Achieving net-zero infrastructure
A framework to interpret the global green infrastructure transition through a sample of 80 representative countries.
Infrastructure is a big part of the world’s climate change challenge – but how can the transition to net-zero global infrastructure be achieved? To bring greater clarity to the issue, research undertaken by Oxford Economics on behalf of PwC offers a framework to interpret the global green infrastructure transition through a sample of 80 representative countries.
We have constructed an index summarising a range of indicators to compare countries on two dimensions: the ‘decarbonisation challenge’ (the level of current and future emissions to abate and the amount of infrastructure to decarbonise) and ‘capacity to pay’ (reflecting each country’s financial ability to decarbonise both existing and future infrastructure).
For developing countries, it is clear that support in terms of foreign direct investment and foreign grants will be vital to ensure they have the financing and technologies to support them on their journey to meet net-zero targets. Conversely, richer countries have a greater capacity to pay for the green transition because of their wider tax base, but governments in these advanced economies will still need to consider a mix of unpopular measures like raising taxes and increasing charges on end users. The temptation to defer these decisions remains high, but this only passes the buck, increasing pressure on future generations and the affordability of the transition to net zero.
About the team
Our macro consulting team are world leaders in quantitative economic analysis, working with clients around the globe and across sectors to build models, forecast markets and evaluate interventions using state-of-the art techniques. Lead consultants on this project were::
