– IRF Caribbean Congress told

 

AS the Caribbean Region seeks to continue developing its infrastructure to spur development, members attending the Eight International Road Federation (IRF) Caribbean Congress being held here, were told that climate-resilient infrastructure is necessary.

While speaking at the opening ceremony of the congress at the Arthur Chung Convention Centre (ACCC) on Wednesday, Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) Country Representative, Sophie Makonnen, explained that transportation infrastructure is considered fundamental for economic growth and development since the movement of people and goods are at the core of economic activity and development.

It is widely acknowledged that for the Region to continue developmental efforts, developing transportation is fundamental. In crafting newer solutions vis a vis transportation development, Makonnen underscored that three areas must be considered: Developing road connectivity in the face of challenges posed by climate change; road safety since there are more vehicles, cargo and people on the roadways; and what options exist to finance road infrastructure development.

“Roads for the next generation need to be sustainable so that today’s infrastructure serves and benefits the next generation,” she said. “These will become the assets for tomorrow, for the country, for the next generation, and they must be guided not only by the traditional high-benefit cost analysis ratio, but also by climate resilience.”

She reminded that climate change is leading to an increase in the frequency and intensity of natural hazards. “This compounded by the increased vulnerability because of the weakness and enforcement of safe construction regulation and the relatively low risk analysis in investment decisions – further increase the impact of disasters in the Region,” she said.

However, she related that the significance of the threat that climate change poses has brought sustainable infrastructure at the centre of policy discussions in this regard. This “sustainable infrastructure”, the IDB representative explained, refers to infrastructure projects that takes into account, critical components such as environmental and social issues, environmental sustainability, climate change adaptation and mitigation, natural disaster and conservation.

“The transportation sector needs to take steps towards mitigating climate change and increasing its resistance to hydrological and climatological changes,” she stressed, while positing that the incorporation of climate-smart practices into infrastructure is more beneficial than any other means of mitigation.
Makonnen also noted that multilateral development banks in the Region are well positioned to provide finances for infrastructure and investment, as well as to support sustainable infrastructure agenda by supporting the bolstering of knowledge and institutional capacity.

“The hardest part of financing the way forward is to generate the conditions to attract the climate investors,” she noted, but advanced that the supply of finance exists once the financiers are reassured of profitability and low project risks.

In times of relatively low interest rates, the supply of finance exists. But the challenge lies in reassuring the owners of the capital of the profitability and risk of the projects.
Representative of the Caribbean Development Bank (CDB), Daniel Best, also opined that transport is a key growth enabler since it fosters economic activity within and across the Region through increased access to market and services.

He noted, however, that road transport needs have changed significantly over the past two decades and this is attributed to the new patterns of communication and trade. According to Best, this has led to the increase in the number of vehicular owners and users in a space where there is limited capacity physically, economically and environmentally to accommodate this.

Over the last 20 years also, he noted that the Region has seen an “astronomical” increase in the frequency and intensity of natural disasters, as a result of climate change. “Many of our borrowing member countries are not supported by a resilient primary highway network, robust enough to withstand the impact of increasingly destructive natural disasters,” the CDB representative noted.

Of pivotal importance, in this regard, is that the investment in road infrastructure is underpinned by a thrust to ensure climate-resilient designs. “It is imperative, therefore, that we do not only continue investment in our road infrastructure to guarantee sustainability but we must also invest with a view to future-proofing our infrastructure if generations to come are to benefit,” Best ascertained.