Date of publication
24 July 2020

Overcoming the infrastructure investment gap, including recent insights in the context of COVID-19

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24/07/2020 - This report reflects investors’ views on issues and challenges affecting private investment in infrastructure and presents a set of proposals to improve the investment environment for infrastructure. It is the result of a prolonged dialogue with private sector investors in infrastructure, as part of a collaboration facilitated at the initiative of the G20 Infrastructure Working Group (IWG) under the Saudi Arabia G20 Presidency, supported by the OECD. Over 100 investors participated and shared inputs, reflecting diverse views on infrastructure investment in global markets.

The proposals in the report are based on four events/seminars and numerous conference calls and interviews with institutional investors and asset managers on ways to overcome the infrastructure investment gap and to mobilise higher levels of investment for quality infrastructure. It also conveys important insights in infrastructure in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic. The report was developed in consultation with G20 IWG and G20/OECD Task Force members and observers, who provided numerous comments at meetings and in written form.

Proposals in the report are grouped into seven major categories:

• The role of infrastructure in the context of the pandemic

• Strategies and frameworks for sustainable infrastructure and project development

• Capital markets and regulatory frameworks

• Risk mitigation

• Data

• Sustainable and ESG investment in infrastructure

• Technology and Innovation

The report also calls for further dialogue and consideration of a number of issues in future work and cooperation between the private sector and governments. As such, the continuation of this work through a structured collaboration is considered.

Further reading

Sustainable Infrastructure Policy Initiative

Investment governance and the integration of ESG factors (2017)

Investing in Climate, Investing in Growth (2017)

G20/OECD High-Level Principles on Long-Term Investment Financing by Institutional Investors

G20-OECD work on long-term financing

OECD Centre on Green Finance and Investment

Trends in Large Pension Fund Investment in Infrastructure (2012)