IMPACTS OF LINEAR INFRASTRUCTURE: BIODIVERSITY, CLIMATE, AND COMMUNITIES

The impacts that linear infrastructure can have on biodiversity, climate resilience, and communities are intertwined. For instance, the LISA project found that linear infrastructure development created direct threats to biodiversity such as barriers to movement, roadkill, electrocution, habitat fragmentation, and habitat loss, as well as indirect threats from increased human access that enables poaching, illegal logging, unplanned development, and the introduction of invasive species.14 Many of these impacts are cumulative, and most severe at the landscape level.

7. ADB (2017) Meeting Asia’s Infrastructure Needs, cited in USAID (2021) Building a Foundation for Linear Infrastructure Safeguards in Asia, p. 14.

8. USAID (2021), p. 39.

9. Tritto, A. et al (2020) The Belt and Road Initiative in ASEAN: Overview, United Overseas Bank and Hong Kong University of Science and Technology Institute for Emerging Market Studies, p. 3.

10. Tritto, A. et al. (2020) p. 4.

11. Tritto, A. et al. (2020) p. 11.

12. These are described in Baird and Thomas, Greening the BRI in ASEAN, CJEL 4 (2020) p. 217-234.

13. ASEAN Community Vision 2025, https://www.asean.org/wp-content/uploads/images/2015/November/aec-page/ASEAN-Community-Vision-2025.pdf (paragraph 4)

14. USAID (2021) Building a Foundation for Linear Infrastructure Safeguards in Asia, p. 2.

Linear infrastructure development can accelerate climate change by increasing greenhouse gas emissions and promoting deforestation. At the same time, climate change exacerbates the impacts of linear infrastructure, including degrading ecological health and reducing the resilience provided by ecosystem services. The long lifespan of linear infrastructure projects means that future climate scenarios also need to be considered in the design and planning of projects. Infrastructure may be developed on an assumption that ecosystem services will provide resilience to natural hazards—such as mangroves protecting against storm surges—but climate change can erode such resilience, exposing infrastructure assets to unforeseen risks. Changes to the natural environment that result from climate change can impact the long-term financial viability of assets15 such as creating an increased risk of landslides that requires costly engineering solutions.

Linear infrastructure has both positive and negative impacts on local communities: positive impacts include increased access to services and facilities or short-term employment opportunities during construction, while potential negative impacts could include losing transportation access if bypassed, or increased road safety risks, restrictions on land access, heightened disputes, and environmental health risks (e.g., from gas pipelines). The most vulnerable are generally the most affected. Thus, inclusivity in linear infrastructure development means not only considering potential community impacts in project design but also providing opportunities for meaningful participation for all stakeholders throughout all phases of the project lifecycle.