Sustainable Infrastructures
Protecting the Planet of Tomorrow Requires the Right Decisions to be Made Today.
Sustainable infrastructure involves developing roads, buildings, energy and water infrastructure with due consideration to economic, social and environmental implications. Sustainable infrastructures are defined as:
· Lower carbon and environmental footprints
· Protect natural ecosystems
· Prove resilient to changing climates
· Optimize the use of natural ecosystems and their “infrastructure services”
· Move beyond compliance on core labor standards and human rights
· Trigger technological and industrial innovation
· Increase investment in education and research and development (R&D)
· Increase in employment
· Demonstrate financial viability
· Crowd-in domestic investors and businesses
· Increase foreign direct investment
· Bring value for money for taxpayers and investors
OVERVIEW
In 2015, the adoption of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development represented an urgent call for action. Coming together, world leaders agreed upon a roadmap for future action, and the 17 SDGs established a blueprint for peace and prosperity for people and planet and the achievement of a better and more sustainable future for all. Four years on, the foundations for the attainment of these objectives are now being built, and infrastructure lies at the heart of this process.
In March 2019, the UN Environment Assembly (UNEA) passed a resolution on sustainable infrastructure ( UNEP/EA.4/L.6 ) which urges countries to consider the wider impacts of their infrastructure planning and development. The resolution is the first to directly engage infrastructure as a distinct concept and presents a timely reminder of infrastructure’s fundamental role in determining the future paths our planet takes.
The resolution highlights the centrality of infrastructure to the achievement of the 2030 Agenda. While only explicitly considered under SDG 9, which addresses resilient infrastructure in relation to inclusive and sustainable industrialization and innovation, infrastructure also underpins each of the other socioeconomic SDGs. Infrastructure systems for energy and buildings are fundamental drivers of economic growth (SDGs 1, 7, 8 and 9), transport and telecommunications systems enhance social inclusiveness (SDGs 4, 5 and 10), while access to water and food is contingent to human health and wellbeing (SDGs 2, 3 and 6).
RESEARCHERS AND ENGINEERS:
The world has been spending billions of dollars annually on infrastructure investment and renewal as much of it as past its design life or needs to perform under conditions for which it was just not designed. Providing society with sustainable and resilient infrastructure systems for a growing population is, therefore, a major challenge for engineers worldwide.
Researchers and engineers are contributing to the sustainability of our utility and infrastructure by developing cost-effective and environmentally friendly solutions through holistic planning, design, rehabilitation, and performance monitoring through extensive experiments or work in our modern laboratories. They are developing new solutions numerical models and design standards to enhance, monitor and predict the remaining life of critical infrastructures such as bridges mind draglines and water and gas pipelines, in response to global corrosion damage. They are developing novel solutions to predict and mitigate corrosion damage through an introduction to resilient materials.
Moreover, sensing technologies have been used to develop early warning systems that will improve the reliability of our critical assets. They are also developing more practical design models for predicting the collapse of compacted soil infrastructures such as flood levees and dams and exploring advanced numerical models that can stimulate failure problems on a very large scale.
Population rooms in our cities have put a massive strain on transport networks both in terms of capacity and loading the traffic yearly economic costs of congestion. Therefore, different research centers are developing innovative and cost-effective methods to improve the efficiency of travel networks by optimizing the design of high capacity urban transport systems including urban rail and train services and rapid bus transit systems. Through this research civil engineers are developing sustainable infrastructures the very lifeline of the nation.
PAKISTAN’S INFRASTRUCTURES:
Pakistan’s infrastructural situation is relatively poor by international standards and this has an acute effect on the lives of every Pakistani in the country. Everyone suffers from electricity shortages and the lack of proper water and sanitation provisions. Also as the population increases our problems have gotten worse.
The improvement and expansion of infrastructure is a pre-requisite for sustaining and accelerating economic growth and social development in a country. Improving quality and service coverage in power, water supply, and sewerage treatment, transport and logistics is crucial for Pakistan’s economy and to improve the quality of life.
Sectors that the Infrastructure project development facility (IPDF) Plans to Focus on Transport and Logistics, Mass Urban Public Transport, Municipal Services — Water and Sanitation, solid waste management, low-cost housing, health and education facilities, and Small Scale and Rural Energy Projects.
The government of Pakistan has gradually stressed the importance of public-private partnerships (PPP) over purely debt-based financial projects in order to fill the investment gap for infrastructure development. PPP arrangements have added the benefit of spurring the country’s economic growth by producing more jobs and minimizing the burden of government subsidies. To make life better for Pakistani citizens, the private sector in Pakistan will need further empowerment and involvement in sustaining the country’s infrastructure and helping Pakistanis take control over their country’s internal development. We need to attract more investment to deliver the scale required to meet the needs of people in growing cities and ensure economic growth to achieve this ambitious goal. it’ll require governments, investors and multilateral development to work together.
EFFECT ON ENVIRONMENT:
It is estimated that globally, 60% of carbon emissions arise from the construction and operation of the existing infrastructure stock and a further 35–60% of the future carbon budget will be taken up by infrastructure. These are helping the degree rise day by day. And making the world warmer than it was before. Loss of natural resources or ecosystem services, pollution, minimal local benefits in terms of infrastructure services or job creation and reduced local access to resources are creating social conflicts.
The choices we make today on infrastructure investments will either set us into a climate-smart inclusive growth pathway or a high carbon insufficient and unsustainable future making it impossible to keep global temperatures below a change of two degrees. To lock in a sustainable future, we need to change how infrastructure is planned designed and constructed to ensure consistency with global commitments. We also need to attract more investment to deliver the scale required to meet the needs of people in growing cities and ensure economic growth to achieve this ambitious goal. it’ll require governments, investors and multilateral development to work together.
Article By:
Ali Abdul Rab, Farah Mujahid & Asad Safi
