Hi Samreen Khan Ghauri ,
Nice to know the progress of Indonesia.
Biodiversity and healthy ecosystems can provide reliable and cost-effective natural infrastructure.
For example, coral reefs and mangrove forests protect coasts against flooding that are expected to
increase with climate change. Natural infrastructure such as vegetation in cities can reduce the run-off of pollution into
water bodies. Such green infrastructure can offer multiple benefits and are often more effective than built infrastructure in
terms of cost, longevity and effectiveness
UNDP partners with the Government of India on energy-smart railways. Photo: Dhiraj Singh/UNDP India
Infrastructure is the foundation of modern-day civilization. We ultimately rely upon infrastructure to provide us with access to the resources needed to exist at this scale and density on our planet. Yet there exists a stark funding gap — there is currently a $1 trillion global shortfall on basic infrastructure investment worldwide as compared to what’s needed.
This seriously threatens our future prosperity and development. Sustainable Development Goal No. 9: Build resilient infrastructure, promote inclusive and sustainable industrialization and foster innovation, can help to overcome this.
Infrastructure has two dimensions — the physical asset, as well as the solution it provides us with to gain access to key services. Without adequate infrastructure, aspirations to achieve energy, water and food security are all meaningless. Once again, there is the need for systems thinking (a focus on interdependencies in a wider context, over time) when it comes to attainment of the individual Sustainable Development Goals.
Three key trends mean our existing and future infrastructure, and the industrial model dependent on it, is at risk:
- An increasingly volatile climate as a result of climate change;
- A resource crunch — the global population is predicted to reach 9 billion by 2030, placing considerable pressure on the earth’s finite resources; and
- Government austerity.
Infrastructure traditionally has been seen as the domain of the public sector but there is increasingly a business case for intervention from corporates. As the above trends play out, the resources and expertise from business will be essential to shoring up future growth that is dependent on a robust infrastructure base.
Providing finance and technical expertise for solutions to infrastructure problems could prove to be big business in the future. Companies, especially technology-led firms, have a wealth of resources available that can improve the operation of infrastructure assets by local governments.
Infrastructure also can make a sound long-term investment with stable and predictable cash flows that suit the horizons of pension funds and insurers. Increasingly, businesses and investors are growing wise to this potential and seizing opportunities. Without them, there would be no way of bridging the gap.
Goal 9 acknowledges that industrialization is one
of the main drivers of sustained economic growth
and sustainable development. This is based on
the recognition that modern livelihoods have
generally been built on and further developed by
the industrialization process. While a large number
of developing countries at their earlier stages
of development are yet to make full use of the
capacity of complex manufacturing industries and
industry-related services, advanced countries are
shaping their development policies in line with the
opportunities and challenges posed by the third and
fourth industrial revolution. Industry is also the
most dynamic driver of prosperity and collective
well being. Industrial development is therefore a
global objective that touches upon the economic,
social and environmental aspirations of all, and as
such is intrinsically woven into the architecture of
the 2030 Agenda.
The link to innovation and infrastructure
further strengthens inclusive and sustainable
industrialization as the locomotive of sustainable
development, a dynamic process that entails entrepreneurship, continued diversification and
industrial upgrading, technological innovation and
growing trade relations. Ensuring that quality infrastructure such as roads,
ICTs, transport and electricity is widely accessible
and reliable is fundamental for boosting the
kind of industrial activity that ultimately leads
to higher employment, economic growth and
enhanced living standards. Moreover, an effective
economic infrastructure facilitates the development
of enhanced linkages and partnerships between
industries and the local economy, including the establishment of specific industrial zones that
include modern transportation, energy infrastructure
and innovation systems. Strengthened capacity building,
investment and knowledge sharing are
essential inputs in this process. The concept of green industry, with the focus
on the elimination or significant reduction of
the dependence on hydrocarbon fuels, toxins,
and equipment and processes that generate
greenhouse gases, is one of the crucial responses
to the prerequisite of sustainable development that
UNIDO has developed, and continues to promote
in its activities at all levels. Relying on its technical
expertise.
Best Regards !
Amit Dahit
