Green infrastructure: A deliverable alternative?

A new European Commission strategy promises guidance and an EU financing facility to encourage "green infrastructure" investments, but there are major hurdles to overcome says Malcolm Dowden, consultant and Helen Hutton, associate at Charles Russell.

For advocates of green infrastructure the EU announcement recently regarding more guidance and the promise of future funding mechanisms for the sector is undoubtedly good news. At the announcement in May, environment commissioner Janez Potočnik said: “Building green infrastructure is often a good investment for nature, for the economy and for jobs. We should provide society with solutions that work with nature instead of against it, where that makes economic and environmental sense”. However, in practice it is extremely difficult to trace any significant or direct connection between i...