Putting People First, a Necessary Change in the Appraisal of Major Infrastructure Projects

Abstract

Public decision-makers must ensure that investments make economic sense and are financially sustainable. When privately financed through public-private partnership agreements, a project has to be bankable as well. In the present political setting, an investment is also expected to be analyzed in terms of its contribution to Global Environmental Objectives (GEOs) and Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). This means producing relevant information on its contribution to environmental sustainability as well as to social and economic progress. Information on the project’s redistribution impacts is also relevant in relation to SDGs, but particularly in relation to the UNECE vision of People First. This paper emphasizes the importance of following a rigorous methodology that incorporates these redistribution effects to assess any infrastructure investment. The paper also introduces two concepts – Value for People and Value for the Future – that are key to the evaluation of a project’s contribution to socio-economic development.