What can the G20 do to foster sustainable infrastructure?

Improving the wellbeing of billions of people globally depends on building more and better infrastructure, including for transportation, for access to energy and sanitation. This infrastructure build-up must be sustainable, as otherwise, it can have detrimental effects on people and the planet by destroying local livelihoods as much as the climate and ecosystems. Estimates are that additional investments of $15 trillion in infrastructure must be mobilized until 2040 to meet sustainable development goals; leaving critical funding gaps for infrastructure projects in the implementation of the Agenda 2030. The implementation of the G20 Quality Infrastructure agenda and the promotion of infrastructure as an asset class are meant to bridge global infrastructure funding gaps and attract private sector investments in support of sustainable infrastructure projects. As these approaches are vividly debated, latest research on managing the spillover effects of infrastructure projects, in particular in emerging economies, might pave the way for less doctrinal and more practical infrastructure policies, improving the connectivity between global and domestic finance, including private equity. The panel will raise and discuss proposals and solutions to promote a recoupling of private and public finance and accelerate the implementation of sustainable infrastructure, as a common issue for the G20 Sherpa Track and Development Working Group, the Finance Track and the Infrastructure Working Group, and relevant G20 Engagement Groups. It will also discuss how sustainable infrastructure investments can help build a way for the Agenda 2030, including in response to the covid19 and other such pandemic risks.