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| Publication |
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Purchase:
Order
The 52-page FIDIC Infrastructure
Report 2009 was released at the
FIDIC 2009 London Conference
(Queen Elizabeth II Conference Centre, London; 13-16 September
2009). Conference participants received copies after the launch
announcement at the end of the Opening Plenary Session on Monday, 14
September.
FIDIC Member Associations are being asked to order advance
copies on behalf of member firms.
Following the launch, the report was made available in the FIDIC
Bookshop in electronic and printed versions
Order. The entire text will
shortly be available as separate web pages on this website, together
with the full list of sources and references.
Browse the Report |
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| The issues |
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| Water |
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More than 1.1 billion people lack access to safe water and
2.6 billion lack access to anything more than basic sanitation. |
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The availability of fresh water for human use will become
one of the most likely flashpoints for regional conflict - the viability of cities and even nation states is at stake. |
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| Population and urbanisation
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The earth’s population is estimated to exceed 9 billion by
2050, nearly all population growth will take place in urban
areas. |
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The current growth of urban populations is the equivalent of
a new city of 2 million people every week for the next 20 years. |
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By 2015 there will be 60 megacities each with more than five
million inhabitants. |
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Of the 3 billion people now living in cities, 1 billion are
in slums. |
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| Transport
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Transport will continue to address a fundamental element of
human existence. |
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Over 50% of oil production goes into transport
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continued use of fossil fuels is not sustainable |
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By 2015 there will be 60 megacities each with more than five
million inhabitants. |
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Over 1.3 million people die every year on roads. Where will
the next transport revolution come from? |
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| Climate change
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Climate change is the number one cause of increased natural
disasters. |
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Climate change is fundamentally altering the way we live. People
in developing countries are suffering the most. |
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| Carbon emissions |
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China overtook the USA in terms of total
carbon dioxide generation in
2006. |
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Infrastructure can be
developed to be carbon neutral. |
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Infrastructure developments must consider
options for eliminating CO2 emissions. |
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Some 30% of the world’s energy goes into buildings. “Green”
buildings are only part of the solution. |
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How do we provide energy to those that do not have it at
present while implementing measures to reduce carbon dioxide levels
worldwide? |
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Until life-cycle energy efficiency become mandatory, short
term economic returns will be the main factor used by decision
makers. |
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Energy consumption in existing buildings can be reduced 30-50%
using current technology |
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| Wastewater |
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Centralised waste water
treatment is below par in most countries around the world. |
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The investment required
on a global scale to meet United Nations water access treatment goals for 2015
is already a considerable challenge, even without factoring in any
possible climate change. |
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| Waste |
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Waste management must
move towards the 3Rs of ‘reduction,’ ‘re-use’ and ‘recycle.’ |
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The next 20 years will see a tremendous growth in waste
generation as population growth and urbanisation continue. |
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The lack of legal, financial and policy frameworks in
developing countries hinders good waste management practices. |
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| Disaster management |
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The challenge of climate change will require a number of
paradigm shifts relating to wastewater and flood protection. |
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The next 20 years will see a tremendous growth in waste
generation as population growth and urbanisation continue. |
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| Construction and engineeing industies |
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Construction represents
around 10% of global GDP making it one of the largest industry
sectors in the world. |
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Investment in
infrastructure needs to double just to maintain current levels. |
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| Engineers play a vital role |
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Training is indispensable for the implementation of
sustainable infrastructure. |
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Across the world, innovation is being applied to local small
scale solutions, where finance for major infrastructure is not
available. |
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Design can play a vital
role in applying, for example, simple seismic and/or hurricane wind
design principles to basic structures to markedly reduce the effects
of natural disasters. |
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Engineers will need to
interact closely with society at large to gain support for
mitigation strategies. |
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| Further information |
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For futher information, contact Peter Boswell, FIDIC. |
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As the custodians of existing infrastructure and the developers of future
infrastructure, consulting engineers recognise a responsibility to institute
a dialogue with the rest of society on the main issues that face mankind
today: population growth, climate change, urbanisation, energy, and water.