By: Chris Lewis, Global Infrastructure Leader at EY

The world is on track to become 2°C hotter by the early 2030s, surpassing the 1.5°C target that global leaders agreed upon under the historic 2015 Paris Agreement. Classified by scientists as a severely disruptive climate, a 2°C warmer planet will create untold environmental damage and suffering across the world.

As a result, governments must upgrade their infrastructure now to ensure it can accommodate more frequent and extreme climate-related events. This will be a significant undertaking and will require global coordination, knowledge-sharing, massive investment and the adoption of the latest construction techniques to ensure we have the required flood defenses and wind/heat resilience measures in place before it’s too late. 

Mapping the Impact of a 2°C Warmer World

To start, governments must first assess the impact a 2°C increase will have on their local environment – including the power supply, water systems and transport networks. The impacts will differ based on the country’s geographical location, so it is essential for governments to utilize experienced professionals and partner with asset owners to gain a holistic view of the potential impact on their current infrastructure.  

For example, governments in the equatorial region should plan to upgrade their infrastructure to withstand extreme droughts, coastal regions for higher sea levels and for the UK, the government must adjust its infrastructure to prepare for a wetter and warmer environment and flood resilience from rising sea levels.

Creating a Plan

Attracting private sector investment will be critical to the success of any climate resilient infrastructure plan. However, as it stands, such projects are often not financially attractive for investors. Thus, governments should take the following steps to make investing in climate resilient infrastructure projects more enticing:

• Introduce financial subsidies and tax incentives that promote the commercial and financial viability of the projects, similar to the UK’s flood defense funding from the environment agency which offers a funding based on a value delivered calculation.
• Identify the most viable projects that will maximize resilience and create a clear and tight time frame to show that the project can be completed and start yielding returns before 2030. This will require the sharing of best practices across government agencies and the development of public-private partnerships.

In addition, governments will need to ensure that all plans are carbon neutral and don’t contribute to the problem.

Moving from Talk to Action

Governments are moving to provide grants for climate resilience and nature-based solutions.  Regulators should also look to strengthen the focus on the resilience of the power and water networks with as much focus as they have on return to service in response to recent weather events. 

When it comes to implementation, governments will need to leverage green construction techniques. This means not using traditional carbon intensive construction techniques and instead adopting greener solutions, such as greencrete/geotextile, and hydrogen vehicles opposed to diesel within the construction process. In addition, and where possible, there should be limited usage of concrete within the construction process, especially since 20 to 30% of carbon savings in concrete projects are often added directly back into the environment during the construction of the project.  

The amount of work needed to ensure our infrastructure can withstand a warmer climate may appear daunting, but by taking the above steps, governments will be able to make sure we can overcome the very worse impacts of climate change in the future.

About the Author:

Chris leads the Global EY Infrastructure team, working closely with governments as the key advisor to major projects in nuclear, carbon capture, water, road, rail and renewables. With more than 25 years of industry experience, he is helping private and public sector organizations take projects from inception to financial close.

The views reflected in this article are the views of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the global EY organization or its member firms.