Climateworks supports Infrastructure Victoria’s recommendations that will strengthen the alignment of infrastructure planning, assessment, investment decisions and delivery with the Climate Change Act 2017, which includes a target of net zero emissions by 2050.
Decisions made about infrastructure today will shape Victoria’s future, including its emissions trajectory, for decades to come. As noted in the Draft Strategy, infrastructure influences 70% of Australia’s emissions. Strategic decisions made at the start of the infrastructure lifecycle have the greatest impact on emissions, especially with regard to emissions that assets enable through the activities of end users, such as those from electricity and transport use. Long term infrastructure planning documents like the 30-Year Infrastructure Strategy have a key role to play in:
- prioritising infrastructure investments that will put Victoria on a pathway to net zero emissions
- capturing the growth opportunities for Victoria’s economy in a world transitioning to net zero emissions
- ensuring no assets are built that are at risk of becoming ‘stranded’ because they are not suitable in a zero emissions world
Building infrastructure in accordance with these principles will not only contribute tomachieving Victoria’s emissions targets, but will also ensure projects in the pipeline continue tomattract private investment. Investors are increasingly aligning their portfolios with net zero emissions by 2050, and are testing the economic risks and opportunities potential investments may face in a net zero emissions world.
Climateworks has provided a separate, joint submission with the Infrastructure Sustainability Council of Australia (ISCA) and Australian Sustainable Built Environment Council (ASBEC) specific to recommendations 9 and 10 of the draft strategy. You can read the submission here.
