How development banks are scaling sustainable infrastructure to close the global investment gap
From floods to blackouts, the pressure to build climate-ready infrastructure is growing. Development banks are stepping in to bridge the finance gap — but can they move fast enough?
In partnership with AIIB
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00:00It's urgent for us to close the infrastructure financing gap in Asia and beyond.
00:08We're at a crossroads for humanity and the planet.
00:12We're reaching two big tipping points, climate and biodiversity.
00:16We're experiencing the economic costs, lives lost due to different climate shocks.
00:22Investing in sustainable infrastructure is a question of equity.
00:26Infrastructure is our means to be better equipped for the future.
00:31But we need to do it at scale, from billions to trillions.
00:43Infrastructure is at the basis of everything. It's at the basis of livelihoods.
00:47Without transport, you cannot have a job without a job.
00:50You don't have a sustainable livelihood, so it's the basic structure of society.
00:56If we improve people's livelihood, they can also protect the planet.
01:00If the planet is healthy, that will create more opportunities for the people.
01:04If you think of the cost of inaction, it has been growing and growing.
01:08I think insurers are those that really try to get the numbers right.
01:14And you know, so many things are uninsurable at this point.
01:17If we don't do anything, by the end of the 21st century, our GDP may lose up to 30%.
01:24We are lacking money everywhere, and there are more and more needs.
01:28After the financial crisis, many countries have had challenges to, say, budget balance.
01:35But if you don't act now, it will cost more in the future.
01:40When you look at countries like Africa, which, at the end, do not pollute a lot,
01:44but have experienced the climate catastrophe and the consequences of the climate change,
01:48as much as the others.
01:49So, clearly, these consequences have to be able to create a form of equity.
01:55There are still 600 million people in sub-Saharan Africa who have no access to electricity.
02:03If you do not have renewable energy, improve the transportation,
02:08all these people will be left behind.
02:10In Rwanda, we've prioritised investing in infrastructure.
02:14We see infrastructure as basic rights for our citizens,
02:18but we also see the transformative potential it has for our economy.
02:21We've managed to see the results of those investments translate into strong economic growth in the last 30 years.
02:29We have the investment case. It is a very compelling case.
02:33If, actually, we invest where we should in terms of the clean and green transition,
02:38we already know the scenarios show that the returns will be higher,
02:42but it means also the quality of life of people, including health, education, people's incomes,
02:48including leaving more people out of poverty.
03:01I am Ching Li Qin. I'm the President and Chairman of the Board of the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank.
03:09ATIB is a newly created development bank.
03:14The mandate is to promote broad-based economic and social progress through investment in infrastructure.
03:26This means the infrastructure projects are designed, constructed, implemented, and managed in a way which can improve the environment,
03:36reduce emissions, and keep the economy more sustainable.
03:41It's infrastructure for tomorrow.
03:43We are learning that a lot of investments have been made in the energy transition by this bank,
03:49and this is something to be celebrated.
03:51In meetings like this, we meet people from around the globe that are being very creative and innovative to address the challenges.
03:58And, basically, infrastructure is one big challenge that we still face in the developing world and emerging economies.
04:05Meetings of this kind actually brings in great minds together, and we share common objectives,
04:12but we come from different backgrounds and different expertise.
04:15So, it offers a good forum to bring in different types of thoughts and thinking and encourage actions.
04:21Multilateral banks, such as the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank, are very important in closing the infrastructure gap.
04:29So, they're able to leverage their strong AAA-rated balances to card in private capital,
04:34as well as support the public sector in project preparation to make sure that our projects are more bankable.
04:40Multilateral development banks are a central actor for this mobilization for resilient infrastructure and also for climate finance at large,
04:50because they finance long-term solutions.
04:53And they also are very important mobilizers and catalyzers.
04:56They can bring more actors.
04:58So, we need to make the best use of their resources.
05:02Multilateral development banks put together international efforts to bring in the know-how and international capital into projects where it is needed.
05:14Hello, I'm Adam Amaricot. I'm the Secreter General of Finance in Commun, the coalition of 530 public development banks in the world.
05:21Financing sustainable infrastructures is not easy.
05:24A bank or a country can go alone if it wants to go fast, but it won't go far, because there are several actors that need to be fed around these projects.
05:30So, it needs the state budget, the companies, the constructors, the banks to finance.
05:35That's why it's important to collaborate, to exchange knowledge, and to stay in partnership with the partnership.
05:41$60 billion of financing covering about 40 countries.
05:47We've been doing more than 310 projects.
05:50These are the numbers.
05:52But behind these numbers, there are so many moving and touching stories.
05:57Multilateral development banks are key to address humanity's biggest challenges.
06:02And this is why lessons learned through this bank will be very important for the future.
06:08Today, Rwanda has 95% internet coverage, but we still lag behind when it comes to usage.
06:15Through our partnership with AIIB, we've been able to invest in basic digital literacy skills.
06:21We've also been able to increase internet access to schools and hospitals, as well as to modernize more government services to bring them online.
06:31The future is optimistic in terms of the ability to meet our infrastructure gaps, and especially to make sure that the infrastructure that we build is also resilient to the climate shocks that we're facing.
06:44I'm a little bit worried about the increasing selfishness of countries.
07:13And increasing protectionism, and I don't like that at all, because all the challenges we face, they are not national ones.
07:22They are global ones, which we have to tackle together.
07:25Human beings are very resourceful, and we just have to put our minds together, our hearts together, and work as a collective.
07:33Individualism is not what will save us. It's all about working as partners and collaboratively.
07:40So I don't think you can do anything single-handedly.
07:44I believe in teamwork. I believe in modularism. I believe in cooperation.
07:50Because only in so doing could we make achievements.
