Infrastructure facing environmental and financial challenges – ICE report

Infrastructure in 2023 compiles the predictions of civil engineers working across disciplines including energy, flooding, transport and tunnelling.  

The report predicts that there will be less money for infrastructure projects and a greater emphasis on boosting productivity and using technology and data to drive efficiencies.  

It also predicts that ‘huge strides’ will be needed in the next five years if the UK is to meet its net-zero carbon commitments, with measurement of the whole-life carbon impacts of infrastructure playing a pivotal role. 

Almost every section of the report calls for greater collaboration between civil engineers and those from other disciplines including town planners, architects, environmental specialists and those working in the technology sector.  

In a statement, ICE’s vice president David Porter said: “Given our reliance on infrastructure, and the fact that it accounts for half of all energy-related carbon emissions, civil engineers have a crucial role to play in helping society to meet the climate change challenge.