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Introduction

The Sustainable Markets Initiative (SMI) was launched by His Majesty King Charles III, then The Prince of Wales, in 2020 at the World Economic Forum’s Annual Meeting in Davos. As part of a collaborative effort led by the SMI, the Measurement and Transparency Hub works to enhance the methodologies and data used to measure and report the environmental impacts of infrastructure projects.

The Hub will create a globally consistent measurement system and/or tool to inform and incentivise capital investment in sustainable infrastructure.

Challenges

As the world addresses the challenges of climate change and biodiversity loss, there is an urgent need to transform the way we plan, finance, and deliver infrastructure projects.
The World Bank attributes more than 70% of global greenhouse gas emissions and up to 80% of habitat loss and fragmentation to infrastructure projects. The Measurement and Transparency Hub is actively working to find solutions that will address this issue.

Solutions

Since its formation, the focus of the Measurement and Transparency Hub has been to create a forward-looking, decision-ready tool to measure the impact of nature on infrastructure development projects. This will be based on a set of agreed metrics that reflect the environmental, social and governance aspects of infrastructure development and operations. The Hub will leverage existing tools, metrics and data sources to work with stakeholders across the infrastructure lifecycle, ensuring alignment and transparency.

Results

The SMI Nature Risk Tool has been developed as the first forward-looking tool designed to be used early in the planning or feasibility of projects to improve decisions and investment returns associated with the impact on nature and biodiversity. It supports the go-no-go decision on infrastructure projects, by evaluating the nature risk and impact, to help users avoid costly delays, reputational damage, and legal liabilities, and unlock new sources of value, innovation, and financing.

The tool supports users in meeting the growing expectations and requirements of regulators, investors, clients, and communities, who are all increasingly demanding more nature-positive outcomes from infrastructure projects. Drawing on global datasets and frameworks, the tool allows users to assess the nature-related risks and opportunities of any proposed infrastructure project, based on its location and scale, to provide a comprehensive and consistent analysis of its potential impact and dependencies on biodiversity, ecosystems and natural capital.

“I would like to formally acknowledge the hard work and dedication of the Members of the Nature Working Group of the Measurement and Transparency Taskforce…The advice, steer and recommendations provided have helped develop a decision-useful tool filling a significant gap in the toolbox for key actors in infrastructure projects.”

Troy Rudd
CEO, AECOM

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