There is an urgent need for the transportation sector to take steps towards mitigating climate change and increase its resilience to hydrological and climatological changes, says Sophie Makonnen, the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) Country Representative to Guyana.
Makonnen made the pronouncement at the opening of the 8th International Road Federation (IRF) Caribbean Regional Conference at the Arthur Chung Convention Centre on Wednesday. The conference ended on Friday.
Makonnen said that there is a need for the roads being built today to be “sustainable” so that it benefits the next generation.
“Many long-lasting infrastructure assets are being built today and sustainability considerations must be incorporated into these investments decisions that are being made today…These will become the assets of tomorrow for the next generation and they must be guided by not only traditional high benefits cost analysis ratio but also by climate resilience,” Makonnen said.
According to the IDB official, the significance of climate change has brought the idea of sustainable infrastructure to the centre of development policy discussions. Sustainable infrastructure, she observed, refers to infrastructure projects that take into account components such as environmental and social issues.
“Environmental sustainability considers climate change adaptation and mitigation, natural disaster risk reduction and conservation of biodiversity,” she said.
Makonnen further highlighted that changing environmental conditions are increasing the frequency and intensity of natural hazards, which, when compounded with increased vulnerability because of weaknesses in the enforcement of safe construction regulations and relatively little risk analysis in investment decisions, are expected to further increase the impact of disasters in many countries in the region.
While ecosystems such as forests, wetlands and mangroves provide important benefits by protecting roads from natural disasters such as landslides and flooding and reducing deterioration by protecting against erosion, Makonnen said that these benefits are often not taken into account when decisions are made on where and how to improve roadways, with potential severe consequences for both the road project and surrounding communities.
“In this context, the transportation sector urgently needs to take steps toward mitigating climate change and increasing its resilience to hydrological and climatological changes. The incorporation of climate adaptation criteria into infrastructure design is more beneficial than any other mitigation measures,” she said, while noting that design modifications based on hydrological and climatological changes enhance infrastructure resilience and allow greater response capacity.
Makonnen also spoke of the infrastructure deficit across the region. She said that the IDB estimates that in order to close the infrastructure gap in the region, investments in the sector will have to increase from US$150 billion to US$250 billion per year, which represents an increase of 2 per cent of the region’s Gross Domestic Product.
As it relates to closing the gap, she said that the first response that comes to mind is the injection of new resources but the public sector alone cannot support the figures, which imply that significant private sector participation would be needed. She pointed out that the public sector still accounts for almost two thirds of infrastructure investment with the private sector more prominent in only some economies.
She highlighted that barriers that reduce the likelihood of private investments in sustainable infrastructure include the absence of an articulated vision through a national infrastructure strategy or investment road maps, and the lack of well-articulated and transparent pipelines of bankable projects. While outlining the financing options available such as from Multilateral Development Banks, she said that in order to attract private sector resources, the barriers for private sector participation in the sector needs to be tackled.
Meantime, Makonnen also said that the matter of road safety needs to be addressed as it is becoming a challenge that is gaining significance as more people take to the roads in the developing world.
Counterintuitive
“I would like to highlight the counterintuitive idea: road traffic incidents are not accidents. They are rather predictable and preventable consequences of a set of actions, situations and decisions. Although the human factor is certainly involved, other factors have a great influence, including road infrastructure and vehicle safety,” she observed.
Makonnen said that evidence and recent studies show effective ways and interventions to reduce the risk of road traffic crashes and casualties. Many countries have been able to reduce the number of annual road fatalities by half in a relatively short time, which proves that it can be done, she said, touting the adoption of “Vision Zero” – an initiative conceived in Sweden that aims to view accidents as preventable with the help of a data-driven and targeted approach.
The IDB Representative highlighted that the evidence suggests that road safety is a major issue in developing countries with the IDB’s 2016 Road Safety Strategy indicating that 90 per cent of all traffic fatalities take place in low to middle-income countries.
Giving some figures, she said that in 2015, road fatalities per 100,000 people was the highest in the Dominican Republic where it reached 29.3, compared to 10.6 in the United States and 6 in Canada.
Guyana recorded 17.3 road fatalities per 100,000 people in the same period, which was less than Suriname which recorded 19.1, but higher than Trinidad and Tobago with 14.1.
Other countries with relatively high road fatalities included Belize at 24.4 per 100,000 people, Brazil at 23.4 and Bolivia with 23.2 while the lowest fatalities were Chile with 12.3, Jamaica at 11.5, Panama with 10 and Barbados with 6.7 per 100,000 persons.
The difference in results for each country responds largely to the motorisation rate as well as the implementation of road safety policies, Makonnen said.
“Though the social implications of traffic fatalities are, first of all, about the victims and their families, there are also important positive economic implications of reducing traffic fatalities and injuries,” she said, while noting that research points out that those killed or injured in road accidents are generally in their economically productive years, which causes great economic harm.
She also highlighted that recovery from injuries puts more pressure on the health care system and considering that most fatalities and long-term injuries take place in low and middle-income countries, this potentially disproportionately affects public healthcare systems in the region.
The research also indicates that reducing road traffic injuries has a positive effect on economic growth, “precisely because it disproportionately affects working adults,” she said.
“Considering the important social and economic implications of connectivity infrastructure, the IDB is firmly committed to working on all these development challenges. Sustainable infrastructure is part of the IDB’s institutional strategy,” Makonnen added, while noting that in 2016, the Bank updated its Road Safety Strategy to address road traffic deaths reduction actions in the region and thus, achieve the goals set by the United Nations Decade of Action to save five million lives.
“We at the Inter-American Development Bank are dedicated to the field of development and improving lives. Consequently, we are also committed to improving the efficiency and quality of transportation throughout Latin America and the Caribbean Region,” Makonnen said.
