Financing the resilience of infrastructures

French event

The resilience of infrastructures is a key issue, as demonstrated by the bill on the resilience of critical infrastructures and the strengthening of cyber security tabled in mid-October. Infrastructures are exposed to increasing risks - natural, technological and man-made. Over and above the challenge of assessing investment needs to ensure resilience, the issue at stake is the financing of investments to ensure continuity of service and/or avoid the costs - both financial and human - associated with repairs following increasing climatic hazards.

This raises a number of questions:

• Between anticipation and the cost of inaction, how do infrastructure operators integrate resilience into their decision-making and investment cycles?
• Given the volume of funding required, how can an economic optimum be found? What trade-offs should be made between investment to ensure business continuity and the redefinition of expected service levels?
• How can we overcome the high costs of resilient infrastructures while ensuring long-term profitability? What about internalising climate risk in economic models to ensure that adaptation costs are covered?

Speakers:

• Julien Brunel, Chef économiste, SNCF Réseau
• Catherine Halbwachs, Directrice RSE de la Direction du parc nucléaire thermique, EDF
• Christine Rodwell, Présidente, Vivae

This debate was moderated by Angelos Souriadakis, Fondateur et Senior Partner, Cabinet Kea Ylios.

• Read the synthesis of the debate
• Watch the replay