Sustainable infrastructure: Paving the way for future generations in Latin America and the Caribbean

Infrastructure is the backbone of any society. It provides the framework that enables communities to function, economies to prosper, and nations to evolve. Yet, infrastructure is often overlooked in discussions about sustainable development, despite its crucial role. This is particularly relevant in the face of climate change, where regions like Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) are increasingly impacted by intensified rainfall, tropical storms, hurricanes, and droughts, among others.

Research by UNOPS, the organisation I lead, in collaboration with Oxford University, has shown that infrastructure is fundamental to sustainable development. It has also found that infrastructure contributes to 79 per cent of all greenhouse gas emissions, and accounts for 88 per cent of all adaptation costs. Clearly, infrastructure is key for climate change mitigation and adaptation efforts, including responses to loss and damage.

It is urgent that we understand, and act upon, the nexus between the climate crisis, infrastructure and sustainable development. Especially now, in a time of multiple crises, from economic instability to conflict, from geopolitical tensions to rising inequalities, and faced with the devastating impacts of the climate crisis. Developing countries, including in the LAC region, have also been disproportionately affected by the consequences of Covid-19, fragmentation of supply chains, inflation and rise in energy and food prices.

These issues, as we know, are heavily interlinked. The impacts of climate change risk making inequalities worse, reducing incomes, undermining resilience, and hindering the development of impacted communities. Every climate-induced disaster can create further cycles of vulnerability, making communities less able to cope with the next shock.

To deal with the immense and unprecedented needs from the impacts of a changing climate, we need infrastructure that is sustainable, resilient, and inclusive.

Our world’s infrastructure needs are immense, and communities across Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) certainly feel this challenge too. The Inter American Development Bank (IADB) has identified that by 2030, Latin America and the Caribbean need to invest $2.22 trillion in water and sanitation, energy, transportation, and telecommunications infrastructure to meet the Sustainable Development Goals.

A significant portion of this funding should go towards new infrastructure, while the remaining is needed to maintain and replace existing or obsolete assets. Infrastructure will require at least 3.12 percent of the region’s GDP every year until 2030. This represents an increase in infrastructure investment by over 70 per cent compared to the average of the 2008-2019 period. Such an increase poses a significant challenge in the aftermath of the economic and fiscal strain caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.

But while we know that significant infrastructure investment is needed, it is important to work together to ensure that this investment is done in a way that builds resilience, accelerates low-carbon transitions, and importantly leaves no one behind. The availability of quality infrastructure in health, education, water and sanitation, transportation, alongside transparency and good governance, are public services priorities.

It's also important to note that investment in sustainable infrastructure must extend beyond physical structures. There also needs to be investment in the enabling environment of human resources, policies and processes, and in technology. It requires investment in the operations and maintenance of infrastructure so that it lasts, and it requires investment in safeguarding people and the planet to ensure it is safe and mitigates or adapts to the changing climate.

By working together we can bring together the right expertise to make sure that infrastructure serves everyone equally and is climate compatible.  By working together we can find more cost effective solutions to the immense needs, such as nature-based green infrastructure solutions which are both environmentally friendly and lower cost.

UNOPS has years of expertise in implementing quality infrastructure globally, including in the Latin America and the Caribbean region. In Panama, for example, we helped connect countries and communities through the construction of the new Binational Bridge. By connecting Costa Rica and Panama, the bridge helps strengthen economic and commercial development in two border towns on the Sixaola River. The construction created jobs for workers on both sides of the border while the money earned from selling material from the old railway bridge was used to renovate Sixaola's municipal market. But the importance of the bridge for development goes beyond Costa Rica and Panama, it benefits the wider region.

Similarly, in the Caribbean, we have worked on projects aimed at improving sustainable development across the region. This includes the construction of parliament buildings in Grenada, rehabilitating roads in Jamaica, and rehabilitating bridges and river embankments in Saint Vincent and the Grenadines. These projects serve to strengthen the fabric of these communities while also bolstering resilience to climate change.

Additionally, we work with governments to provide the evidence needed to plan, deliver and manage the infrastructure that is essential to grow the economy, protect the environment and improve the lives of their populations. In Curaçao and Saint Lucia, for example, we have been providing technical assistance in relation to climate resilient infrastructure planning.

The journey towards sustainable development is a collective one. As we continue to champion sustainable infrastructure in Latin America and the Caribbean, let us remember: We are not just building structures; we are building the future.

The stakes are high, but the opportunities are enormous. Sustainable infrastructure is no longer a mere option; it is a necessity. It is the cornerstone of a more resilient, inclusive, and sustainable future for Latin America and the Caribbean.

We are committed to paving this road, one project at a time, driven by the belief that the future is not something that happens to us, but something we build together.

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UNOPS provides infrastructure, procurement and project management services for a more sustainable world. Grounded in UN values, UNOPS ensures its partners maximise the positive impact of their peace and security, humanitarian and development projects. Equality, inclusiveness, sustainability and resilience form the foundations of its work.