Five key themes for global infrastructure policy in 2021
[edit] Introduction
For the end-of-year Infrastructure Policy Watch blog, ICE rounds up the topics that have shaped global infrastructure decision making during 2021.
In the fortnightly Infrastructure Policy Watch blog, ICE looks at developing policy landscape for infrastructure, what decisions mean, and their implications, so that infrastructure professionals can play their part in shaping the discussion.
As we look back, we pick out five themes that have defined the year for infrastructure around the world.
[edit] 1. Governments looked to new infrastructure investment approaches…
Achieving the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and international climate agreements will require significant infrastructure systems changes – changes which will cost money. This comes during a year when governments looked to infrastructure investment to provide a stimulus in the wake of the first waves of the COVID-19 pandemic.
However, some countries face greater challenges attracting private finance or raising debt to support the level of stimulus required, particularly where debt levels are already high.
South Africa falls in this category, forcing its government to seek other means of boosting infrastructure investment. In March 2021, the government changed the country's pension fund investments' rules to enable more money to flow to infrastructure.
In April 2021, Singapore also sought to increase the government’s ability to invest in infrastructure, introducing a new law which would raise the ceiling for government borrowing for long-term infrastructure to 90 billion Singaporean dollars.
[edit] 2. … with more countries turning to national infrastructure banks
Elsewhere, governments looked to infrastructure banks to help drive investment. The benefits of an independent infrastructure bank include crowding-in investment and de-risking new technologies for decarbonisation.
Canada’s Infrastructure Bank is well established and had its expectations updated by the government in February 2021.
The UK and India established new national infrastructure banks in 2021, focusing on decarbonisation and regional growth. ICE had long called for a new UK Infrastructure Bank, so the announcement during the March 2021 budget was a significant boost for creating an infrastructure system geared towards delivering more of what the public need.
In April 2021, India’s Parliament approved setting up a National Bank for Financing Infrastructure. The bank will have a remit to lend, invest or attract investment for projects in sectors prescribed by the central government.
[edit] 3. Increased spending on infrastructure, but concerns about delivery
In December 2021, the Global Infrastructure Hub published research showing that $3.2 trillion of infrastructure stimulus spending has been announced by G20 governments looking to deliver a post-COVID economic recovery.
Notable announcements in 2021 included the USA’s $1.2 trillion Infrastructure Act, which became law in November. The package includes $550bn in new money to be spent over five years. The vast majority of the investment will go into transport but also includes upgrades to water, energy and digital networks.
New Zealand also increased infrastructure spending in June; its 2021 Budget takes the combined infrastructure investment for 2021-25 to NZD57.3 billion, up from NZD42 billion last year.
Australia announced AUD15.2 billion over 10 years for new road and rail projects, which would take the total investment for infrastructure to AUD110 billion over the same period. However, despite the ambition, the Budget was challenged by other political parties over the issue of underspending.
Despite these headline figures, concerns were raised in many countries in terms of the ability to deliver. Barriers included rising material costs around the world and capacity challenges.
[edit] 4. Growing investment was guided by more robust planning
Delivery can be aided by having the right strategic frameworks and long-term infrastructure plans in place.
Several countries built on existing processes or introduced new plans and measures this year to provide stakeholders with a long-term view.
In September, Infrastructure Australia (IA) published its ambitious 2021 Australian Infrastructure Plan setting out a number of reforms and initiatives to deliver against IA’s vision for 2036. New Zealand’s Infrastructure Commission published its own draft 30-year strategy in October 2021.
Elsewhere, Ireland and Malaysia published their own infrastructure-focused long-term development plans, while consultations were conducted ahead of Canada's National Infrastructure Assessment and South Africa’s National Infrastructure Plan for 2050.
A number of common themes are clear across these strategies, including decarbonisation and infrastructure resilience in the face of climate change and improving connectivity and finding place-based solutions to support all communities.
[edit] 5. Governments stepped up climate action, but must do more
A number of countries stepped-up their national climate action commitments this year, particularly with the COP26 climate conference held in Glasgow in November 2021.
Alongside decarbonisation, countries are becoming more alert to the need to strengthen their climate resilience to withstand extreme weather events and avoid catastrophic infrastructure failures.
IA released a new set of resilience guidelines for infrastructure, noting that the events of recent years have brought Australia’s vulnerability to threats such as bush fires, droughts, floods, pandemics and cyber attacks into sharp focus.
In the UK, the government accepted the National Infrastructure Commission’s recommendations to implement resilience standards for infrastructure operators and put in place stress testing. This includes a statutory requirement by 2022 for secretaries of state to publish standards every five years for the resilience of energy, water, digital, road and rail services.
Both the UK and Canada will be publishing national strategies for climate adaptation and resilience by December 2022.
Nevertheless, prior to COP26, the UN Environment Programmes 2021 Emissions Gap Report highlighted that "new national climate pledges combined with other mitigation measures put the world on track for a global temperature rise of 2.7°C by the end of the century." This is way off track of the targets agreed at COP21 in Paris.
The International Transport Forum (ITF) highlighted a weak focus on reducing emissions from transport, with only 16% of Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) setting specific targets to reduce transport emissions.
Only Japan and Canada (from high-emitting countries) have specific, measurable targets for mitigating emissions from transport.
This article originally appeared on The Infrastructure Blog portion of the ICE website. It was written by David Hawkes, ICE Lead Policy Manager and published on 21 December 2021.
--The Institution of Civil Engineers
[edit] Related articles on Designing Buildings
- Budget 2020 and the first National Infrastructure Strategy.
- Climate change science.
- COP26: A BSRIA summary.
- Financing our future energy infrastructure.
- ICE articles on Designing Buildings Wiki.
- Infrastructure.
- In Plain Sight: reducing the risk of infrastructure failure.
- Natural capital, infrastructure banks and energy system renationalisation.
- Resilience.
- UK infrastructure bank.
- UN Sustainable Development Goals.
Featured articles and news
Boiler Upgrade Scheme and certifications consultation
Summary of government consultation which closes 11 June 2025.
Deputy editor of AT, Tim Fraser, discusses the newly formed society with its current chair, Chris Halligan MCIAT.
Barratt Lo-E passivhaus standard homes planned enmasse
With an initial 728 Lo-E homes across two sites and many more planned for the future.
Government urged to uphold Warm Homes commitment
ECA and industry bodies write to Government concerning its 13.2 billion Warm Homes manifesto commitment.
Places of Worship in Britain and Ireland, 1929-1990. Book review.
The emancipation of women in art.
CIOB Construction Manager of the Year 2025
Just one of the winners at the CIOB Awards 2025.
Call for independent National Grenfell oversight mechanism
MHCLG share findings of Building Safety Inquiry in letter to Secretary of State and Minister for Building Safety.
The Architectural Technology Awards
AT Awards now open for this the sixth decade of CIAT.
50th Golden anniversary ECA Edmundson awards
Deadline for submissions Friday 30 May 2025.
The benefits of precast, off-site foundation systems
Top ten benefits of this notable innovation.
Encouraging individuals to take action saving water at home, work, and in their communities.
Takes a community to support mental health and wellbeing
The why of becoming a Mental Health Instructor explained.
Mental health awareness week 13-18 May
The theme is communities, they can provide a sense of belonging, safety, support in hard times, and a sense purpose.
Mental health support on the rise but workers still struggling
CIOB Understanding Mental Health in the Built Environment 2025 shows.
Design and construction material libraries
Material, sample, product or detail libraries a key component of any architectural design practice.
Construction Products Reform Green Paper and Consultation
Still time to respond as consultation closes on 21 May 2025.
Resilient façade systems for smog reduction in Shanghai
A technical approach using computer simulation and analysis of solar radiation, wind patterns, and ventilation.