Building resilience against future shocks through structural changes and investment in sustainable infrastructure

The COVID-19 pandemic has challenged our society’s resilience. The sheer magnitude of the crisis was, in most cases, beyond our society’s capacity to cope. Along with tragic losses of human life, the economic and social impacts of the pandemic could last for an extended period, decades in some countries. Resilience is critical to softening the impacts of such shocks on individuals, households, communities and countries, including the poorest and most vulnerable. Since the onset of the pandemic, we have witnessed various policy and societal responses to the crisis. We have seen multiple dimensions of the resilience of people and societies.

The recovery should be used to increase resilience. It should trigger and accelerate the transition towards a more prosperous and more inclusive world; where economic security and people’s well-being are ensured, where no one is left behind, where sustainable development can proceed based on sustainable infrastructure and a world better equipped to deal with environmental crises, including climate change and biodiversity loss. This session will focus on two important dimensions of the reforms we need, namely the reform of our social protection systems and the mobilization of investment in sustainable infrastructure, including social infrastructure, which is a critical way to support the transformations we need.

The reforms, policies and investments we implement today to restructure and strengthen our social protection systems will impact on our economic, social, and environmental trajectories for the years to come and build resilience for future generations, So the emergency social measures implemented to contain the social impacts of COVID-19 should be maintained and evolve into efforts to achieve universal social protection throughout the life cycle, including for the poorest and most vulnerable.

Sustainable infrastructure has multiple benefits for social development and people’s well-being as well as for economic development. Infrastructure investments are catalysts for the economic recovery from the pandemic and for job creation, thus reducing economic insecurity. Sustainable infrastructure can also increase productive capacity, propel climate action and expand biodiversity protection, while strengthening resilience to withstand risks and shocks. Many developing countries however lack adequate health and education infrastructure as well as hard infrastructure in transport, water, sanitation, energy, ICT, roads and urban systems. Investment in sustainable infrastructure thus need urgent attention in the global strategy for recovering from COVID-19. The vast majority of developing countries do not have the public resources to finance infrastructure investments, nor the capacity to borrow at the low interest rates available to the advanced economies. They will have to find ways to mobilize expanded external financing, including private finance. The international community's resolve to achieve the SDGs requires new efforts and the improvement of mechanisms to mobilize resources for supporting investment in sustainable infrastructure, including social infrastructure, in all countries, especially developing countries. Strategies to mobilize sustainable infrastructure investment aligned with the guideposts provided by the SDGs, will be instrumental to realize the 2030 Agenda to support socio-economic development and build resilience.

Proposed guiding questions:

How can we restructure our social protection systems to ensure universal social protection and build resilience against future shocks?
What areas of infrastructure investment should be prioritised in the context of the global recovery drive and to maximize impacts on social and economic development?
What are the crucial policy measures for mobilizing resources for sustainable infrastructure?
In what areas are international cooperation and coordination needed the most to build resilience through investment in social protection and in sustainable infrastructure as well as to match resources and needs? What is the role of the United Nations?
What kind of reforms, systems and transformations are needed to mobilize resources for sustainable infrastructure investment in developing countries?

Chair:

H.E. Mr. Munir Akram, President of Economic and Social Council

Interactive panel discussion

Moderator:

Mr. Atif Kubursi, Professor emeritus, McMaster University, Canada

Panellists/Resource Persons:

Ms. Isabelle Durant, Acting Secretary-General of UNCTAD
Ms. Vera Songwe, Executive Secretary of ECA
Mr. Erik Berglof, Chief Economist of Asian Infrastructure investment Bank (AIIB)
Mr. Gavin Power, Executive Vice President and Chief of sustainable development and international affairs, PIMCO
Mr. Jim Hall, Professor of Climate and Environmental Risks and former Director of the Environmental Change Institute, Oxford University
Ms. Isabel Ortiz, Director, Global Social Justice Program Initiative for Policy Dialogue (IPD)
Mr. Stephen Devereux, Professorial Fellow, Co-Director, Centre for Social Protection Institute of Development Studies (IDS)

Lead discussants:

Ms. Mami Mizutori, Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Disaster Risk Reduction and Head of the United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNDRR)
Mr. Francesco La Camera, Director General of IRENA
Mr. Yannick Glemarec, Executive Director of the Green Climate Fund
Mr. Andre Zhu, Senior Vice President of Global Affairs and General Counsel, Pinduoduo, China
Mr. Refat Sabbah, President of the Global Campaign for Education (GCE) and the General Director and founder of the Teacher Creativity Center, Palestine (Education & Academia Stakeholder Group)
Mr. Suran Maharjan, Volunteers Major Group

Respondents:

H.E. Mr. Valdis Dombrovskis, Executive Vice President of the European Commission
H.E. Mr. Eamon Ryan, Minister for Transport and Minister for the Environment, Climate and Communications of Ireland