More investment and long-term planning, keys to meeting the infrastructure-related SDGs

The increase in investment and financing and the strengthening of long-term planning processes are two key aspects to advance in the fulfillment of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) related to the improvement of infrastructure in Latin America and the Caribbean , raised today José Manuel Salazar-Xirinachs, Executive Secretary of ECLAC, at the Seminar “United Nations Sustainable Development Goals: How are we doing in terms of infrastructure?”organized by the Infrastructure Policy Council (CPI) and the Central University of Chile.

The event was inaugurated by the Rector of the Central University, Santiago González, and included presentations by Eduardo Frei Ruiz-Tagle, President of the CPI and former President of Chile; and Mario Marcel, Minister of Finance of Chile.

At the beginning of his presentation, the Executive Secretary of the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) analyzed the current regional economic context.

Between 2014 and 2023, he said, the region has experienced lower growth (0.9%) than during the lost decade of the 1980s debt crisis (2%).

“In Latin America and the Caribbean, in general, we have a chronic, endemic problem of mediocre growth, which is not only related to the cascade of crises that we have faced in the last three years. That must be accepted and faced”, expressed José Manuel Salazar-Xirinachs.

“Another decade of mediocre growth would be very bad news for the achievement of the SDGs,” he stressed.

ECLAC’s Executive Secretary especially warned about the low annual growth rate of investment in the region.

While the annual growth rate of real gross fixed capital formation was around 3.5% in the two decades between 1990 and 2010, in the last decade it has been only 0.7%, he noted. In the two decades from 1960 to 1980 it was around 6% per year.

Total investment as a percentage of GDP in Latin America and the Caribbean (17.6%) shows a downward trend and is the lowest among different groups of countries, he noted.

“Infrastructure is transversal to the 17 SDGs of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development,” explained the highest representative of ECLAC, who spoke on the panel entitled “Are we on time to meet the commitments of the sustainable development goals a year 2030? Advances and Challenges”, together with Constance Nagelach Romero, Head of the Office of International Affairs of the Ministry of the Environment of Chile; and Vladimir Glasinovic, Director of Prospecting and New Business at Fundación Chile.

During his speech, José Manuel Salazar-Xirinachs referred to the four SDGs directly linked to the infrastructure sectors, analyzed in the document Latin America and the Caribbean in the middle of the road to 2030: Advances and acceleration proposals. Sixth report on regional progress and challenges of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development in Latin America and the Caribbean, presented by ECLAC in April.

These are SDG 6 (clean water and sanitation for all), SDG 7 (affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy for all), SDG 9 (resilient infrastructure, industrialization and innovation) and SDG 11 (cities and human settlements). inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable). In addition, SDGs 4, 5, 9 and 17 require fast and reliable information and communication technologies across territories, he said.

According to the document, despite the great commitment shown by the countries of Latin America and the Caribbean with the 2030 Agenda, so far only a quarter of the SDG targets have been met or are expected to be met.

At the regional level, SDG 10, which seeks to reduce inequalities, is the one that shows the greatest lags.

In response, seven transformative initiatives are proposed that have the synergistic capacity to simultaneously drive the achievement of various SDGs.

These are: (i) Bioeconomy; (ii) Sustainable tourism; (iii) Digital transformation; (iv) Regional economic integration; (v) Care society and gender equality; (vi) Energy transition and related industries; and (vii) Export of modern Internet-enabled services.

In order to advance in the construction of resilient, inclusive and sustainable infrastructures, it is urgent to increase investment and financing; strengthen the production of information for decision-making; encourage innovation to improve water management and investments in renewable energy; improve the resilience of infrastructures; and promote green infrastructure, explained José Manuel Salazar-Xirinachs.

It is also necessary to strengthen the State and the institutions related to the planning, design, provision and maintenance of infrastructure; promote public-private partnerships to finance infrastructure projects on the path of the SDGs; favor governance models, according to the sector, with public and private participation/cooperation; and plan for the long term (foresight).

“The 2030 Agenda helped to establish spaces for future analysis and dialogue in Latin America and the Caribbean that did not exist before. The institutional footprint built to follow up on the 2030 Agenda must be taken advantage of and expanded to develop more capacities and prospective national networks: 2030 is no longer the long term, it is the medium term”, concluded José Manuel Salazar-Xirinachs.