Our Definition of Sustainable Infrastructure
What are the main characteristics?
Sustainable Infrastructure
Infrastructure consists of the basic supporting elements of the built landscape that allow societies to function. Sustainable Infrastructure is infrastructure that supports the development of dynamic societies that meet the needs of the people living in them today without jeopardizing the ability of future generations to meet theirs. Smart grids that allow for efficient use of energy and increased use of renewable energy, building designs and technologies that reduce energy consumption, transportation systems that allow for efficient, low-impact mobility and urban planning techniques that increase the use of public transportation and create a stronger sense of community are all important elements of sustainable infrastructure. What is more, leadership in the low carbon economywill necessitate the development of secure, sustainable infrastructure.
Clip of Soeren Buttkereit and Board Member Barbara Kux of Siemens at GEB Summit (click on the picture to play)
To achieve the targets of the Cancun Agreement (limiting global temperature rise within two degrees celsius), OECD countries will have to cut their greenhouse gas emissions by at least 80 percent by 2050 and developing Investment needed
Investment needs for infrastructure are already enormous. According to the Boston Consulting Group, USD 35 to 40 trillion will be required over the next 20 years to satisfy the urgent and rising need for infrastructure globally. Development geared toward the transition to a low- carbon and green economy will require even more investment. The World Bank estimates that the incremental financing required for climate change mitigation is USD 140 to 175 billion per year over the next 20 years, and a further USD 30 to 100 billion per year for adaptation over the same period. There is currently a window of opportunity to invest in and build the next generation of sustainable infrastructure projects: Infrastructure construction in the developing world is rapidly expanding and ageing infrastructure in the developed world has to be replaced.
The GEB commitment
Global Energy Basel is committed to creating the leading platform for sustainable infrastructure financing. The added value of sustainable infrastructure comes from the range of co-benefits that it delivers:
- Energy efficiency
- Energy security
- Reduced greenhouse gas emissions
- Resilience to change (of the climate and other environmental, economic and social risk)
- Reduced local environmental degradation
- Job creation and economic competitiveness
- Improved public health and quality of life
Sustainable infrastructure responds to the following human needs and interests
- Reduction of resource consumption (e.g. in housing, urban development, production and transportation) and
- Expanded renewable energy supply
- Energy security
- Reduction of greenhouse gas emissions
- Improved quality of local environment
- Resilience to risks and changes (of the climate and other environmental, economic and social risk)
- Social stability and security
- Long-term prosperity and peace
Investment Forums: Best of Sustainable Infrastructure
Projects featured as investment opportunities will be innovative urban and intra-urban solutions to global climate change, responsive to local social needs and economically viable.
Financing opportunities and methods will be presented in the following categories:
- Urban transport
- Electromobility infrastructure
- Intercity transport
- Logistics
- Eco-city planning and development
- Building retrofit
- Smart grids
- Renewable energy and energy efficiency