of negative change. Involving civil society early in the project cycle– in defining the institutional contexts for infrastructure – is crucial to ensure infrastructure is sustainable.

Looking beyond the immediate medical emergency, we must make the right infrastructure investment decisions to protect people and the planet. Working alongside civil society, we can vanquish the belief that sustainability is a brake on development and instead promote sustainable infrastructure as the next growth story for our region post-COVID-19.

 

Recommended reading: 

What is Sustainable Infrastructure? A Framework to Guide Sustainability Across the Project Cycle

Investing in Sustainable Infrastructure in Latin America: Survey Results 2019

Getting to Net-Zero Emissions: Lessons from Latin America and the Caribbean

 

Follow us on Twitter @BIDCambioClima

 

Photo credit: Bilobicles (Santigo de Chile)


Filed Under: Infrastructure and Sustainable Landscapes

Graham Watkins

Graham Watkins es Jefe de la División de Cambio Climático y Sostenibilidad del Banco Interamericano de Desarrollo y lidera los esfuerzos del Banco para apoyar las políticas y planificación climática en los gobiernos de América Latina y el Caribe (ALC), aumentar la disponibilidad de financiamiento para impulsar la transformación climática, integrar el clima en las operaciones bancarias y promover conocimiento sobre infraestructura sostenible, riesgo climático y descarbonización. Graham tiene treinta años de experiencia en ALC liderando iniciativas de biodiversidad, infraestructura sostenible y cambio climático en América Latina y el Caribe y ha publicado más de 60 artículos, incluyendo dos libros sobre Galápagos y Rupununi en Guyana. Anteriormente fue Director Ejecutivo de la Fundación Charles Darwin en Galápagos y Director General del Centro Iwokrama en Guyana. Graham tiene un doctorado de la Universidad de Pensilvania y una maestría de la Universidad de Oxford.

Guy Edwards

Guy Edwards is a senior consultant in the Climate Change Division at the Inter-American Development Bank. Previously, he was a research fellow at the Institute at Brown for Environment and Society and co-director of the Climate and Development Laboratory at Brown University. He has a Master’s Degree in Latin American Area Studies from the University of London. He is the co-author of the book, A Fragmented Continent: Latin America and Global Climate Change Policies (MIT Press 2015). His work has been published by El Espectador, Climate Policy, Brookings Institution, E3G, The New York Times, Washington Post, Project Syndicate, Chatham House, Real Instituto Elcano, El Universal, El Comercio, Americas Quarterly, La Tercera, and The Guardian.

Catalina Aguiar Parera

Catalina is a strategic communications expert with a strong determination to succeed and a passion for sustainability and climate change. She holds an MBA in energy and sustainability. Catalina works at the Inter-American Development Bank since 2015. She first started leading the planning, design, and execution of the IDB climate change division's communication strategy. She is now the corporate communications strategist, where she oversees internal communications plans and works with cross-functional teams to contribute to the IDB Climate Change and Sustainability agenda. Follow her on twitter at @CatiAguiar.

Andrea Garcia Salinas

Andrea es consultora en la División de Cambio Climático y Sostenibilidad del Banco Interamericano de Desarrollo. Cuenta con siete años de experiencia como especialista en comunicación estratégica y creadora de contenido multimedia sobre cambio climático, desarrollo internacional y migraciones. Ha liderado campañas digitales y proyectos de incidencia con Climate Tracker, una red de periodismo climático en 150 países. Previamente, colaboró con asociaciones ambientales e iniciativas de conservación en la Amazonía peruana, realizó la cobertura de conferencias de la CMNUCC, y trabajó junto al PNUD Perú durante el proceso de la COP20. Andrea es Magíster en Desarrollo Internacional con mención en Ambiente y Migraciones por la Paris School of International Affairs - Sciences Po, donde colaboró con la asociación Sciences Po Refugee Help; y es Bachiller en Comunicación para el Desarrollo por la Pontificia Universidad Católica del Perú.

Daniel Taras

Daniel Taras is Programme Director, Sustainable Infrastructure and Climate Change in Latin America and the Caribbean at Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH, the German international cooperation agency. He is currently seconded to the Climate Change Division at the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) in Washington DC, supporting the Bank in driving forward its sustainable infrastructure agenda. Prior to that, he headed GIZ’s Emerging Market Sustainability Dialogues (EMSD), addressing global sustainability challenges by supporting global processes such as the G20. At GIZ, he was also Head of Section of the Global Partnerships and Emerging Economies Unit in Berlin, Germany, corporate social responsibility and economic policy advisor in China and Laos respectively, and, before that, worked as strategic management consultant, investment banker and financial sector economist in London, UK. Daniel is a member of the G20/OECD Task Force on Long-term Finance and was a member of the G20 Think Tank 20 (T20) Task Force on Climate Action and Infrastructure for Development and the G20 Business Leaders 20 (B20) Task Force on Financing Growth and Infrastructure. He holds a BSc in Economics (LSE), an MSc Development Finance (SOAS), and an MPhil (Cambridge), and is currently studying towards an Executive Master’s at HEC Paris and Oxford University focusing on change management. He is also an alumnus of the German Development Institute and of Peking University.

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Chris Pederson says

    October 5, 2020 at 5:44 pm

    Thanks for sharing that infrastructure services include electricity, water, sanitation, transportation, logistics, and communications. I had no idea there was so much involved with infrastructure. A lot of these things are getting affected because of COVID-19 right now.

    Reply

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