ESG meets alternatives - financing and building sustainable and renewable cities

Sustainable and Renewable communities have become a key component of the Sustainable Development Agenda 2030 (SDG Goal 11).

This development comes with no surprise - the UN estimates that by 2050, c.70% of the world’s population will live in urban areas. This means new opportunities for governments, communities and businesses alike, especially when it comes to smart technologies. However, at the same time, we are facing enormous infrastructure challenges.

The OECD and World Bank estimate that USD 6.9 trillion investment a year is required up to 2030 to meet climate and development objectives but current spending on infrastructure is only around USD 3.4-4.4 trillion. Governments have a large role to play in filling this gap, but they are often fiscally constrained and overwhelmed by societal challenges such as ageing populations, health and education.

Institutional investors already invest in infrastructure projects, with USD 2.5 trillion currently privately invested. However, investment canals, private-public partnerships and investments at scale and alignment with the SDGs to meet longevity and sustainability needs, especially from sustainable and smart cities projects, remain a key challenge.

We are bringing experts together across markets, segments and asset classes:

· to discuss the challenges and opportunities linked to sustainable and smart city projects

· to evaluate how building and financing sustainable and smart cities requires stakeholder engagement and new partnerships between governments, communities, businesses, investors, capital markets and society at large

· to promote a vision for “Universal Infrastructure Coverage” and SDG alignment*

Speakers:

Martina Macpherson, NSFMNexgen

Raffaele della Croce, OECD

Callum Macpherson, Investec

Paolo Taticchi, Imperial

Paul Clements-Hunt, FinElpi Partners

Oshani Perera, IISD

*Source: FenElpi Partners, Infrastructure Investment Frontiers (IIF), Whitepaper, 2019