International Conference on Disaster Resilient Infrastructure

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• Recently, the Coalition for Disaster Resilient Infrastructure (CDRI) in partnership with the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) commenced the International Conference on Disaster Resilient Infrastructure 2022.
  • Heads of states from CDRI member countries including India attended the conference.

Coalition for Disaster Resilient Infrastructure (CDRI)

• India initiated CDRI as a global partnership of 27 countries. India officially launched the CDRI at the 2019 UN Climate Action Summit in New York on 23 September 2019.
• It is an international coalition of countries, UN agencies, multilateral development banks, the private sector, and academic institutions.
• Aim: To promote disaster-resilient infrastructure.
• Headquarters: New Delhi, India (Interim Secretariat)
• Founders: 
  • India,  Australia, Bhutan, Fiji, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Maldives, Mexico, Mongolia, Rwanda, Sri Lanka and the United Kingdom. (13 countries).
  • The World Bank and the Green Climate Fund also supported the launch.
  • As of March 2021, 29 members, consisting of 22 national governments and 7 organisations have joined CDRI.
• Working in India:
  • Resilience of power systems to extreme temperatures and extreme events, extreme rainfall, etc. 
  • In multiple sectors, CDRI is looking at how to engage different states in making them disaster and climate-resilient.
  • It is monitoring disasters like the heat waves in India. 
• Major focus on Infrastructure: 
  • CDRI works on infrastructure and not disaster risk management in general. 
  • While CDRI is closely tracking the impact of heatwaves and other extreme events on infrastructure systems, it is not specifically looking at mortality alone.
• Recent Developments:
  • It launched a programme to help small island states develop resilience to climate crises at the 2021 UN Climate Change Conference (COP26) in Glasgow in November.

Importance of CDRI

• Complementing the International Solar Alliance (ISA)
• The leadership of Indian for climate Action and Disaster Resilience at the global level.
• Support India’s resilient missions abroad.
• Provide opportunities for Indian infrastructure & technology firms to expand services abroad.

Need for Disaster Resilient Infrastructure

• The Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction (SFDRR) highlights the role of improved disaster resilience of infrastructure as a cornerstone for sustainable development.
• The SFDRR includes four specific targets related to loss reduction:
  • Reduce global disaster mortality.
  • Reduce the number of affected people.
  • Reduce direct disaster economic loss.
  • Reduce disaster damage to critical infrastructure.
  • Target (4) on infrastructure is an important prerequisite to achieving the other loss reduction targets set out in the framework.

Disaster Resilience at Global Level

• Netherlands’s infrastructure and water management ministry and the Global Centre on Adaptation highlights on accelerating adaptation investments in infrastructure for a climate-resilient future.
• A discussion titled ‘Engagement and Delivery of Disaster Resilient Infrastructure Around the World’ focuses on lessons learned and best practices the American government agencies have adopted in promoting disaster resilient infrastructure. 
• Challenges for US: Unlike developing countries, the US has slightly different challenges in the sense that infrastructure systems there are completing their life cycle. 
  • They need to replace the ageing infrastructure. 
  • They too have an opportunity to build it better and they have a lot of experience. For example, US army corps engineers are experts in building flood protection, coastal protection systems.

Conclusion

• The demographic transition with an increase in population as well as a change in the age composition and rapid urbanisation are changing the demand for energy, transport, housing, health, education, telecom, and concomitant infrastructure needs.
• Also, there are transitions in social interactions and behaviour.
• Therefore, governments and decision makers need to develop and implement policy for a more proactive approach focusing on preparedness. 

Source: HT + PIB