carbon in infrastructure
Current levels of carbon emissions, which are bringing about climate change, are unsustainable and affect millions of lives adversely. One of the areas in which climate-related policy efforts are being concentrated is infrastructure development.
Climate change is the change in global climate patterns evident from the mid to late twentieth century, attributed largely to the unprecedented levels of carbon dioxide produced by the burning of fossil fuels such as coal, diesel and natural gas. Climate change poses a critical threat to environmental and agricultural sustainability, food security, livelihoods, and human safety. Extreme weather events, record-high global temperatures, and melting Arctic ice are a few of the potentially irreversible effects of climate change. These conditions are expected to significantly reduce crop yields, extend and intensify heat waves and monsoon periods, lead to erratic rainfall patterns, and irreparably damage eco-systems.
Infrastructure investment and use have a significant impact on global greenhouse gas (including carbon) emissions, and ultimately on climate change. Approximately 70 percent of global greenhouse-gas emissions emanate from infrastructure construction and operations such as power plants, buildings and transportation systems. Significantly, two-thirds of this can be attributed to the energy sector. The current business-as-usual scenario (BAU) would have considerable negative impact by 2050. Based on the current rate of emissions from key infrastructure industries, more than 720 million people would be pushed into extreme poverty, with projected deaths per year rising from 150,000 to 250,000 per year (WHO). The vast majority of such casualties are expected to be in emerging-market and developing economies, which are densely populated and act as global growth engines, attracting massive infrastructure investment and spending. Thus, a shift in the allocation of resources from carbon-intensive infrastructure to low-carbon infrastructure is needed. Low-carbon infrastructure helps build resilience in vulnerable countries and protects against exposure to extreme climate change events. Most importantly, low-carbon infrastructure is also crucial for preventing a reversal of development gains made so far, particularly in emerging markets and developing economies that houses communities with a disproportionate exposure to climate change impacts.
Governments and multilateral organizations are rapidly intensifying efforts to promote low-carbon and resilient infrastructure that will help reduce the carbon and climate impacts of current industrial, agricultural, urban and infrastructure systems. Some of the initiatives undertaken during the 21st and 23rd sessions of the UN Conference of the Parties to the UN Convention on Climate Change (COP 21 and COP 23), including the 2015 Paris Agreement, are evidence of member states’ commitments to reduce carbon footprints and address an array of climate change issues. COP 23 in 2017 saw positive outcomes in the way of concrete initiatives to reduce carbon emissions, including several initiatives with direct implications for infrastructure development. The United Kingdom and Canada, along with 25 other countries, signed the “Powering Past Coal” alliance, looking to phase out coal plants and restrict future coal plants that do not have carbon capture and storage (CCS) technology. The event also drove consensus that regular stock-taking of action on the ground in 2018 and 2019 would be essential to measure progress toward achieving the Paris Agreement objectives. It also turned attention to financing options for sustainable development.
