UN Environment and UNOPS Workshop on Inclusive Infrastructure

On 14-15 November 2019, UN Environment and UNOPS are holding a Workshop on Inclusive Infrastructure under the chapeau of the Sustainable Infrastructure Partnership (SIP) in Geneva, Switzerland.

If you plan on attending the event, please register at the link below by 13 November. If you do not have a UN badge that provides you with access to the Palais de Nations in Geneva, it is especially important to register as you will not be able to enter the Palais if you have not done so. 

Registration link: https://reg.unog.ch/event/31808/overview

For further information, please contact Mr. Rowan Palmer ([email protected]).

Background

Infrastructure is central to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). While only explicitly referred to under SDG 9, a recent report has found that infrastructure either directly or indirectly influences the attainment of all the SDGs, including 92% of the overall targets. Infrastructure systems are drivers of economic growth, and enable access to basic services and economic opportunities to improve livelihoods and wellbeing. Transport and telecommunications systems can enhance social inclusion through improved connectivity to schools, healthcare, jobs and other services, while access to water is contingent to food production, human health and wellbeing. Infrastructure is the foundation for development, essential for eradicating poverty, and key to the realization of all human rights and fundamental freedoms.

However, prevailing socio-economic inequalities often inhibit marginalised and vulnerable groups of society from accessing development opportunities that can contribute to their upward social mobility and reduce inequalities. Globally, there are huge disparities existing in infrastructure access - around 2.2 billion people lack access to safe drinking water, 4.2 billion lack access to sanitation, 940 million lack electricity, and 1 billion lack access to all-weather roads. The burden of poor or non-inclusive infrastructure falls disproportionately on vulnerable groups - women, differently-abled, economically disadvantaged, and other excluded groups. For example, gender-blind public transport systems that do not recognize the differential travel patterns of men and women can hamper the personal safety and security of women and girls who try to use it. A study in India showed that women are willing to attend lower-quality colleges, spend up to twice the cost of tuition, and travel up to an additional 40 minutes every day, in order to use safer transport routes or safer modes of transport.

Infrastructure development can also place enormous pressures on ecosystems and natural resources. The choices that we make about the types of infrastructure we choose to build, where we choose to build it, and how it is planned, designed, constructed, operated, maintained, and decommissioned therefore have significant impacts on both society and the environment. The long lifespan of infrastructure assets can compound these by then locking-in unsustainable choices for both our own and future generations. Infrastructure decisions made today, then, will determine to a large extent how equitable, sustainable, and resilient our planet will be tomorrow.

Adding another element of pressure to these decisions is the increasing global demand for infrastructure development in both developed and developing countries. In the context of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, many estimates have been made with regards to expected infrastructure investments. The OECD, for instance, has estimated that an annual average of US$6.9 trillion in infrastructure investment is required until 2030 to support global development objectives. The bulk of this investment is needed in developing countries, including fragile low-income and emerging economies, where infrastructure supply is failing to meet the demand generated  by strong population growth, increased income levels, and rapid urbanization.

Balancing the social, economic, and environmental aspects of infrastructure can be challenging. Countries must avoid investments that lock-in unequitable infrastructure development trends for decades that benefit only a handful of people. They must ensure that infrastructure investments generate positive social outcomes that help to create more inclusive growth, benefit the economically disadvantaged and other vulnerable groups, reduce inequalities, leave no one behind, and respect fundamental freedoms and human rights. They should also avoid investments in carbon-intensive and resource-inefficient infrastructure, and instead redirect their focus towards the development of sustainable infrastructure, clean energy and technology, and both human and natural capital. By doing so, they can achieve a just and a more sustainable future for all.

Sustainable Infrastructure Partnership

UN Environment and UNOPS are organizing this workshop under the chapeau of the Sustainable Infrastructure Partnership (SIP), which UN Environment established in 2018 as a platform to promote and support integrated approaches to sustainable infrastructure planning and development. In collaboration with a broad range of stakeholders, the SIP provides knowledge, facilitates international collaboration, and supports capacity building at the country-level to foster systems-level approaches which more fully exploit the complex interlinkages between infrastructure and the SDGs.

Under the chapeau of the SIP, UN Environment has convened an Expert Working Group (EWG) to address the need for normative and technical guidance in support of such approaches. Building upon the recent Geneva Forum for Sustainable Infrastructure and the UN Environment Management Group’s Nexus Dialogue on Sustainable Infrastructure, the EWG aims to take stock of existing normative guidance on sustainable infrastructure, identify gaps, and develop consolidated, streamlined, internationally applicable normative guidance on integrated approaches to sustainable infrastructure. 

Objective of the Workshop

The outcomes of this workshop will directly inform the development of SIP guidance and a report on inclusive infrastructure. This work will build upon key ongoing initiatives such as the G20 Principles for Quality Infrastructure Investment and Global Infrastructure Hub’s Reference Tool for Inclusive Infrastructure.

Who is expected to attend

As well as members of the SIP, the workshop will seek the engagement of a wide range of key stakeholders with experience and expertise in areas relating to social protection and inclusive infrastructure. This will include organizations such as UNDP, UNESCO, UN Women, UNRISD, OHCHR, WHO, ILO, IMO, FAO, and Third World Network, among others across civil society and government.

Communications

UN Environment and UNOPS developed a background note on inclusive infrastructure for dissemination prior to the workshop. Please find the background note below which compiles key messages based on a mapping of existing resources and materials and will be used to inform discussions over the course of the two days. These background documents will be made accessible online through a dedicated event page on the Green Growth Knowledge Partnership (GGKP), and event information will be disseminated through available communications channels, including those of the GGKP, the International Institute for Sustainable Development (IISD), and the Geneva Environment Network (GEN), among others.

Background Note_Workshop on Inclusive Infrastructure.pdf

The slides of the presentations held at the workshop can be found below:

Morag_Baird_Presentation.pdf

Stephanie_Hirmer_Presentation.pdf

Renu_Khosla_Presentation.pdf

The Workshop Summary Report can be found here:

Workshop Summary Report_Inclusive Infrastructure_14-15 November 2019.pdf