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120-616: Especially in light of the massive societal transformations needed to mitigate and adapt to climate change, contemporary infrastructure conversations frequently focus on sustainable development and green infrastructure . Acknowledging this importance, the international community has created policy focused on sustainable infrastructure through the Sustainable Development Goals , especially Sustainable Development Goal 9 " Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure ". One way to describe different types of infrastructure

240-416: A plant-based diet , having fewer children, using clothes and electrical products for longer, and electrifying homes. These approaches are more practical for people in high-income countries with high-consumption lifestyles. Naturally, it is more difficult for those with lower income statuses to make these changes. This is because choices like electric-powered cars may not be available. Excessive consumption

360-636: A bigger effect than population growth. Rising incomes, changes in consumption and dietary patterns, as well as population growth, cause pressure on land and other natural resources. This leads to more greenhouse gas emissions and fewer carbon sinks. Some scholars have argued that humane policies to slow population growth should be part of a broad climate response together with policies that end fossil fuel use and encourage sustainable consumption. Advances in female education and reproductive health , especially voluntary family planning , can contribute to reducing population growth. An important mitigation measure

480-534: A climate mitigation option. The terminology in this area is still evolving. Experts sometimes use the term geoengineering or climate engineering in the scientific literature for both CDR or SRM, if the techniques are used at a global scale. IPCC reports no longer use the terms geoengineering or climate engineering . GHG emissions 2020 by gas type without land-use change using 100 year GWP Total: 49.8 GtCO 2 e CO 2 emissions by fuel type Greenhouse gas emissions from human activities strengthen

600-502: A comparable assessment of countries' fiscal policies, promoting transparency and accountability at the international level. In addition, in an econometric study published in the Economic Modelling journal, an analysis on government energy technology spending showed that spending on the renewable energy sector created five more jobs per million dollars invested than spending on fossil fuels . Since sustainable infrastructure

720-424: A connection between cities, transportation for people and goods, and protection for land against flooding and erosion, they only last for 50 to 100 years. Many were built within the last 50 years, which means many infrastructures need substantial maintenance to continue functioning. However, concrete is not sustainable. The production of concrete contributes up to 8% of the world's greenhouse gas emissions. A tenth of

840-482: A coordinated focus on both creating the methods of transportation themselves and providing them with networks that are equally or more efficient than existing car networks such as aging highway systems. Another solution to transition into a more sustainable infrastructure is using more sustainable materials. A material is sustainable if the needed amount can be produced without depleting non-renewable resources. It also should have low environmental impacts by not disrupting

960-656: A definitive or detailed evaluation of most goals set for 2020. But it appears the world failed to meet most or all international goals set for that year. One update came during the 2021 United Nations Climate Change Conference in Glasgow. The group of researchers running the Climate Action Tracker looked at countries responsible for 85% of greenhouse gas emissions. It found that only four countries or political entities—the EU, UK, Chile and Costa Rica—have published

1080-540: A detailed official policy‑plan that describes the steps to realise 2030 mitigation targets. These four polities are responsible for 6% of global greenhouse gas emissions. In 2021 the US and EU launched the Global Methane Pledge to cut methane emissions by 30% by 2030. The UK, Argentina, Indonesia, Italy and Mexico joined the initiative. Ghana and Iraq signaled interest in joining. A White House summary of

1200-444: A greenhouse gas, an aerosol or a precursor of a greenhouse gas from the atmosphere". Globally, the two most important carbon sinks are vegetation and the ocean . To enhance the ability of ecosystems to sequester carbon, changes are necessary in agriculture and forestry. Examples are preventing deforestation and restoring natural ecosystems by reforestation . Scenarios that limit global warming to 1.5 °C typically project

1320-491: A higher level of relative sustainability than their traditional counterparts. In a sustainable city, urban resilience as well as infrastructure reliability must both be present. Urban resilience is defined by a city's capacity to quickly adapt or recover from infrastructure defects, and infrastructure reliability means that systems must work efficiently while continuing to maximize their output. When urban resilience and infrastructure reliability interact, cities are able to produce

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1440-402: A low efficiency of less than 50%. Large amounts of heat in power plants and in motors of vehicles go to waste. The actual amount of energy consumed is significantly lower at 116,000 TWh. Energy conservation is the effort made to reduce the consumption of energy by using less of an energy service. One way is to use energy more efficiently . This means using less energy than before to produce

1560-481: A lower status. If they reduce their emissions and promote green policies, these people could become low-carbon lifestyle role models. However, there are many psychological variables that influence consumers. These include awareness and perceived risk. Government policies can support or hinder demand-side mitigation options. For example, public policy can promote circular economy concepts which would support climate change mitigation. Reducing greenhouse gas emissions

1680-592: A major increase in the use of renewable energy in combination with increased energy efficiency measures. It will be necessary to accelerate the deployment of renewable energy six-fold from 0.25% annual growth in 2015 to 1.5% to keep global warming under 2 °C. The competitiveness of renewable energy is a key to a rapid deployment. In 2020, onshore wind and solar photovoltaics were the cheapest source for new bulk electricity generation in many regions. Renewables may have higher storage costs but non-renewables may have higher clean-up costs. A carbon price can increase

1800-464: A more efficient technology or production process. Another way is to use commonly accepted methods to reduce energy losses. Individual action on climate change can include personal choices in many areas. These include diet, travel, household energy use, consumption of goods and services, and family size. People who wish to reduce their carbon footprint can take high-impact actions such as avoiding frequent flying and petrol-fuelled cars, eating mainly

1920-552: A plant-based diet, vast amounts of land used for animal agriculture could be allowed to return to their natural state . This in turn has the potential to sequester 100 billion tonnes of CO 2 by the end of the century. A comprehensive analysis found that plant based diets reduce emissions, water pollution and land use significantly (by 75%), while reducing the destruction of wildlife and usage of water. Population growth has resulted in higher greenhouse gas emissions in most regions, particularly Africa. However, economic growth has

2040-431: A public is a population of individuals in association with civic affairs, or affairs of office or state. In social psychology, marketing, and public relations, a public has a more situational definition. John Dewey defined ( Dewey 1927 ) public as a group of people who, in facing a similar problem, recognize it and organize themselves to address it. Dewey's definition of a public is thus situational: people organized about

2160-541: A public is distinct from a stakeholder or a market . A public is a subset of the set of stakeholders for an organization, that comprises those people concerned with a specific issue. Whilst a market has an exchange relationship with an organization, and is usually a passive entity that is created by the organization, public does not necessarily have an exchange relationship, and is both self-creating and self-organizing. Publics are targeted by public relations efforts. In this, target publics are those publics whose involvement

2280-645: A public is viewed as a condition of political involvement that is not transitory; and " homo narrans ", where a public is (in the words of Gabriel M. Vasquez, assistant professor in the School of Communication at the University of Houston ) a collection of "individuals that develop a group consciousness around a problematic situation and act to solve the problematic situations" ( Vasquez 1993 , pp. 209). Public schools are often under controversy for their "agenda-building," especially in debates over whether to teach

2400-522: A rating of "D+" on its infrastructure. This aging infrastructure is a result of governmental neglect and inadequate funding. As the United States presumably looks to upgrade its existing infrastructure, sustainable measures could be a consideration of the design, build, and operation plans. Public infrastructure is that owned or available for use by the public (represented by the government ). It includes: A way to embody personal infrastructure

2520-401: A record high in 2010, partially due to governments' implemented economic stimulus measures with minimal consideration of the environmental consequences. The concern is whether this same pattern will repeat itself. The post-COVID-19 period could determine whether the world meets or misses the emissions goals of the 2015 Paris Agreement and limits global warming to 1.5 degrees C to 2 degrees C. As

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2640-622: A region or district would be included with infrastructure, but the private irrigation systems on individual land parcels would be considered land improvements, not infrastructure. Service connections to municipal service and public utility networks would also be considered land improvements, not infrastructure. The term " public works " includes government-owned and operated infrastructure as well as public buildings, such as schools and courthouses. Public works generally refers to physical assets needed to deliver public services . Public services include both infrastructure and services generally provided by

2760-500: A religious or secular curriculum. The promotion of an agenda is commonplace whenever one is in a public environment, but schools have exceptional power in that regard. One non-situational concept of a public is that of Kirk Hallahan, professor at Colorado State University , who defines a public as "a group of people who relate to an organization, who demonstrate varying degrees of activity—passivity, and who might (or might not) interact with others concerning their relationship with

2880-510: A result of the COVID-19 epidemic, a host of factors could jeopardize a low-carbon recovery plan: this includes reduced attention on the global political stage (2020 UN Climate Summit has been postponed to 2021), the relaxing of environmental regulations in pursuit of economic growth, decreased oil prices preventing low-carbon technologies from being competitive, and finally, stimulus programs that take away funds that could have been used to further

3000-400: A result, they soak 30% more water than conventional gardens. Bioswales are planted in paved areas like parking lots or sidewalks and are made to allow for overflow into the sewer system by trapping silt and other pollutants, which are normally left over from impermeable surfaces. Both rain gardens and bioswales mitigate flood impacts and prevent stormwater from polluting local waterways; increase

3120-399: A situation. Built upon this situational definition of a public is the situational theory of publics by James E. Grunig ( Grunig 1983 ), which talks of nonpublics (who have no problem), latent publics (who have a problem), aware publics (who recognize that they have a problem), and active publics (who do something about their problem). In public relations and communication theory,

3240-511: A specified area by using property tax increases. In order to facilitate investment of the private sector in developing countries' infrastructure markets, it is necessary to design risk-allocation mechanisms more carefully, given the higher risks of their markets. The spending money that comes from the government is less than it used to be. From the 1930s to 2019, the United States went from spending 4.2% of GDP to 2.5% of GDP on infrastructure. These under investments have accrued, in fact, according to

3360-800: A specified standard of service by the continuing replacement and refurbishment of its components". Civil defense planners and developmental economists generally refer to both hard and soft infrastructure, including public services such as schools and hospitals , emergency services such as police and fire fighting, and basic services in the economic sector . The notion of infrastructure-based development combining long-term infrastructure investments by government agencies at central and regional levels with public private partnerships has proven popular among economists in Asia (notably Singapore and China), mainland Europe, and Latin America. Military infrastructure

3480-449: A total of US$ 24.9 billion. In irrigation , governments represent almost all spending. In transport and energy a majority of investment is government spending. In ICT and water supply and sanitation , the private sector represents the majority of capital expenditure. Overall, between them aid, the private sector, and non- OECD financiers exceed government spending. The private sector spending alone equals state capital expenditure, though

3600-432: Is coal-fired power stations with 20% of greenhouse gas emissions. Deforestation and other changes in land use also emit carbon dioxide and methane. The largest sources of anthropogenic methane emissions are agriculture , and gas venting and fugitive emissions from the fossil-fuel industry. The largest agricultural methane source is livestock. Agricultural soils emit nitrous oxide , partly due to fertilizers. There

3720-539: Is pumped-storage hydroelectricity . This requires locations with large differences in height and access to water. Batteries are also in wide use. They typically store electricity for short periods. Batteries have low energy density . This and their cost makes them impractical for the large energy storage necessary to balance inter-seasonal variations in energy production. Some locations have implemented pumped hydro storage with capacity for multi-month usage. Nuclear power could complement renewables for electricity. On

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3840-460: Is "preserving and enhancing carbon sinks ". This refers to the management of Earth's natural carbon sinks in a way that preserves or increases their capability to remove CO 2 from the atmosphere and to store it durably. Scientists call this process also carbon sequestration . In the context of climate change mitigation, the IPCC defines a sink as "Any process, activity or mechanism which removes

3960-426: Is a rooftop that is partially or completely covered with growing vegetation planted over a membrane. It also includes additional layers, including a root barrier and drainage and irrigation systems. There are several categories of green roofs, including extensive (have a growing media depth ranging from two to six inches) and intensive (have a growing media with a depth greater than six inches). One benefit of green roofs

4080-592: Is because the native inhabitants turn to work for extractive companies to survive. Proforestation is promoting forests to capture their full ecological potential. This is a mitigation strategy as secondary forests that have regrown in abandoned farmland are found to have less biodiversity than the original old-growth forests . Original forests store 60% more carbon than these new forests. Strategies include rewilding and establishing wildlife corridors . Public In public relations and communication science , publics are groups of individual people , and

4200-695: Is by reducing the demand by improving infrastructure, by building a good public transport network, for example. Lastly, changes in end-use technology can reduce energy demand. For instance a well-insulated house emits less than a poorly-insulated house. Mitigation options that reduce demand for products or services help people make personal choices to reduce their carbon footprint . This could be in their choice of transport or food. So these mitigation options have many social aspects that focus on demand reduction; they are therefore demand-side mitigation actions . For example, people with high socio-economic status often cause more greenhouse gas emissions than those from

4320-413: Is competitive with other electricity generation technologies if long term costs for nuclear waste disposal are excluded from the calculation. There is also no sufficient financial insurance for nuclear accidents. Switching from coal to natural gas has advantages in terms of sustainability. For a given unit of energy produced, the life-cycle greenhouse-gas emissions of natural gas are around 40 times

4440-420: Is currently a high cost climate change mitigation strategy. Human land use changes such as agriculture and deforestation cause about 1/4th of climate change. These changes impact how much CO 2 is absorbed by plant matter and how much organic matter decays or burns to release CO 2 . These changes are part of the fast carbon cycle , whereas fossil fuels release CO 2 that was buried underground as part of

4560-437: Is defined as "those immobile, non-circulating capital goods that essentially contribute to the production of infrastructure goods and services needed to satisfy basic physical and social requirements of economic agents ". There are two distinct qualities of material infrastructures: 1) fulfillment of social needs and 2) mass production . The first characteristic deals with the basic needs of human life. The second characteristic

4680-411: Is found for reducing deforestation in tropical regions. The economic potential of these activities has been estimated to be 4.2 to 7.4 gigatonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent (GtCO 2 -eq) per year. The Stern Review on the economics of climate change stated in 2007 that curbing deforestation was a highly cost-effective way of reducing greenhouse gas emissions. About 95% of deforestation occurs in

4800-522: Is generally paid for by metered user fees. Major investment projects are generally financed by the issuance of long-term bonds . Government-owned and operated infrastructure may be developed and operated in the private sector or in public-private partnerships , in addition to in the public sector . As of 2008 in the United States for example, public spending on infrastructure has varied between 2.3% and 3.6% of GDP since 1950. Many financial institutions invest in infrastructure. According to researchers at

4920-621: Is higher in the winter when PV output is low. For this reason, combinations of wind and solar power lead to better-balanced systems. Other well-established renewable energy forms include hydropower, bioenergy and geothermal energy. Wind and solar power production does not consistently match demand. To deliver reliable electricity from variable renewable energy sources such as wind and solar, electrical power systems must be flexible. Most electrical grids were constructed for non-intermittent energy sources such as coal-fired power plants. The integration of larger amounts of solar and wind energy into

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5040-404: Is linked to the sharing economy . There is a debate regarding the correlation of economic growth and emissions. It seems economic growth no longer necessarily means higher emissions. Global primary energy demand exceeded 161,000 terawatt hours (TWh) in 2018. This refers to electricity, transport and heating including all losses. In transport and electricity production, fossil fuel usage has

5160-483: Is more beneficial in both an economic and environmental context, it represents the future of infrastructure. Especially with increasing pressure from climate change and diminishing natural resources, infrastructure not only needs to maintain economic development and job development, and a high quality of life for residents, but also protect the environment and its natural resources. Sustainable energy infrastructure includes types of renewable energy power plants as well as

5280-652: Is more to blame for climate change than population increase. High-consumption lifestyles have a greater environmental impact, with the richest 10% of people emitting about half the total lifestyle emissions. Some scientists say that avoiding meat and dairy foods is the single biggest way an individual can reduce their environmental impact. The widespread adoption of a vegetarian diet could cut food-related greenhouse gas emissions by 63% by 2050. China introduced new dietary guidelines in 2016 which aim to cut meat consumption by 50% and thereby reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 1   Gt per year by 2030. Overall, food accounts for

5400-420: Is necessary for achieving organization goals; intervening publics are opinion formers and mediators, who pass information to the target publics; and influentials are publics that the target publics turn to for consultation, whose value judgements are influential upon how a target public will judge any public relations material. The public is often targeted especially in regard to political agendas as their vote

5520-508: Is necessary in order to further the progression of the cause. As seen in Massachusetts between 2003 and 2004, it was necessary to "win a critical mass of states and a critical mass of public support" in order to get same-sex marriage passed in the commonwealth. Public relations theory perspectives on publics are situational, per Dewey and Grunig; mass, where a public is simply viewed as a population of individuals; agenda-building, where

5640-428: Is necessary to maintain growth and tackle poverty. The returns to investment in infrastructure are very significant, with on average thirty to forty percent returns for telecommunications ( ICT ) investments, over forty percent for electricity generation, and eighty percent for roads . The demand for infrastructure both by consumers and by companies is much higher than the amount invested. There are severe constraints on

5760-541: Is needed, and transmission of information within and between communities." The American Society of Civil Engineers publishes an "Infrastructure Report Card" which represents the organizations opinion on the condition of various infrastructure every 2–4 years. As of 2017 they grade 16 categories, namely aviation, bridges, dams, drinking water , energy, hazardous waste , inland waterways , levees , parks and recreation , ports , rail , roads , schools, solid waste , transit and wastewater . The United States has received

5880-530: Is now a political solution to the problem of fluorinated gases from refrigerants . This is because many countries have ratified the Kigali Amendment . Carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) is the dominant emitted greenhouse gas. Methane ( CH 4 ) emissions almost have the same short-term impact. Nitrous oxide (N 2 O) and fluorinated gases (F-Gases) play a minor role. Livestock and manure produce 5.8% of all greenhouse gas emissions. But this depends on

6000-416: Is overcoming environmental objections when constructing new clean energy sources and making grid modifications. Climate change mitigation aims to sustain ecosystems to maintain human civilisation . This requires drastic cuts in greenhouse gas emissions . The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) defines mitigation (of climate change) as "a human intervention to reduce emissions or enhance

6120-488: Is possible to shift energy demand in time. Energy demand management and the use of smart grids make it possible to match the times when variable energy production is highest. Sector coupling can provide further flexibility. This involves coupling the electricity sector to the heat and mobility sector via power-to-heat -systems and electric vehicles. Energy storage helps overcome barriers to intermittent renewable energy. The most commonly used and available storage method

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6240-408: Is that they reduce stormwater runoff because of its ability to store water in its growing media, reducing the runoff entering the sewer system and waterways, which also decreases the risk of combined sewer overflows. They reduce energy usage since the growing media provides additional insulation, reduces the amount of solar radiation on the roof's surface, and provides evaporative cooling from water in

6360-598: Is the buildings and permanent installations necessary for the support of military forces, whether they are stationed in bases, being deployed or engaged in operations. Examples include barracks, headquarters, airfields, communications facilities, stores of military equipment, port installations, and maintenance stations. Communications infrastructure is the informal and formal channels of communication, political and social networks , or beliefs held by members of particular groups, as well as information technology, software development tools. Still underlying these more conceptual uses

6480-404: Is the idea that infrastructure provides organizing structure and support for the system or organization it serves, whether it is a city, a nation, a corporation, or a collection of people with common interests. Examples include IT infrastructure , research infrastructure, terrorist infrastructure, employment infrastructure, and tourism infrastructure. The term "infrastructure" may be confused with

6600-808: Is the non-availability of infrastructure goods and services. Today, there are various materials that can be used to build infrastructure. The most prevalent ones are asphalt, concrete, steel, masonry, wood, polymers and composites. According to the business dictionary, economic infrastructure can be defined as "internal facilities of a country that make business activity possible, such as communication, transportation and distribution networks , financial institutions and related international markets, and energy supply systems". Economic infrastructure support productive activities and events. This includes roads, highways, bridges, airports, cycling infrastructure , water distribution networks, sewer systems , and irrigation plants. Social infrastructure can be broadly defined as

6720-743: Is the object of economic and legal policy. It compromises the growth and sets norms. It refers to the degree of fair treatment of equal economic data and determines the framework within which economic agents may formulate their own economic plans and carry them out in co-operation with others. Sustainable infrastructure refers to the processes of design and construction that take into consideration their environmental, economic, and social impact. Included in this section are several elements of sustainable schemes, including materials, water, energy, transportation, and waste management infrastructure. Although there are endless other factors of consideration, those will not be covered in this section. Material infrastructure

6840-509: Is the process of reducing the amount of energy required to provide products and services. Improved energy efficiency in buildings ("green buildings"), industrial processes and transportation could reduce the world's energy needs in 2050 by one third. This would help reduce global emissions of greenhouse gases. For example, insulating a building allows it to use less heating and cooling energy to achieve and maintain thermal comfort. Improvements in energy efficiency are generally achieved by adopting

6960-800: Is to classify them as two distinct kinds: hard infrastructure and soft infrastructure . Hard infrastructure is the physical networks necessary for the functioning of a modern industrial society or industry . This includes roads, bridges, and railways. Soft infrastructure is all the institutions that maintain the economic , health , social , environmental , and cultural standards of a country. This includes educational programs , official statistics , parks and recreational facilities, law enforcement agencies, and emergency services . The word "infrastructure" has been used in French since 1875 and in English since 1887, originally meaning "installations that form

7080-512: Is to think of it in terms of human capital . Human capital is defined by the Encyclopædia Britannica as "intangible collective resources possessed by individuals and groups within a given population". The goal of personal infrastructure is to determine the quality of the economic agents' values. This results in three major tasks: the task of economic proxies in the economic process (teachers, unskilled and qualified labor, etc.);

7200-681: Is variable and can require electrical grid upgrades, such as using long-distance electricity transmission to group a range of power sources. Energy storage can also be used to even out power output, and demand management can limit power use when power generation is low. Cleanly generated electricity can usually replace fossil fuels for powering transportation, heating buildings, and running industrial processes. Certain processes are more difficult to decarbonise, such as air travel and cement production . Carbon capture and storage (CCS) can be an option to reduce net emissions in these circumstances, although fossil fuel power plants with CCS technology

7320-771: The Overseas Development Institute , the lack of infrastructure in many developing countries represents one of the most significant limitations to economic growth and achievement of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) . Infrastructure investments and maintenance can be very expensive, especially in such areas as landlocked, rural and sparsely populated countries in Africa. It has been argued that infrastructure investments contributed to more than half of Africa's improved growth performance between 1990 and 2005, and increased investment

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7440-616: The greenhouse effect . This contributes to climate change . Most is carbon dioxide from burning fossil fuels : coal, oil, and natural gas. Human-caused emissions have increased atmospheric carbon dioxide by about 50% over pre-industrial levels. Emissions in the 2010s averaged a record 56 billion tons (Gt) a year. In 2016, energy for electricity, heat and transport was responsible for 73.2% of GHG emissions. Direct industrial processes accounted for 5.2%, waste for 3.2% and agriculture, forestry and land use for 18.4%. Electricity generation and transport are major emitters. The largest single source

7560-827: The sinks of greenhouse gases ". It is possible to approach various mitigation measures in parallel. This is because there is no single pathway to limit global warming to 1.5 or 2 °C. There are four types of measures: The IPCC defined carbon dioxide removal as "Anthropogenic activities removing carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) from the atmosphere and durably storing it in geological, terrestrial, or ocean reservoirs, or in products. It includes existing and potential anthropogenic enhancement of biological or geochemical CO 2 sinks and direct air carbon dioxide capture and storage (DACCS), but excludes natural CO 2 uptake not directly caused by human activities." While solar radiation modification (SRM) could reduce surface temperatures, it temporarily masks climate change rather than addressing

7680-569: The 1990s. A different technology is concentrated solar power (CSP). This uses mirrors or lenses to concentrate a large area of sunlight on to a receiver. With CSP, the energy can be stored for a few hours. This provides supply in the evening. Solar water heating doubled between 2010 and 2019. Regions in the higher northern and southern latitudes have the greatest potential for wind power. Offshore wind farms are more expensive. But offshore units deliver more energy per installed capacity with less fluctuations. In most regions, wind power generation

7800-433: The 2017 ASCE Infrastructure Report Card, from 2016 to 2025, infrastructure will be underinvested by $ 2 trillion. Compared to the global GDP percentages, The United States is tied for second-to-last place, with an average percentage of 2.4%. This means that the government spends less money on repairing old infrastructure and or on infrastructure as a whole. In Sub-Saharan Africa , governments spend around US$ 9.4 billion out of

7920-405: The 2022 IPCC report on mitigation. The abbreviation stands for "agriculture, forestry and other land use" The report described the economic mitigation potential from relevant activities around forests and ecosystems as follows: "the conservation, improved management, and restoration of forests and other ecosystems (coastal wetlands, peatlands , savannas and grasslands)". A high mitigation potential

8040-648: The French word structure . The army use of the term achieved currency in the United States after the formation of NATO in the 1940s, and by 1970 was adopted by urban planners in its modern civilian sense. A 1987 US National Research Council panel adopted the term " public works infrastructure", referring to: "... both specific functional modes – highways, streets, roads, and bridges; mass transit ; airports and airways; water supply and water resources ; wastewater management ; solid-waste treatment and disposal; electric power generation and transmission; telecommunications; and hazardous waste management – and

8160-566: The G20 COVID-19 related fiscal measures was found to be climate friendly. Although it is readily apparent that much effort is needed to repair the economic damage inflicted by the Coronavirus epidemic, an immediate return to business as usual could be environmentally harmful, as shown by the 2007-08 financial crisis in the United States. While the ensuing economic slowdown reduced global greenhouse gas emissions in 2009, emissions reached

8280-655: The ability of oceans and land sinks to absorb these gases. Short-lived climate pollutants (SLCPs) persist in the atmosphere for a period ranging from days to 15 years. Carbon dioxide can remain in the atmosphere for millennia. Short-lived climate pollutants include methane , hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs) , tropospheric ozone and black carbon . Scientists increasingly use satellites to locate and measure greenhouse gas emissions and deforestation. Earlier, scientists largely relied on or calculated estimates of greenhouse gas emissions and governments' self-reported data. The annual "Emissions Gap Report" by UNEP stated in 2022 that it

8400-478: The advantages of switching away from coal. The technology to curb methane leaks is widely available but it is not always used. Reducing demand for products and services that cause greenhouse gas emissions can help in mitigating climate change. One is to reduce demand by behavioural and cultural changes , for example by making changes in diet, especially the decision to reduce meat consumption, an effective action individuals take to fight climate change . Another

8520-408: The amount of greenhouse gases. There are a variety of types of bioretention and infiltration practices, including rain gardens and bioswales. A rain garden is planted in a small depression or natural slope and includes native shrubs and flowers. They temporarily hold and absorb rain water and are effective in removing up to 90% of nutrients and chemicals and up to 80% of sediments from the runoff. As

8640-427: The appropriate built environments for these ecologically preferable modes of transportation. Cities will need to invest in public transportation networks, as well as bike path networks among other sustainable solutions that incentivize citizens to use these alternate transit options. Reducing the urban dependency on cars is a fundamental goal of developing sustainable transportation, and this cannot be accomplished without

8760-421: The atmosphere. Current climate change mitigation policies are insufficient as they would still result in global warming of about 2.7 °C by 2100, significantly above the 2015 Paris Agreement 's goal of limiting global warming to below 2 °C. Solar energy and wind power can replace fossil fuels at the lowest cost compared to other renewable energy options. The availability of sunshine and wind

8880-469: The basis for any operation or system". It is a loanword from French, where it was already used for establishing a roadbed of substrate material, required before railroad tracks or constructed pavement could be laid on top of it. The word is a combination of the Latin prefix infra- , meaning "below", as many of these constructions are underground (for example, tunnels, water and gas systems, and railways), and

9000-399: The board. However, they must also scale up public investment to ensure successful reopening, boost growth and employment, and green their economies. The unusually large scale of the packages needed for COVID-19 was accompanied by widespread calls for "greening" them to meet the dual goals of economic recovery and environmental sustainability . However, as of March 2021, only a small fraction of

9120-461: The combined system these modal elements comprise. A comprehension of infrastructure spans not only these public works facilities, but also the operating procedures, management practices, and development policies that interact together with societal demand and the physical world to facilitate the transport of people and goods, provision of water for drinking and a variety of other uses, safe disposal of society's waste products, provision of energy where it

9240-478: The competitiveness of renewable energy. Wind and sun can provide large amounts of low-carbon energy at competitive production costs. The IPCC estimates that these two mitigation options have the largest potential to reduce emissions before 2030 at low cost. Solar photovoltaics (PV) has become the cheapest way to generate electricity in many regions of the world. The growth of photovoltaics has been close to exponential. It has about doubled every three years since

9360-609: The construction and maintenance of facilities that support social services . Social infrastructures are created to increase social comfort and promote economic activity. These include schools, parks and playgrounds , structures for public safety , waste disposal plants, hospitals, and sports areas. Core assets provide essential services and have monopolistic characteristics. Investors seeking core infrastructure look for five different characteristics: income, low volatility of returns, diversification, inflation protection, and long-term liability matching. Core infrastructure incorporates all

9480-529: The economy. This has serious impacts on households, businesses, and federal, state and local governments. This is especially detrimental to infrastructure because it is so dependent on funding from government agencies – with state and local governments accounting for approximately 75% of spending on public infrastructure in the United States. Governments are facing enormous decreases in revenue, economic downturns, overworked health systems, and hesitant workforces, resulting in huge budget deficits across

9600-425: The emissions of wind or nuclear energy but are much less than coal. Burning natural gas produces around half the emissions of coal when used to generate electricity and around two-thirds the emissions of coal when used to produce heat. Natural gas combustion also produces less air pollution than coal. However, natural gas is a potent greenhouse gas in itself, and leaks during extraction and transportation can negate

9720-442: The established steady-state equilibrium of it. The materials should also be resilient, renewable, reusable, and recyclable. Today, concrete is one of the most common materials used in infrastructure. There is twice as much concrete used in construction than all other building materials combined. It is the backbone of industrialization, as it is used in bridges, piers, pipelines, pavements, and buildings. However, while they do serve as

9840-458: The following overlapping or related concepts. Land improvement and land development are general terms that in some contexts may include infrastructure, but in the context of a discussion of infrastructure would refer only to smaller-scale systems or works that are not included in infrastructure, because they are typically limited to a single parcel of land , and are owned and operated by the landowner. For example, an irrigation canal that serves

9960-426: The form of a large network; in other words, hard infrastructure . Efforts to devise more generic definitions of infrastructures have typically referred to the network aspects of most of the structures, and to the accumulated value of investments in the networks as assets. One such definition from 1998 defined infrastructure as the network of assets "where the system as a whole is intended to be maintained indefinitely at

10080-472: The government. Infrastructure may be owned and managed by governments or by privately held companies, such as sole public utility or railway companies. Generally, most roads, major airports and other ports, water distribution systems, and sewage networks are publicly owned, whereas most energy and telecommunications networks are privately owned. Publicly owned infrastructure may be paid for from taxes, tolls, or metered user fees, whereas private infrastructure

10200-509: The grid requires a change of the energy system; this is necessary to ensure that the supply of electricity matches demand. There are various ways to make the electricity system more flexible. In many places, wind and solar generation are complementary on a daily and a seasonal scale. There is more wind during the night and in winter when solar energy production is low. Linking different geographical regions through long-distance transmission lines also makes it possible to reduce variability. It

10320-470: The holistic and effective management of water resources. Increasingly, policy makers and regulators are incorporating Nature-based solutions (NBS or NbS) into attempts to achieve sustainable water infrastructure. Sustainable waste management systems aim to minimize the amount of waste products produced by individuals and corporations. Commercial waste management plans have transitioned from simple waste removal plans into comprehensive plans focused on reducing

10440-478: The impact of raindrops on barren surfaces, minimize soil moisture through transpiration, and they help reduce stormwater runoff. Additionally, trees contribute to recharging local aquifers and improve the health of watershed systems. Trees also reduce energy usage by providing shade and releasing water into the atmosphere which cools the air and reduces the amount of heat absorbed by buildings. Finally, trees improve air quality by absorbing harmful air pollutants reducing

10560-450: The importance of personal infrastructure for an individual (short and long-term consumption of education); and the social relevance of personal infrastructure. Essentially, personal infrastructure maps the human impact on infrastructure as it is related to the economy, individual growth, and social impact. Institutional infrastructure branches from the term "economic constitution". According to Gianpiero Torrisi , institutional infrastructure

10680-402: The large-scale use of carbon dioxide removal methods over the 21st century. There are concerns about over-reliance on these technologies, and their environmental impacts. But ecosystem restoration and reduced conversion are among the mitigation tools that can yield the most emissions reductions before 2030. Land-based mitigation options are referred to as "AFOLU mitigation options" in

10800-428: The largest share of consumption-based greenhouse gas emissions. It is responsible for nearly 20% of the global carbon footprint. Almost 15% of all anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions have been attributed to the livestock sector. A shift towards plant-based diets would help to mitigate climate change. In particular, reducing meat consumption would help to reduce methane emissions. If high-income nations switched to

10920-415: The little parts of the engineering world that make life more convenient and efficient. They are needed to ensure successful usage and marketing of an already finished product, like in the case of road bridges . Other examples are lights on sidewalks, landscaping around buildings, and benches where pedestrians can rest. Engineers generally limit the term "infrastructure" to describe fixed assets that are in

11040-633: The main types of infrastructure, such as roads, highways, railways, public transportation , water, and gas supply. Basic infrastructure refers to main railways, roads, canals, harbors and docks, the electromagnetic telegraph, drainage, dikes, and land reclamation. It consist of the more well-known and common features of infrastructure that we come across in our daily lives (buildings, roads, docks). Complementary infrastructure refers to things like light railways, tramways, and gas/electricity/water supply. To complement something means to bring it to perfection or complete it. Complementary infrastructure deals with

11160-486: The majority is focused on ICT infrastructure investments. External financing increased in the 2000s (decade) and in Africa alone external infrastructure investments increased from US$ 7 billion in 2002 to US$ 27 billion in 2009. China, in particular, has emerged as an important investor. The 2020 COVID-19 pandemic has only exacerbated the underfunding of infrastructure globally that has been accumulating for decades. The pandemic has increased unemployment and has widely disrupted

11280-554: The market by prevailing non renewable energy sources. Sustainable water infrastructure is focused on a community's sufficient access to clean, safe drinking water. Water is a public good along with electricity, which means that sustainable water catchment and distribution systems must remain affordable to all members of a population. "Sustainable Water" may refer to a nation or community's ability to be self-sustainable, with enough water to meet multiple needs including agriculture, industry, sanitation, and drinking water. It can also refer to

11400-600: The means of exchange from the plant to the homes and businesses that use that energy. Renewable energy includes well researched and widely implemented methods such as wind, solar, and hydraulic power, as well as newer and less commonly used types of power creation such as fusion energy. Sustainable energy infrastructure must maintain a strong supply relative to demand, and must also maintain sufficiently low prices for consumers so as not to decrease demand. Any type of renewable energy infrastructure that fails to meet these consumption and price requirements will ultimately be forced out of

11520-655: The meeting noted those countries represent six of the top 15 methane emitters globally. Israel also joined the initiative. The energy system includes the delivery and use of energy. It is the main emitter of carbon dioxide (CO 2 ). Rapid and deep reductions in the carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gas emissions from the energy sector are necessary to limit global warming to well below 2 °C. IPCC recommendations include reducing fossil fuel consumption, increasing production from low- and zero carbon energy sources, and increasing use of electricity and alternative energy carriers. Nearly all scenarios and strategies involve

11640-623: The natural processes needed to manage water, reduce the effects of disasters such as flooding, and create healthier urban environments. In a more practical sense, it refers to a decentralized network of stormwater management practices, which includes green roofs, trees, bioretention and infiltration, and permeable pavement. Green infrastructure has become an increasingly popular strategy in recent years due to its effectiveness in providing ecological, economic, and social benefits – including positively impacting energy consumption, air quality, and carbon reduction and sequestration. A green roof

11760-420: The organization". Samuel Mateus's 2011 paper "Public as Social Experience" considered to view the concept by an alternative point of view: the public "is neither a simple audience constituted by media consumers nor just a rational-critical agency of a Public Sphere". He argued "the concept should also be seen in the light of a publicness principle, beyond a critic and manipulative publicity (...). In accordance,

11880-495: The other hand, environmental and security risks could outweigh the benefits. The construction of new nuclear reactors currently takes about 10 years. This is much longer than scaling up the deployment of wind and solar. And this timing gives rise to credit risks. However nuclear may be much cheaper in China. China is building a significant number of new power plants. As of 2019 the cost of extending nuclear power plant lifetimes

12000-490: The plants, which reduce the roof surface temperatures and heat influx. Green roofs also reduce atmospheric carbon dioxide since the vegetation sequesters carbon and, since they reduce energy usage and the urban heat island by reducing the roof temperature, they also lower carbon dioxide emissions from electricity generation. Tree planting provides a host of ecological, social, and economic benefits. Trees can intercept rain, support infiltration and water storage in soil, diminish

12120-512: The pledges for 2030. The rise would be 2.1 °C with the achievement of the long-term targets too. Full achievement of all announced targets would mean the rise in global temperature will peak at 1.9 °C and go down to 1.8 °C by the year 2100. Experts gather information about climate pledges in the Global Climate Action Portal - Nazca . The scientific community is checking their fulfilment. There has not been

12240-619: The process of decarbonization . Research suggests that a recovery plan based on lower-carbon emissions could not only make significant emissions reductions needed to battle climate change, but also create more economic growth and jobs than a high-carbon recovery plan would. A study published in the Oxford Review of Economic Policy, more than 200 economists and economic officials reported that "green" economic-recovery initiatives performed at least as well as less "green" initiatives. There have also been calls for an independent body could provide

12360-430: The public (a.k.a. the general public ) is the totality of such groupings. This is a different concept to the sociological concept of the Öffentlichkeit or public sphere . The concept of a public has also been defined in political science , psychology , marketing , and advertising. In public relations and communication science, it is one of the more ambiguous concepts in the field. Although it has definitions in

12480-445: The public may be regarded as the result of the social activities made by individuals sharing symbolic representations and common emotions in publicness. Seen with lower-case, the concept is a set of subjectivities who look publicly for a feeling of belonging. So, in this perspective, the public is still a fundamental notion to social life although in a different manner in comparison to 18th century Public Sphere's Public. He means above all

12600-456: The root cause, which is greenhouse gases. SRM would work by altering how much solar radiation the Earth absorbs. Examples include reducing the amount of sunlight reaching the surface, reducing the optical thickness and lifetime of clouds, and changing the ability of the surface to reflect radiation. The IPCC describes SRM as a climate risk reduction strategy or supplementary option rather than

12720-560: The same level of output at similarly reasonable costs as compared to other non sustainable communities, while still maintaining ease of operation and usage. Climate change mitigation Climate change mitigation (or decarbonisation ) is action to limit the greenhouse gases in the atmosphere that cause climate change . Climate change mitigation actions include conserving energy and replacing fossil fuels with clean energy sources . Secondary mitigation strategies include changes to land use and removing carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) from

12840-437: The same service. Another way is to reduce the amount of service used. An example of this would be to drive less. Energy conservation is at the top of the sustainable energy hierarchy . When consumers reduce wastage and losses they can conserve energy. The upgrading of technology as well as the improvements to operations and maintenance can result in overall efficiency improvements. Efficient energy use (or energy efficiency )

12960-849: The slow carbon cycle. Methane is a short lived greenhouse gas that is produced by decaying organic matter and livestock, as well as fossil fuel extraction. Land use changes can also impact precipitation patterns and the reflectivity of the surface of the Earth . It is possible to cut emissions from agriculture by reducing food waste , switching to a more plant-based diet (also referred to as low-carbon diet ), and by improving farming processes. Various policies can encourage climate change mitigation. Carbon pricing systems have been set up that either tax CO 2 emissions or cap total emissions and trade emission credits . Fossil fuel subsidies can be eliminated in favor of clean energy subsidies , and incentives offered for installing energy efficiency measures or switching to electric power sources. Another issue

13080-450: The social textures and configurations where successive layers of social experience are built up." Social publics are groups of people united by common ideas, ideology, or hobbies. Networked publics are social publics which have been socially restructured by the networking of technologies. As such, they are simultaneously both (1) the space constructed through networked technologies and (2) the imagined collective which consequently emerges as

13200-476: The supply side of the provision of infrastructure in Asia. The infrastructure financing gap between what is invested in Asia-Pacific (around US$ 48 billion) and what is needed (US$ 228 billion) is around US$ 180 billion every year. In Latin America, three percent of GDP (around US$ 71 billion) would need to be invested in infrastructure in order to satisfy demand, yet in 2005, for example, only around two percent

13320-560: The theory of the field that have been formulated from the early 20th century onwards, and suffered more recent years from being blurred, as a result of conflation of the idea of a public with the notions of audience, market segment, community, constituency, and stakeholder. The name "public" originates with the Latin publicus (also poplicus ), from populus , to the English word ' populace ', and in general denotes some mass population ("the people") in association with some matter of common interest. So in political science and history,

13440-542: The time frame used to calculate the global warming potential of the respective gas. Greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions are measured in CO 2 equivalents . Scientists determine their CO 2 equivalents from their global warming potential (GWP). This depends on their lifetime in the atmosphere. There are widely used greenhouse gas accounting methods that convert volumes of methane, nitrous oxide and other greenhouse gases to carbon dioxide equivalents . Estimates largely depend on

13560-468: The total amount of waste produced before removal. Sustainable waste management is beneficial environmentally, and can also cut costs for businesses that reduce their amount of disposed goods. Sustainable transportation includes a shift away from private, greenhouse gas emitting cars in favor of adopting methods of transportation that are either carbon neutral or reduce carbon emissions such as bikes or electric bus systems. Additionally, cities must invest in

13680-401: The tropics, where clearing of land for agriculture is one of the main causes. One forest conservation strategy is to transfer rights over land from public ownership to its indigenous inhabitants. Land concessions often go to powerful extractive companies. Conservation strategies that exclude and even evict humans, called fortress conservation , often lead to more exploitation of the land. This

13800-441: The usable water supply by reducing the amount of water needed for outdoor irrigation; improve air quality by minimizing the amount of water going into treatment facilities, which also reduces energy usage and, as a result, reduces air pollution since less greenhouse gases are emitted. Smart cities use innovative methods of design and implementation in various sectors of infrastructure and planning to create communities that operate at

13920-527: The words of Secretary-General of the United Nations António Guterres : "Main emitters must drastically cut emissions starting this year". Climate Action Tracker described the situation on 9 November 2021 as follows. The global temperature will rise by 2.7 °C by the end of the century with current policies and by 2.9 °C with nationally adopted policies. The temperature will rise by 2.4 °C if countries only implement

14040-481: The world should focus on broad-based economy-wide transformations and not incremental change. In 2022, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) released its Sixth Assessment Report on climate change. It warned that greenhouse gas emissions must peak before 2025 at the latest and decline 43% by 2030 to have a good chance of limiting global warming to 1.5 °C (2.7 °F). Or in

14160-458: The world's industrial water usage is from producing concrete. Even transporting the raw materials to concrete production sites adds to airborne pollution. Furthermore, the production sites and the infrastructures themselves all strip away agricultural land that could have been fertile soil or habitats vital to the ecosystem. Green infrastructure is a type of sustainable infrastructure. Green infrastructure uses plant or soil systems to restore some of

14280-769: Was invested leaving a financing gap of approximately US$ 24 billion. In Africa, in order to reach the seven percent annual growth calculated to be required to meet the MDGs by 2015 would require infrastructure investments of about fifteen percent of GDP, or around US$ 93 billion a year. In fragile states , over thirty-seven percent of GDP would be required. The source of financing for infrastructure varies significantly across sectors. Some sectors are dominated by government spending , others by overseas development aid (ODA) , and yet others by private investors. In California, infrastructure financing districts are established by local governments to pay for physical facilities and services within

14400-399: Was necessary to almost halve emissions. "To get on track for limiting global warming to 1.5°C, global annual GHG emissions must be reduced by 45 per cent compared with emissions projections under policies currently in place in just eight years, and they must continue to decline rapidly after 2030, to avoid exhausting the limited remaining atmospheric carbon budget ." The report commented that

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