Infrastructure to combat climate change

 

By S R Ranjan: As we build back, factor this, infrastructure is responsible for 79 per cent of all greenhouse gas emissions, as well as 88 per cent of all adaptation costs and therefore the sector is centrally important to achieving the Paris Agreement and the Sustainable Development Goals, finds a new report, published ahead of the COP26 conference. Call it as a timely reminder to world or a focus area to deliberate and work upon at the ‘make or break year’ conference to set an inclusive plan for climate action.

Today, we have reached a ‘tipping point’ for climate action and as the world unites to tackle climate change, the report – Infrastructure for Climate Action – co-published by UNOPS, UN Environment Programme (UNEP) and the University of Oxford has revealed the extent to which infrastructure defines our climate and provides quantitative evidences of the influence of infrastructure on sustainable development and climate mitigation and adaptation.

In the midst of the call to action as a 'code red for humanity’, Infrastructure for Climate Action highlights the role that infrastructure plays in fostering climate compatible development. It emphasizes on the need to take ‘a holistic, systematic and integrated approach’ to achieve goals set out in global agendas such as the Sustainable Development Goals or the Paris Agreement on Climate change. “It is critical that we invest in sustainable infrastructure that adapts to future uncertain climate conditions; contributes to the de-carbonization of the economy; protects biodiversity and minimizes pollution. Sustainable infrastructure is the only way we can ensure that people, nature and the environment thrive together,” said Inger Andersen, executive director of UNEP.

In order to tackle climate change, Infrastructure for Climate Action calls on governments to treat infrastructure as a priority sector for climate action. Decision makers across nations have to walk the talk. According to the report, governments  need to radically rethink how infrastructure is planned, delivered and managed in order to make it suitable for a low-emission and resilient future’. “This report highlights that radical changes to how we approach infrastructure are needed to stop the worst effects of climate change. It is ultimately crucial that we get this right as the infrastructure decisions made today will determine the quality of our common future,” said UN under-secretary general and UNOPS executive director Grete Faremo.

This is the decade of delivery with COP26. The world has to take solution-based bold climate action. Infrastructure for Climate Action focuses on national examples by highlighting infrastructure projects that have contributed to the achievement of national climate and development targets. “The central question is not whether we need infrastructure, but how it can be provided in ways that are sustainable, resilient and compatible with a net zero future,” said University of Oxford professor Jim Hall.

(Singh Rakesh Ranjan)

Freelance Journalist

 (Representational images: source)