Presentation: ‘Private Financing of Green Solutions’ by Mark van Geest (Boskalis) − Project Finance Manager

Lots of investors and financial institutions are looking to deploy their funds in infrastructure and the group is growing – green and sustainable qualifications are more often a pre-requisite. The sustainability market has seen a rapid coming of age and is partially driven by regulatory policies such as the Paris Agreement 2015, many green deals all over the world and recovery funds to fight the effect of the COVID pandemic. In general the strong awareness with regard to preserving and enhancing nature and addressing climate change make green solutions and sustainability more important for all capital markets. Private capital can accelerate the green transition of sustainable infrastructure solutions, so how can we unlock the private capital potential?

Sustainability Committee

With an ever increasing focus on sustainability the recently established Sustainability Committee (2020) defined a sustainability framework, giving direction for both present and future activities. With the publication of the book “Dredging for Sustainable Infrastructure”, and more recently the report Financing of Sustainable Marine and Freshwater Infrastructure: A joint study to explore financing of green coastal, river and port projects, this has become even more of a spearhead for IADC.

At IADC’s 2^nd digital Annual General Meeting, held on 16 September 2021, 4 members of the Sustainability Committee and the Secretary General gave presentations highlighting a number of their activities. The focus here has been on developing tools and methodologies that will help IADC and its members to promote even further, and to a wider audience, the “know-how” and the commitment that the industry has to ensuring dredging projects are executed in the most sustainable way possible.