Urban innovation: how to finance a sustainable infrastructure

The Swiss Energy Council, WEC’s Swiss committee, was a supporting organisation for the 2nd Sustainable Infrastructure Financing Summit, held in Basel, Switzerland, on 21–22 February.  This was the second time that the Swiss Energy Council has supported the summit, the last one held in 2010.

The recent summit, with its substantial delegations from Asia, showed that the Asian region will be a key player for financing sustainable infrastructures.

Organised by the non-profit organisation Global Energy Basel, the summit aimed to bring together sustainable infrastructure developers – from cities, governments and the private sector – with investors. It is a meeting point of finance, technology and political skills.

The results and the networks established at the summit could be valuable to the World Energy Council’s forthcoming studies focusing on urban innovation. As half of the world’s population live in cities, where about three-quarters of global economic output are produced, urban innovation is a key solution to the world’s energy and climate challenges.