Infrastructure was a leading topic at Climate Week NYC

Climate Week NYC is a pivotal gathering of global and national leaders who are united by a shared goal: addressing the climate crisis. This year, it was held alongside the UN General Assembly High Level Week and the UN's SDG Summit, which spotlighted the lack of progress on achieving SDGs. This backdrop emphasised the urgent need to advance sustainable infrastructure in support of our climate and the achievement of SDGs. And, infrastructure emerged as a major topic across the week.

The GI Hub team put together a program of activities at Climate Week, to reinforce the vital role that infrastructure must play in the global climate transition, share knowledge of what governments and the private sector are doing, and work collaboratively on new and innovative approaches. Central to all of this is effective coordination between the public and private sectors to create an environment conducive to scaling up of private investment, particularly in emerging markets and developing countries (EMDCs).

This critical challenge is the focus of the GI Hub’s Private Sector Advisory Council (PSAC) and Infrastructure Regulations Advisory Council (IRAC), both of which met with stakeholders and collaborators during Climate Week to advance collective efforts. The areas of action span risk mitigation, regulatory reform, a pilot program on de-risking infrastructure, and more. Representatives from the Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency (MIGA), Meridiam, FAST-Infra Group, the Brazilian Development Bank (BNDES), World Bank, the U.S. Department of the Treasury, the U.S. Department of State, and the White House joined these discussions.

The GI Hub also co-hosted a roundtable discussion in collaboration with Convergence and Private Infrastructure Development Group (PIDG). Joan Larrea, CEO at Convergence, provided valuable data insights from the upcoming State of Blended Finance report, and demonstrated how blended finance can help to scale up sustainable infrastructure investment. Marco Serena, Chief Sustainable Impact Officer at PIDG, shared PIDG’s 2023-2030 strategy, aimed at addressing barriers to help close the infrastructure investment gap. Our CEO, Marie Lam-Frendo, underscored these insights with data from our Infrastructure Monitor report, emphasising the need for sustainable investment in EMDCs and how barriers can be overcome through regulatory reform and de-risking at both the national and macro levels.

Another challenge to sustainable infrastructure development is absence of climate resilience as a factor in investment decisions. In collaboration with the Institutional Investors Group on Climate Change (IIGCC), we held a session to explore solutions, particularly through the evolution of the Physical Climate Risk Assessment Methodology (PCRAM) – a tool designed to assist public and private investors in assessing and quantifying their exposure to physical climate risks.

To conclude the week, Marie Lam-Frendo was delighted to be invited as a guest lecturer on inclusive infrastructure at at Columbia University, where she spoke about our Framework for Inclusive Infrastructure and case studies. Marie also shared a preview of our new professional training course – the Certificate in Inclusive Infrastructure – developed by the GI Hub in collaboration with Dr Ibrahim Odeh and capacity-building company Toraza Zenith.

After an invigorating and productive week, we extend our gratitude to all who participated in our various events and discussions. We look forward to continuing this important work to support greater investment in infrastructure to transition to sustainable, inclusive, and resilient economies.

To coincide with Climate Week, we published a series of interviews with public and private sector leaders working at the municipal, state, national, and global levels. We're excited to bring you their experiences on solutions for infrastructure to support the climate transition.