Without massive investment in sustainable infrastructure, achieving net zero by 2050 won’t be possible according to a new industry report.
Massive investment of around $139 trillion in sustainable infrastructure is needed to achieve net zero by 2050, according to a new report from international engineering federation FIDIC and the global professional services partnership EY.
The report, Closing the sustainable infrastructure gap to achieve net zero, was launched on 11 September 2023 during FIDIC’s Global Infrastructure Conference in Singapore. The FIDIC/EY report revealed that, cumulatively, $139 trillion needs to be invested in sustainable infrastructure to achieve net zero by 2050 and highlights a gap of $64 trillion compared with current investment policies.
More than 600 industry leaders from the global infrastructure community gathered in Singapore at the FIDIC conference learned more about the report which considers the gap in infrastructure funding required to achieve net zero, the required changes in net zero sustainable infrastructure investment by region and sector, recommendations to close the gap and the recommendations that FIDIC’s Global Leadership Forum leaders have made to drive progress.
Commenting on the report, Dr Nelson Ogunshakin, FIDIC CEO, said: “Meeting the climate challenge will involve the entire infrastructure sector and will require customers, clients, companies, professions and governments all working towards the same goal. If we stand still, we are not progressing, as the world will continue to evolve around us.”
Chris Lewis, EY Global Infrastructure leader added: “Critical to the world we live in is our ability to sustain the planet and reduce the impact of man-made global warming. The current policies from governments around the world are mobilising huge investment to address the challenge, with $75 trillion expected to be spent between 2020 and 2050. However, this level of investment is not nearly enough, with emissions still expected to rise globally by 15 gigatons CO2E by 2050, a 30% increase on today.”
The Closing the sustainable infrastructure gap to achieve net zero report was produced for FIDIC’s Global Leadership Forum in collaboration with EY as part of the sustainable infrastructure series of reports originally launched earlier this year. FIDIC’s Global Leadership Forum convenes c-suite leaders from the global infrastructure community to find solutions to global challenges facing the infrastructure sector.
