“Marine and Freshwater Infrastructure is the collection of waterborne works at coastlines, estuaries, rivers, canals and in port areas. In general, such works provide flood protection or enable port development, urban development and navigability of waterways. In other cases these works serve to protect or restore nature and recreational areas”, says Arjan Hijdra, Managing Director of Vital Ports and one of authors to the report. “Both the Sustainable Marine and Freshwater Infrastructure sector and the Financial sector seek to scale up their green portfolio and it is quite obvious that synergy can be found in cooperation. However, both sectors are mutually unfamiliar with each other’s environment which hinders to capture this synergy right away. We believe that this dedicated report could help further engagement between these two sectors.”

About the Report

The contributing organisations explored what is needed in order to improve the connection between green-labelled funds and sustainable waterborne infrastructure projects. Another conclusion is the need to clarify sustainable concepts and associated financial structures in order to introduce the topic to both the financial sector and the dredging community. But also to develop ideas on how to bring this to mainstream infrastructure investment asset classes. The report provides content for further dialogue to foster the uptake of green marine and freshwater concepts by private investors.