ISC Member Update from the CEO – September 2024

Having joined ISC just one month ago I have made it a priority to get on the road and meet as many of our members as I can in old-school face-to-face meetings. My primary aim during these meetings is to listen. For those of you I have not yet met, this message provides an opportunity to introduce myself, to say why I joined the ISC, and offer some initial thoughts on how I can serve you in this new role.

My career to date has included founding two successful businesses, serving as Head of Sustainable Development for ANZ Bank and as Melbourne’s Chief Resilience Officer. I joined the ISC from PwC Australia’s Energy Transition team. At every stage I have aimed to harness the talent and commitment of dedicated teams to achieve transformational outcomes for individuals, corporates and governments.

Leading the ISC feels like a fitting and logical extension. I’ve long been an informed admirer, closely watching the ISC’s purpose, its work, and its role in shaping a structured approach to sustainability for our sector. I am energised by the tremendous team and the standout culture we have internally. But I didn’t take on this role to stand still. We have much to do to assist our members and users to achieve ever-better sustainability outcomes, in ever-more effective ways.

Also, Infrastructure matters. It consumes, embodies and enables some 70% of Australia’s and 50% of Aotearoa New Zealand’s emissions. While carbon is critical, it is just one of many ways that infrastructure affects the sustainability of communities. Through the IS Ratings and the enabling of our wider ecosystem through training and collaborative capability development of our membership, the ISC has established a world class framework for shaping, reporting, and incentivising the best intentions of the infrastructure sector, across some 36 aspects in 16 social, economic, environmental, and governance categories.

I cannot overstate the importance of a verification system that provides the evidence of sustainable outcomes, regardless of whether they are funded by the taxpayer or by investors subject to ESG disclosure regulation. Australia’s Infrastructure Policy Statement is crystal clear about the need for infrastructure to serve the communities they connect, and to do so sustainably. In New Zealand…the newly-announced National Infrastructure Agency will apply a fresh focus to the value that infrastructure will deliver in partnership with private investors.

Furthermore – and perhaps ultimately most important – the ISC provides an actively -managed pathway for whole-of-market transformation. We do this by:

• encouraging and celebrating innovation that delivers sustainability outcomes
• disseminating knowledge through case studies, training, events and webinars
• socialising it as “best practice” through the ratings tools,
• normalising it as “better BAU” when we upgrade the ratings,
• and standardising it when this leads to formal regulation.

I’d also like to highlight some recent and upcoming initiatives:

• IS Planning provides early-stage identification and costing of sustainability initiatives, and pull-through certainty into tendering and contracts right through the supply chain.
• IS Essentials offers a cost-effective reduction in complexity and scale, opening the benefits of an IS rating to projects under $100million – without losing the core purpose.
• Our Sustainability Capability Framework provides guidance for identifying, attracting and retaining desperately needed talent in the construction sector.
• The Connect Conference in Sydney from 22-24 October is the focal event, bringing together the whole ISC ecosystem to take stock, celebrate innovation and outstanding leaders, build connections and to look forward together. Please come and find me at the Conference if you have questions, concerns, requests or recommendations.
• We’re keen to capture more of the value of our collective thought leadership – building on both our working groups and other topic-specific engagements such as our supplier and circularity workshops, and converting these into a more proactive policy and communications strategy that aims to move the policy needle towards delivering more sustainable outcomes

To all of you – member organisations and individuals – that have provided the support and personally put in the hard yards on all of these initiatives – a personal thank you: you’ve set a high bar.

I’m eager to hear first-hand about life at the coalface for ISC members. These are clearly challenging times, and while we have a great foundation there is much that the ISC wants to and can do better. Please tell me where we can help in tackling the complexities and challenges associated with delivering and managing socially equitable, net zero, and nature positive infrastructure.

In closing, I’m delighted to have joined the ISC, I will continue to meet with you to discuss where you’d like us to focus our attention, and I look forward to working together to deliver infrastructure that connects, protects and empowers the communities we serve.