Alternative business models for flood risk management infrastructure

Abstract

Over the next 100 years, it is estimated that England will need £30.6-1bn annual investment to manage flood and coastal erosion risk. Given constraints on central government spending following the 2008 financial crisis, the full burden of this is unlikely to be met by government alone. There is therefore a need to consider the potential for alternative business models for flood risk management infrastructure. An infrastructure business model describes how value is created, delivered and captured over the life cycle of the infrastructure system – this includes but is not limited to funding and financing. Alternative business models are starting to emerge across a range of infrastructure sectors, predominantly motivated by two key factors: (i) mainstream approaches do not deliver the benefits that communities want, (ii) tax payer funds are too constrained to deliver all the infrastructure investment that is sought. This paper presents and discusses a number of alternative business models for flood risk management infrastructure. Those currently under consideration focus on funding and financing, important though these issues are, it is only by capturing social, environmental and other values of infrastructure will flood risk stakeholders be able to identify approaches that are best suited to deliver their objectives and for alternative business models to emerge in practise.