ICE and UNEP unite for virtual event on global infrastructure sustainability

Governments and policy decision makers will hear how sustainability and resilience concerns need to be embedded in infrastructure planning and delivery processes, at a free virtual event hosted by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and the Institution of Civil Engineers (ICE).

The public event will explore how governments and infrastructure policy decision makers can use policy tools to prioritise, plan, and deliver more sustainable infrastructure on Wednesday, 31 May from 10:30 to 12:30pm.

The event will specifically examine how best-practice guidance from UNEP’s International Good Practice Principles for Sustainable Infrastructure and the ICE-led Enabling Better Infrastructure (EBI) programme have been applied.

Participating speakers will provide first hand insight of their experience with infrastructure policy tools and case studies will explore how the guidance was applied in Egypt, Ghana, and Pakistan.

Speakers will include professor Jim Hall, ICE vice president and Professor of climate and environmental risk, University of Oxford, who will also chair the discussion.

He said: “To address the climate crisis, we need to change how we think about infrastructure in the long-term.

“Sustainability and resiliency concerns need to be embedded in our planning and delivery processes at the outset, at both a regional and national level.

"Insights shared in this discussion will help other decision makers take best-practice approaches back to their own roles.”

Other speakers will include Rowan Palmer, Programme Office, UNEP and Richard Threlfall, global head of infrastructure, government and healthcare at KPMG International and an EBI steering group member. 

John Seed, Chartered Engineer, ICE Fellow, and expert on sustainable infrastructure and Jagoda Egeland, advisor to the Secretary General, International Transport Forum, Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) will also be contrinuting.

Anyone with an interest in sustainable infrastructure can register for and attend the event.