Sustainable development through quality infrastructure: emerging focus on quality over quantity

Abstract

This is an advocacy rather than scientific paper that offers a narrative on the process of shaping the G20 Principles on Quality Infrastructure, announced at the G20 Leaders’ Summit in Osaka in June 2019. Caught between a rock and a hard place – the rock being the United States with its sphere of influence in which Japan has historically thrived, and the hard place being China with its global reach that forces Japan to constantly seek new ways of coexistence – Japan used its G7 platform in 2016, and recently its prestigious G20 presidency, to secure a unique space for itself by offering its vision on quality infrastructure. While hitting the mark on economic governance, social sustainability and inclusivity aspects, the Principles fall short when it comes to addressing environmental considerations and the key issue of climate change. Nonetheless, in a world lacking universal and authoritative standards on quality infrastructure, the Principles could still have significant impact in developing countries. The paper offers observations on ways to keep the Principles both relevant and practicable, including through collaboration between China and Japan in their infrastructure endeavours across Asia, Africa, and beyond.