The II 50 View: Climate change

Is the infrastructure investment community doing enough to fight climate change?

• There are a lot of positives, but there is a long way to go, and examples like the wildfires in California prove that infrastructure is being impacted now.
• Although investing in renewables or other ‘green’ assets is clearly beneficial, concerted, collaborative engagement with existing investments that are less ‘clean’ – in order to support a green transition – is also essential.
• More can always be done but there is potential for a virtuous circle in infrastructure investing, whereby successful investors need to think long-term and therefore incorporate sustainability in their investment assessments.
• Addressing environmental and sustainability concerns is now a priority for most infra investors and forms a key element of deal selection and due diligence. A key challenge will be to convince clients and regulators that more can be done on legacy deals.
• The sector is more focused on financial returns than on fighting climate change.
• Investors must redouble their efforts to harness the private capital that is needed to accelerate the energy transition. But we must support more ambitious work outside the energy sector too.
• We are capital providers, which we are doing efficiently. We can help to shape policy, which we do. But we don’t set policy, which is the role of government.
• There is progress, but we are short of meeting the actual challenges.
• Not everyone has yet incorporated and applied ESG principles in their investment policies.
• Yes. Support for renewable investments and reducing investments in fossil fuels are a beginning to the fight against climate change.
• Although there is still work to do, many infrastructure investors are on the right track.