Over the next two decades, $40 trillion USD will be invested in bridging the global deficit in environmental infrastructure. At least half of this investment will be made and managed by governments (The Economist, 2012). In developing countries, where infrastructure is scarce, three billion people will be added to cities by 2050—mainly in slums of Africa and Asia—further exacerbating urban environmental degradation.
In May 2012 emerging leaders in the field of sustainable development came together to discuss these infrastructure gaps and to explore solutions to 21st century environmental challenges. Diagnostic evaluations of public utilities, policy environments, political economies, and market structures—along with supply-side reforms and policy mechanisms which address both efficiency and equity—were examined using eight global case studies of public utilities.
A discussion of environmental infrastructure policy and planning, and supply-side reforms of the energy utility in Lagos can be found here.