More than600 millionpeople lack clean drinking water. Drought affects more than 35 million every year. And by 2050,13亿人will live in flood-prone areas. Most people think that building dams, water treatment plants and other infrastructure is the only solution for these problems—but that’s only because they haven’t considered the many benefits of green infrastructure.

绿色的森林,湿地和珊瑚礁等绿色基础设施可以便宜,有效地增强传统建筑或“灰色基础设施”的性能。例如,绿色屋顶可以捕获雨水,减少洪水和污水处理系统的压力;红树林可以通过减少风暴潮来补充海墙。然而,绿灰色项目仍然相对较小的利基市场,主要是因为关于它们的可行性的持续神话。

A世界银行和WRI的新报告展示如何将绿色基础设施整合到主流项目计划和投资中可以帮助填补世界水基础设施差距。在这里,我们消除了五个神话,持有绿色基础设施:

1)神话:基础设施由混凝土和钢制成。

诸如森林,洪泛区,土壤和湿地之类的自然系统可以有助于清洁,可靠的供水,防止干旱和洪水,并提高农业生产力。绿色和灰色基础设施可以同时使用,以提高整体性能和气候弹性,通常以较低的成本。必威官网是真的吗

Some governments have moved beyond thinking of infrastructure as only construction projects.Peru现在,有一项法律要求水公用事业将其部分收入指定为重新投资于绿色基础设施,例如造林和可持续的农业项目。加利福尼亚将流域归类为基础设施组件。中国的National Program on Sponge Cities旨在减少雨水泛滥和再利用雨水,覆盖可以捕获水的材料中的80%的城市地区,例如绿色屋顶和可渗透的人行道。

2) MYTH: Green infrastructure only offers environmental benefits.

尽管绿色基础设施的环境利益很难错过,但我们有时会忽略这些项目的技术,社会和经济利益,从而使它们具有独特的优势。

Green infrastructure can be paired with gray systems to provide lower-cost services. For example, restoring degraded forests can be cheaper than upgrading a conventional water treatment plant, while boosting water quality in the same way. Forests naturally capture sediment, which improves water quality. Removing sediment from water is often a water treatment plant’s costliest task.

Conserving water through green infrastructure shows how natural solutions can boost local economies. The China Water Conservation Project increased farmer income by as much as 200 percent and raised groundwater levels in the country’s arid northern plains by using sustainable farming techniques as green infrastructure. The World Bank calculated the economic rate of return for these measures to be 19-24 percent.

Green roofs can capture rainwater, reducing flooding and stress on sewer systems. Photo by DJANDYW.COM/Flickr
Green roofs can capture rainwater, reducing flooding and stress on sewer systems. Photo by DJANDYW.COM/Flickr

3)神话:基础设施开发项目总是遇到“不在我的后院”(Nimby)态度

绿色和灰色的基础设施项目都可以为当地社区提出关于其土地使用,生计和生活方式的艰难决定。但是,如果设计良好,绿色基础设施可以带来社交共同利益,从而阻止了一些新建筑如此普遍的尼姆比主义。

Green infrastructure projects are unique in that communities often take some ownership of them, tending to their long-term operation and maintenance. For example, the Watershed Organization Trust (WOTR) engaged communities in Maharashtra, India to bring water back to the Kumbharwadi watershed. They helped community members implement solutions such as reforesting degraded areas and terracing land to slow and store water runoff. The project helped increase net agricultural incomes 10-fold, replenish groundwater and increase the value of farms. The project’s success can be attributed to how it put equitable decision making and community ownership at the heart of its green infrastructure initiatives. Twenty years in, WOTR’s projects in Maharashtra are still going strong.

4) MYTH: Infrastructure is carbon intensive and vulnerable to climate change

The cement industry is the source of about8%全球碳排放量,使传统的基础设施构建成为高度碳密集型的过程。另一方面,绿色基础设施是一个潜在的巨大碳水槽。停止森林砍伐和恢复森林可能每年去除二氧化碳与去除一样多的二氧化碳15亿辆汽车from the roads. It is a main reason thatmore than 100 countries作为其国家气候计划的一部分,他们致力于保护或恢复生态系统。必威官网是真的吗

Green infrastructure can also boost climate resilience since it is flexible, reversible and can adapt to changing conditions in ways that built systems cannot. For example, a flood control levee can break when storms get too strong; a well-managed flood plain is generally unaffected by extreme weather.

同时,绿色基础设施也容易受到气候变化的影响,物种变化,野火和海平面上升的威胁对自然界造成了损失。必威官网是真的吗保护这些系统并应对气候变化将保留他们可以提供的好处。必威官网是真的吗

Mangrove forests can complement sea walls by reducing storm surge. Photo by Adam Fagen/Flickr
Mangrove forests can complement sea walls by reducing storm surge. Photo by Adam Fagen/Flickr

5)神话:基础设施昂贵且难以融资。

Every year from now until 2030, the world willneed to investan estimated $171-229 billion on water supply and sanitation, $23-335 billion on flood protection, and $43-100 billion on irrigation to meet the Sustainable Development Goals. Using only gray systems would result in numbers at the higher end of these spectrums. Exploring natural solutions can reduce the costs needed to fill service gaps.

为基础设施项目融资通常是使其脱颖而出的最难步骤,但是绿色项目可以将新的资助者带入餐桌。绿色基础设施旨在生产环境和社会共同利益,从而增强其整体经济生存能力,并使其对以任务为导向的资助者特别有吸引力。例如,去年加利福尼亚的森林弹性债券吸引了$4.6 million在私人资本中,通过营销该项目的防火风险降低和居住区的供水福利,用于森林修复项目。

Green Infrastructure Is Next-Generation Infrastructure

The next generation of infrastructure must be attuned to the realities of the 21st century and make use of all the best available strategies. That is why it’s critical for decision-makers to systematically consider the role of natural systems and, where appropriate, integrate green and gray infrastructure. The新报告提供有关如何以满足基础设施需求的方式将绿色基础设施整合到计划和投资中的指导,方法和示例,从而降低了成本和利益当地社区。在每个项目中融合绿色基础设施都没有意义,但依靠事实而不是神话来做出水管理和开发决策很重要。