Is a Green Belt and Road Feasible? How to Mitigate the Environmental Risk of BRI Infrastructure Project

China has assured the world that its Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) will be green. While broad polices have been proposed to support this pledge, there is little evidence of project guidance or implementation, writes a team of World Bank researchers from Duke University for The Trade Post blog.

Given the history of negative environmental impacts from large infrastructure projects across the globe, the expansion of transportation infrastructure planned under BRI is worrisome. To clarify environmental risks from BRI road and rail development and examine best practices to address risks, the researchers have produced the working paper Reducing Environmental Risks from BRI Investments in Transportation Infrastructure.