2 Sustainability and resilience
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What you will read in this chapter
• Reform 2.1: Infrastructure planning for an uncertain future - The importance of a consistent all-hazards, systems approach to resilience planning; quantifying the costs, impacts and benefits of resilience investment; and embedding resilience into infrastructure assessment and decision-making.
• Reform 2.2: Technology-led sustainability - Embedding sustainability into infrastructure assessment and decisions; using the quadruple bottom line to understand sustainable outcomes; and reducing emissions through government leadership, job creation and market development.
• Reform 2.3: Transparency and collaboration build trust in decisions - Efficiently involving communities in infrastructure decisions; harnessing data to address community needs over the entire asset lifecycle; increasing transparency; and protecting land corridors for the highest-value use.
| Key messages • The events of 2019 and 2020 highlighted that Australia is vulnerable to natural and non-natural hazards such as bushfires, floods, drought, extreme heat, cyber threats and pandemics. • In a time of rapid change, uncertainty and risk, there must be new practices to ensure infrastructure plays its role in protecting lives, enabling business continuity and preserving biodiversity while lowering greenhouse gas emissions and delivering service access, affordability and quality of life to all Australians. • A nationally consistent, systemic approach to resilience planning would consider the interrelationship between shocks, stresses and future trends while identifying infrastructure interconnections and vulnerabilities. • To be successful, planning needs to quantify the costs of disasters and benefits of resilience investment. • Government and private sector organisations are advancing efforts to embed resilience across a range of hazards. • Integrating sustainability and resilience into planning and decision-making will allow Australia to meet present needs without compromising the ability of future generations to meet theirs. • Infrastructure assets and services are emissions-intensive, so it is critical their development supports governments in meeting emissions reduction commitments. • If long-term emissions targets inform current projects, the assets will be in the best interests of users, investors and taxpayers, remain viable in the future, and will not displace more sustainable and efficient infrastructure investment. • Private and public investment can be mobilised to create zero-carbon assets, with government leadership setting the trajectory through targets, policy, regulation and reporting. • Decision-making should be inclusive and transparent and enable long-term planning for future infrastructure assets, including weighting intergenerational benefits and trade-offs. • If decision makers collaborate inclusively with stakeholders, incorporate the quadruple bottom line, make evidence-based decisions, increase process and data transparency and reserve corridors for future assets, they will deliver value for money investments while building trust and strong relationships with communities. |