The global infrastructure financing gap is estimated to be $15 trillion by 2040, most of which represents needs in developing countries. Institutional investors seek assets with long-term and stable returns, characteristic of infrastructure projects, yet tend to avoid emerging markets due to concerns about the investment environment and corruption, and the need to adhere to international environmental, social, and governance (ESG) standards.

The Blue Dot Network (BDN) is a mechanism to certify quality and sustainable infrastructure projects that meet robust global standards. Join us as we discuss this new initiative that aims to catalyse private investment for quality infrastructure in low- and middle-income countries.

Discussion points:

• BDN meets a market need by consolidating existing international standards for quality infrastructure into a single, comprehensive, easy-to-access, first-of-its-kind, and independent third-party certification mechanism that could facilitate the creation of a pipeline of bankable, lower-risk projects in emerging markets while protecting investors from reputational risks.
• BDN enables investors and infrastructure developers to easily demonstrate alignment with internal and external ESG and other standards and could potentially reduce inefficiencies from duplicative due diligence requirements from various development finance institutions and multilateral development banks.
• BDN could also solidify global norms regarding quality infrastructure by supporting robust standards related to environment, climate, life-cycle costs, transparency, debt sustainability, anti-corruption, human rights, local development, and more.

Speakers:

• Roland de Marcellus, Deputy Assistant Secretary for International Finance and Development, Bureau of Economic and Business Affairs, US Department of State
• Lavinia Bauerochse, Global Head of ESG Corporate Bank, Deutsche Bank
• José Luis Blasco, Global Sustainability Director, ACCIONA
• Matthew Jordan Tank, Director of Sustainable Infrastructure Policy & Project Preparation, EBRD

This webinar is part of our global webinar series 30 MINUTES WITH… where we explore the latest developments in infrastructure investment worldwide.