Dear Members,
I write during a period of global disruption — yet ISC has entered 2026 with good momentum. Our V2.2 Design and As Built rating tool has been met with strong market response, our updated training is receiving excellent feedback, and NZ Connect in early March was a great success.
We have continued to strengthen partnerships that build practical capability across the sector. We have worked with RMIT University to embed the Infrastructure Sustainability Accredited Program into its Master of Project Management, equipping students to enter the workforce, or continue advancing their careers, as qualified ISAPS. We have partnered with ConnellGriffin to deepen practical application of Sustainable procurement,and with AECOM to support organisations to respond to evolving expectations around nature-related financial disclosures.
Of course, global events do weigh heavy: the human, environmental and economic toll is significant, and every leader I speak with feels, or fears, their local impacts acutely. But disruption also sharpens priorities. Pressure on supply chains and renewed inflationary forces from the Middle East make the case for what ISC has always championed: efficient use of materials, renewable energy, innovation, and local content. This moment demands exactly what our ratings system incentivises. Added to these considerations are the consistent cost savings being demonstrated by IS rated projects. Now is the time to lean in.
I am acutely aware of the concern our call on members created at the end of last year. That message was not sent lightly. Working with the Board, I determined that transparency was the right course to keep members informed and forewarned about cashflow challenges ahead of the quieter summer period. I am pleased to report that prudent management, a strong uptick in ratings registrations, and our events and training have seen us begin the year from a restored footing. My sincere thanks to every organisation that stepped up or considered doing so.
The best organisations rise to challenges, and ISC is doing precisely that. We are focused on evolving ISC to meet the market and to ensure our members and users derive maximum value from working with us.
As many of you know, at the end of this month, we will sadly farewell Jane Nicholls after six outstanding years with the ISC. While Jane has decided to pursue new opportunities, during her time with us, she has been a valued member of the leadership team, a trusted advisor, and a builder and holder of strong relationships across our membership. We will miss Jane, but look forward to her remaining a friend of the ISC, and we wish her every success and happiness in her new endeavours.
As always, I welcome your feedback and suggestions, so please be in touch any time. – Toby Kent, Chief Executive Officer, ISC
Industry Insights and Reflections from Australia, Aotearoa New Zealand and Beyond
The first months of 2026 show a clear shift toward long–term resilience, climate alignment and more coordinated planning across horizontal infrastructure in Australia and Aotearoa New Zealand.
New Zealand: System Reform and Strategic Positioning
On 16 February,Te Waihanga – the Infrastructure Commission – released the National Infrastructure Plan, which sets a 30-year direction for how New Zealand invests, maintains, and sequences essential networks. It prioritises addressing hospital and water‑sector pressures; improving transport efficiency; strengthening asset renewals and climate resilience; and supporting long‑term growth through planning reform; corridor‑focused development; and electrification‑ready settings. The Plan encourages agencies to address their most pressing network constraints first, and to combine asset renewals with climate adaptation and targeted capacity growth to reduce lifecycle risk.
Te Waihanga also released new Senior Responsible Ownership Guidance, strengthening leadership expectations of those overseeing major public investments. This has direct implications for horizontal infrastructure, where governance capability often determines whether long‑term integrated planning can be put into practice.
Amendments to the Climate Change Response Act will be introduced later this year, reshaping how climate risk is assessed across New Zealand’s transport corridors, energy networks, and water systems. These changes sit alongside adjustments to the climate‑related disclosure system. From 31 March 2026, the system will lift the threshold for listed issuers from NZD 60 million to NZD 1 billion and remove managed investment scheme managers. Although fewer organisations will be required to report, those that remain include many of New Zealand’s significant infrastructure owners, reinforcing expectations for climate‑aligned investment decisions
Alongside the release of the National Infrastructure Plan, Aotearoa Circle launched their Natural Infrastructure Plan, including at ISC’s New Zealand Connect conference. The Plan positions wetlands, forests, dunes, waterways and soils as core infrastructure that deliver measurable economic benefits. It provides resources and business cases that demonstrate how nature‑based solutions can reduce flood and erosion risk, strengthen long‑term economic resilience and complement traditional infrastructure investment.
Australia: Infrastructure Priorities and Energy Transition 
Infrastructure Australia released the 2026 Infrastructure Priority List on 11 March, identifying nationally significant proposals to guide Commonwealth investment over the next decade. The list is more selective than in previous years and focuses on where federal involvement will have the greatest impact. Priority areas include freight productivity, port and intermodal capacity, urban transport, water security and infrastructure supporting the clean‑energy transition. The sequencing is designed to match government priorities with market capacity and to support stable long‑term delivery.
Australia’s energy transition continues to be shaped by the Annual Climate Change Statement 2025. With renewable generation now exceeding forty percent in major grids, the Capacity Investment Scheme is on track to deliver 40GW of new renewable capacity in the next 10 years, and a national target of up to seventy percent emissions reduction by 2035, the country’s transition pathway is increasingly tied to the performance of its horizontal infrastructure networks.
Transmission remains the biggest constraint, as large‑scale renewable projects outpace the delivery of high‑voltage corridors. Industry analysis by WSP highlights the importance of unlocking renewable‑energy zones, improving approval processes and coordinating work across all levels of government. An integrated approach to the planning of land use, water, and energy networks is increasingly being adopted, supported by digital planning tools.
Sustainable Finance and Risk Management
Market and policy signals point to climate risk becoming a core component of system‑level risk management. Physical climate risk, insurability and adaptation are now factors that influence financing for infrastructure. In Australia, the regulator-led Insurance Climate Vulnerability Assessment is modelling how different climate scenarios may affect insurance affordability through to 2050.The Insurance Council of Australia has recently proposed large‑scale, co‑funded flood‑defence and buy‑back programs, signalling that insurance pressures are becoming a public finance issue. In New Zealand, prudential guidance from the Reserve Bank to embed climate risk in governance reinforces the need for infrastructure owners to demonstrate resilience in order to maintain investor and community confidence.
Infrastructure Pipeline Activity
The ANZIP pipeline shows targeted movement in both countries. In New Zealand, recent updates to the Belfast to Pegasus Motorway and Woodend Bypass reflect ongoing work to improve capacity and safety along a key inter‑regional corridor. In Australia, the addition of the Gold Coast Advanced Resource Recovery Centre highlights growing investment in waste system transformation and the circular economy. Though not a transport or energy project, it will contribute to the broader horizontal infrastructure system by reducing pressure on landfill and improving regional waste resilience.
Global Context with Local Implications
International outlooks from S&P Global highlight escalating disruption from extreme weather and ongoing tension between energy security and decarbonisation as key issues affecting the infrastructure sector. AI infrastructure, such as data centres, is uniquely vulnerable to climate risks such as heatwaves and water shortages. This is relevant for Australia and New Zealand, both managing ageing networks and growing climate volatility. In both countries, where digital connectivity is critical to economic performance and emergency management, there is a need for integrated planning and a strong resilience focus across energy and water networks that serve digital infrastructure hubs.
Following the US–Israel strikes on Iran in February, shipping movements in the Middle East have experienced disruption. This is likely to increase fuel costs and lengthen delivery times for materials and freight moving through global supply chains.
