Speaking at his presidential address as President of the Institution of Civil Engineers (ICE), Prof Jim Hall, who leads the Oxford Programme on Sustainable Infrastructure Systems (OPSIS) at the Environmental Change Institute, said:
We engineers will create and operate the infrastructure systems for a sustainable future."
Professor Jim Hall, the 160th President of the Institution of Civil Engineers.
Professor Jim Hall, the ICE’s 160th President, highlighted that the industry needs to be at the forefront of the changing nature of infrastructure during his Presidential Address.
Prof Hall is an internationally recognised expert in strategic infrastructure planning.
In addition to being Professor of Climate and Environmental Risks at the University of Oxford, and OPSIS Programme Lead at the ECI, he is also a commissioner of the UK’s National Infrastructure Commission.
To build a sustainable future, Prof Hall called on ICE members to ask themselves, “does the world have the infrastructure that it needs?”
The UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) are an excellent place to start, Prof Hall said, echoing ICE Past President Keith Howells.
However, he warned that, like with net zero, the world is currently failing to meet its SDG targets.
How to create infrastructure for a sustainable future
Certain factors have led to “underperforming, over-expensive infrastructure”, Prof Hall said. For example, stop-start investment and lack of maintenance.
While there are “precious few quick wins in infrastructure”, Prof Hall said, there are ways to make infrastructure work. One such example is to plan for the long term.
Infrastructure takes a long time to create, and the benefits may take even longer to materialise, so we shouldn't be afraid of looking decades ahead.”
Prof Hall addressed the audience at ICE's HQ in London and online.
The address included an update on the global outlook, as attendees heard perspectives from around the world on what best practice looks like. Attendees were reminded that learning from and helping other countries underpins the work of the ICE-led Enabling Better Infrastructure programme, which Prof Hall chairs.
Find out more about the full address including more details about what members can expect from Prof Hall, and who his Future Leaders are that he has chosen to support him during his presidency. You can also watch Prof Hall’s Presidential Address in full.