There can be no development without sustainability. Because sustainability creates competitiveness and economic value. The AIS 2025 Report addresses the crucial issues that link sustainability, economic growth, competitiveness and infrastructure with scientific rigor and an informative spirit. An indispensable common thread that has been challenged over the past year by the doubts that have held back the ecological transition.
"A misguided political cooling," explains Lorenzo Orsenigo, president of the Sustainable Infrastructure Association, a reference for the sustainability of the Italian infrastructure system, which, in its latest study, has chosen to focus on the concreteness of data to demonstrate, through concrete examples, how "sustainable companies are more efficient, competitive and ready for the future. A starting point for the development of today's and tomorrow's infrastructures," adds Orsenigo, if we want to focus "on progress and not just development."
A sort of warning, given that, as the editor of the AIS 2025 Report Marco Panara recounts, the climate around sustainability issues has definitely changed in the last two years. "After a phase of great public attention, we are witnessing a real headwind, a slowdown that in Italy concerns renewable energy," he explains. "Even in Europe, he observes, there is growing resistance to the Green Deal, with a scaling back of efforts towards emission reductions and sustainable development goals."
This is not a homogeneous context at a global level, given that, for example, encouraging signs are coming from China and India. And many large companies are realizing that climate change is real, and that adequate investments are needed to address it.
A fragmented landscape in which time is a key factor and "the cost of doing nothing is often much higher than the cost of action". Postponing means exposing oneself to increasingly serious climatic events and, consequently, to greater damage and more expensive investments to repair.
"The increase in temperatures, from now to 2030, could lead to a 2% reduction in hours worked globally, with an impact of 2.4 trillion dollars," Panara points out. "Added to this are the costs related to the loss of biodiversity and the hyper-exploitation of natural resources, estimated at 2.7 trillion a year".
Furthermore, extreme events already cost more than one trillion dollars a year. "To make a comparison, the investment needed to keep global warming below 2°C would be one-fifth of the economic damage caused by non-intervention."
There is also a close link between economic growth and sustainability. "Companies that invest in sustainability grow more, attract investors, talent, innovate better and face international markets with greater strength. Not surprisingly, their stock market prices tend to be higher than those of more conservative companies." It is in this context that sustainable infrastructures become a strategic opportunity. And they can make a difference.
"The global infrastructure assets are often obsolete and deficient," Panara points out. "We need massive investments, and they must be directed towards sustainable infrastructures. These are precisely the ones most exposed to climate risks, but also those that offer the greatest opportunities." In Europe, we need to recover and adapt them to sustainability, while in developing countries we need to create new ones according to these metrics.
"The data shows that sustainable infrastructures have a longer life, a lower environmental impact, lower maintenance costs and higher returns: up to 20% more than traditional ones". Not only an ethical choice, therefore, but also an economic one. "Sustainability is a necessity, not an option. And above all, it is an opportunity".
According to Panara, a crucial issue is to quickly arrive at a clear taxonomy of sustainable infrastructures, in order to facilitate private investments as well. "If planned and managed rigorously, green infrastructures are highly profitable, ideal for long-term investors and with a low risk profile. It would be useful in Italy if this taxonomy were to enter the Procurement Code, but for now this is not the case," comments Panara.
"Even without mandatory requirements," concludes Orsenigo, "it should be noted that the Italian players operating in infrastructure have understood how important the sustainability of the works themselves is, a condition that makes them even more certain, bankable and at lower risk of failure".
It is no coincidence that there are many projects certified with the Envision protocol, a tool created in the United States that helps to design and evaluate infrastructure works (such as roads, squares and railways) based on environmental, social and economic sustainability criteria, using a framework of 64 indicators. The works are then certified according to four levels (verified, silver, gold, platinum) depending on the scores achieved. This metric makes it possible to make investments with a return in terms of the duration of the work, sustainable life cycle and protection of the quality of life. Finally, it facilitates decision-making, promotes transparency and involves stakeholders.