Webinar: Making Climate-Resilient Infrastructure the Norm

Around USD 6.9 trillion of new network infrastructure will need to be built every year from now until 2030 to meet development and climate mitigation objectives, according to a joint 2018 report from the OECD, World Bank, and UN Environment.

In parallel, existing assets will need to be retrofitted and replaced as they reach the end of their economic life, or in response to policy imperatives such as the transition to a low-carbon economy.

Infrastructure is pivotal to combating climate change and achieving sustainable development. Renewable energy, sustainable transport, digital infrastructure and nature-based solutions literally pave the way for sustainable societies. However, if infrastructure is not de-carbonized and built in a sustainable manner, we cannot realize the climate mitigation and adaptation objectives under the Paris Agreement.  

Decisions about the location, design and operation of infrastructure will lock in future emissions and have profound and long-term implications for the resilience of societies and ecosystems in the face of climate change. Infrastructure built today will lock in developmental paths for decades to come, and therefore needs to consider an altered risk landscape due to climate change. It is therefore critical for investors and policy-makers to calculate the costs of climate risks and externalities of infrastructure, and thus steer capital to low-carbon, climate-resilient and overall sustainable infrastructure assets.

This webinar is organized jointly by IISD and the Global Commission on Adaptation and will explore approaches to calculating the cost of climate risks and externalities. We will also discuss the risks assessment conducted using the Sustainable Asset Valuation (SAVi): www.iisd.org/SAVi

The webinar will be held on the Zoom platform. Registration is available at the link at the bottom of this webpage. Please note that the event will begin at 6 PM CEST on July 1, 2019.

Agenda:

18.00–18.10: Excellence on Investment in Climate-Resilient Infrastructure: Here’s why

• Michael Mullan, Infrastructure Lead, Global Commission on Adaptation
• Oshani Perera, Director, Public Procurement and Infrastructure Finance, International Institute for Sustainable Development

18.10– 18.30: The Economics of Climate Risks

• Professor Jim Hall, Oxford Environmental Change Institute

18.30–18.40: Sustainable Asset Valuation for Climate-Resilient Infrastructure

• Dr. Andrea M. Bassi, Senior Associate, International Institute for Sustainable Development

18.40–18.50: Preserving and Adapting Road Infrastructure Assets: multi-stakeholders’ partnerships that deliver

• Susanna Zammataro, Director-General, International Road Federation

18.50–19.00: Q&A and wrap-up

The webinar will be moderated by Max Linsen, climate change and sustainable infrastructure consultant at the International Institute for Sustainable Development. Its content is designed for a broad audience in the space of infrastructure planning, development, financing and related policy-making.