The Playbook has nearly 200 case studies spanning transport, water energy, buildings and coastal projects.

In the Anthropocene age of human activity that dominates the influence on climate and the environment, Great swaths of land are bulldozed and built up, or built out.

According to Wilderness, land clearing deforestation in Australia over the past decade has been significant, primarily driven by agriculture, forestry, and to make way for the construction of roads, rail and buildings for industry or urban development. From 2010 to 2018, approximately 1.86 million hectares of land were cleared across the country. This includes both native forest and plantation forestry.

Queensland and New South Wales have been the most affected, with Queensland alone accounting for around 799,668 hectares cleared

from 2018 to 20213. It’s a concerning trend, especially considering the impact on wildlife and ecosystems.

“Climate change and biodiversity loss cannot be meaningfully addressed without a fundamental shift in how we conceptualise, design and construct our infrastructure”, Carter Roberts, CEO WWF-US. “How can we develop our infrastructure in a way that supports and restores ecosystem health and biological diversity, helps our societies adapt to climate change and enables our journey to net zero?”

At last month’s Hong Kong’s ReThink sustainability expo, exhibitor and sponsor, AECOM, showcased  “Playbook for Nature-Positive Infrastructure Development” (the Playbook), developed in collaboration with the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) and the International Federation of Consulting Engineers (FIDIC).

“As one of the first consultants in Hong Kong to assist clients adopting the Taskforce on Nature-related Financial Disclosures (TNFD), AECOM has helped organisations to identify, assess, manage and disclose, their evolving nature-related dependencies, impacts, risks and opportunities,” said David Gallacher, executive director of environment at AECOM. “We are also working with clients to design, build and manage nature-based solutions, another crucial tool in the goal of achieving a nature-positive future.”

Leveraging their ESG and climate advisory knowledge across diverse specialties of transportation, renewable energy, and infrastructure development, AECOM delivered insightful perspectives on how to create livable cities with people-centric mobility and nature-positive built environments. 

Low Carbon Construction Materials: Green building technology for sustainable development and transforming built spaces into vibrant, community-centric neighborhoods through urban and landscape planning and design, is AECOM’s signature.

At ReThink, AECOM featured a selection of 15 ESG projects across Asia and low-carbon construction materials and applications in civil infrastructure – including the most recent example of the first global application of S960 ultra-high strength steel, used in the Footbridge under Fanling Bypass Eastern Section, Hong Kong.

AECOM  has Asia regional offices in Australia, Hong Kong, India, and Singapore:

Mobility: transit and intercity rail projects:

Experience in developing transit and intercity rail projects from concept through operation, spanning all types of mass transit systems including high-speed rail, light rail transit, and commuter rail – as well as transit-oriented development (TOD) including station design – has won the reputation as number one in Transportation for over a decade. Their latest major Asia rail projects include the Shatin to Central Link in Hong Kong, the Bangkok Purple Line in Thailand, the Klang Valley Mass Rapid Transit Lines in Malaysia, and the Thomson East Coast Line Stage 3 in Singapore. 

In Asia, their Metro Hub is in Malaysia, operating as a regional centre of excellence for rail alongside the multi-discipline transportation teams in Hong Kong and Singapore to deliver professional services throughout the project lifecycle.

AECOM is actively involved in several high-profile projects across Australia.

ON-HOLD: Melbourne Airport Rail Project: AECOM is part of a consortium negotiating the new rail connection between central Melbourne and Melbourne Airport, enhancing connectivity in Victoria.

Wind Farm Projects: AECOM has partnered with Vestas and Downer Group as the Owner’s Engineer for a wind farm project in North Queensland.

Railway Projects: Sydney Metro, Melbourne’s Metro Tunnel, Queensland’s Cross River Rail, Perth’s Metronet, Adelaide’s Gawler Rail Electrification

Are you curious to finds out more?

The Playbook referenced projects are in Europe, USA & UK. We need an Australasia edition.

– AECOM HERE+     “Playbook for Nature-Positive Infrastructure Development” HERE+