The infrastructure we build today will shape the way we produce and consume for the decades to come. In an era of rising natural resource prices and scarcity, increasing vulnerability to natural disasters and climate change, infrastructure eco-efficiency has significant and long-term implications on both economic and environmental sustainability.
Infrastructure has important implications in the pursuit of an environmentally-sustainable economic growth. It is widely recognized that infrastructure systems are essential to economic and social development, as they provide the basis for economic activities, deliver goods and services to the population and directly contribute to employment and GDP. Less acknowledged is the fact that infrastructure has key environmental implications.
Infrastructure is very intensive in resource use, including energy, water, materials and land, and has important environmental impacts. These impacts occur not only during its construction, but also during its operation and disposal. Moreover, infrastructure has a long life and once built it is difficult and costly to modify; therefore it locks into patterns of consumption for decades.
Infrastructure systems have both direct and indirect environmental impacts; they have an important influence on consumption patters. For example, planning urban areas and developing transport infrastructure for private vehicle use instead of mass transportation, has important effects on car ownership and use, and therefore on energy consumption and emissions.
These issues, however, have received little attention so far, as the focus on infrastructure has primarily been on its financing and engineering aspects. Yet, there is an urgent need to address these environmental implications of infrastructure development, not only because Asia-Pacific is already living beyond its carrying capacity, but also since many countries of the region are at a crossroads in developing and expanding their infrastructure in support of fast economic growth.
ESCAP is committed to assisting countries of the region in responding to these challenges through its activities, by analyzing current trends in infrastructure development in the region from a sustainability perspective, applying eco-efficiency and sustainability concepts to infrastructure development, reviewing emerging practices in developing sustainable infrastructure, and providing a forum for countries to share experiences and discuss pressing policy issues.
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