India to set climate resilient urban growth as G-20 infra agenda

Officials say that the issue climate resilient urban infrastructure is key for developing and developed economies

India will focus on climate resilient urban infrastructure growth as the next president and host of Group of 20 nations, Business Standard has learnt.

This is a topic — which policymakers believe will resonate with developed and emerging members of the powerful multination grouping — on which quick action can be taken. It can be done with the consensus of all involved.

“The president has to set up priorities. In infrastructure, we are looking at a few priorities, which India outlined in the final infrastructure working group under the presidentship of Indonesia. A formal statement on the infra agenda may be given by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman later,” said a senior government official.

After the G-20 Bali Summit, India will take over the chair from December 1, 2022 to November 30, 2023. The main G-20 Heads of State Summit will be held in New Delhi in September 2023. There will be various track meetings held across the country.

“The focus won’t be too large and spread too thin, in order to get consensus among all 20 members. So we are looking at urban growth and financing as the main infra agenda,” the official said, adding that plans and details are still being firmed up.

The person added that continuing with existing work on infrastructure, like Compendium of Quality Infrastructure Investment (QII) indicators and the future of Global Infrastructure Hub, will also take centre stage.

Officials say that the issue of climate-resilient urban infrastructure is key for developing and developed economies. The developing economies see their cities hit frequently by climate change events like unseasonal floods.

They need to expand urban areas in a sustainable manner. This is because a bulk of the migration in emerging economies is from rural to urban areas. The developed G-20 members, on the other hand, have to deal with decaying infrastructure in cities. Hence, the focus is on infra overhaul and rejuvenating urban areas.

Recently, the G-7 nations — Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom and the United States — said they would aim to mobilise $600 billion in public and private funding for infrastructure by 2027. The US is seeking to mobilise $200 billion for the partnership in the next five years.

Officials said broadly, infrastructure initiatives of G-20 have seen decent success. And, many of the decisions have seen real results on the ground.

Among the continuing initiatives, which will be the focus of various G-20 meetings in India, include four parleys of the Infra Working Group.

The QII indicators will also be on focus. They are a menu of voluntary, non-binding, non-prescriptive and customisable indicators that look at things like the role of infra in economic activities.

These indicators also look at life cycle costs, impact on the environment, designing infrastructure that is resilient to natural and human-made risks, and social inclusiveness, among others.

ON MENU

* Climate-resilient urban infra is a topic that will resonate with developing and developed G-20 members, feel officials

* Officials seek focused, narrow agenda in order to build consensus

* Sustainable financing of urban infra will be discussed

* Work will continue on existing initiatives like quality infrastructure investment