Lecture: Sustainable Infrastructure (June 25 1300-1400), Godrej Theatre, NCPA

Objectives:

To discuss the future and importance of sustainable infrastructure.

Background:

Over the coming years member countries from across the World have set out their willingness to fulfil the ambitious, and much needed, environmental commitments made at the Paris Conference. At the same time a growing and increasingly affluent population across the region means there will be an increasing strain on infrastructure facilities. At the same time as meeting environmental challenges, there is also an urgent need for substantial infrastructure investments, with the Asian Development Bank estimating this as US$ 22.6 trillion between 2016-2030, increasing to US$ 26 trillion if accounting for climate change mitigation and adaptation costs.

Given the challenges of upscaling infrastructure investments and at the same time meeting increased environmental commitments, sustainable infrastructure will be crucial in years to come. There is a rich international discussion on the need for greater investment in sustainable infrastructure, this is also one of the Bank’s thematic priorities. Many economies in the region need major investments into infrastructure for their economic development. Such investments should be sustainable in order to lay the foundation for development which is environmentally, economically and socially sound, as well as balanced across regions.

This session will hear the perspectives of leading experts on the future and importance of sustainable infrastructure.

Speakers

Mr. Paul Speltz-Former US Executive Director to ADB and IAP (Moderator)

Ambassador Paul W. Speltz is the Chairman and CEO of Global Strategic Associates, LLC. For over 40 years, Paul has lived and worked in Asian business and finance, both in the private and public sectors.

Immediately before launching GSA, Paul served as the President of Kissinger Associates, Inc. Prior to that, he served as the U.S. Ambassador to and Executive Director of the Asian Development Bank (ADB) in Manila. In this role, Paul represented the United States extensively throughout Northern, Southern and Central Asia to expand regional trade, promote financial cooperation, and increase private sector lending and financing activity. In 2004, United States Secretary of the Treasury John W. Snow designated Paul the Financial and Economic Emissary to The People’s Republic of China, in which capacity Paul spearheaded the U.S. government’s economic and financial cooperative initiatives with China.

Prior to serving as Ambassador, Paul spent 20 years as a prominent member of the international business community. He served as Managing Director of Global Operations for New York-based Bluestone Capital and as a Senior Director and Advisor on Asian geopolitical activities for United Technologies Corporation (UTC). In 1972, Paul started his own business in China and Asia, which over the years first merged with ATC International and, in 1981, sold to Citicorp. Following the sale, Paul stayed with Citicorp in China and Asia as Vice President.

Paul is a member of the Bretton Woods Committee and the Board of Directors of the Pacific Pension & Investment Institute. Paul also serves on the International Advisory Board to President Jin of the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB). Paul is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations, the Council of American Ambassadors, the Asia Society, the US-China Business Council, and the National Committee on United States–China Relations.

Mr. Devendra Fadnavis-Chief Minister, Maharashtra

Devendra Gangadharrao Fadnavis is the 18th Chief Minister of Maharashtra. His political career began in the mid-nineties and in a short span of time, he has a become a respected political leader of the masses. His diverse educational background includes a Graduate Degree in Law, a Post Graduate Degree in Business Management and a Diploma in Project Management from D.S.E. Berlin. His personal ideology is that ‘Politics is an instrument for socio economic change’ and his political career of 25 years so far reflects the same. Shri Devendra Fadnavis was sworn in as the 18th Chief Minister of Maharashtra on 31st October 2014 and currently holds the Home, General Administration, Urban Development, Home, Law and Judiciary, Ports, Information and Public Relations portfolios.

Prof. Nicholas Stern-Former Chief Economist, World Bank and IAP

Professor Stern is the Chair, Grantham Research Institute since it was founded in 2008. Professor Stern is the IG Patel Professor of Economics and Government, Chairman of the Grantham Research Institute on Climate Change and the Environment and Head of the India Observatory at the London School of Economics. President of the British Academy, July 2013 – 2017, and was elected Fellow of the Royal Society in 2014.

Professor Stern has held academic appointments in the UK at Oxford, Warwick and the LSE and abroad including at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, the Ecole Polytechnique and the Collège de France in Paris, the Indian Statistical Institute in Bangalore and Delhi, and the People’s University of China in Beijing.

He was Chief Economist of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, 1994-1999, and Chief Economist and Senior Vice President at the World Bank, 2000-2003.He was Second Permanent Secretary to Her Majesty’s Treasury from 2003-2005; Director of Policy and Research for the Prime Minister’s Commission for Africa from 2004-2005; Head of the Stern Review on the Economics of Climate Change, published in 2006; and Head of the Government Economic Service from 2003-2007. He was knighted for services to economics in 2004, made a cross-bench life peer as Baron Stern of Brentford in 2007, and appointed Companion of Honour for services to economics, international relations and tackling climate change in 2017. He has published more than 15 books and 100 articles and his most recent book is "Why are We Waiting? The Logic, Urgency and Promise of Tackling Climate Change".