Member State Advisory Group on Climate Change:

An update on the work of Coalition for Disaster Resilient Infrastructure

[30 March 2022]

Remarks by Ambassador T.S. Tirumurti

Permanent Representative of India to the United Nations

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It is my pleasure to provide an update on the work being done by Coalition for Disaster Resilient Infrastructure or CDRI.

2. India’s call for promoting disaster resilience of infrastructure through the Coalition for Disaster Resilient Infrastructure (CDRI) has been receiving global attention, with many new countries adopting the CDRI charter. Currently, CDRI’s Membership has expanded to include 30 countries and seven multilateral organizations. There is growing footprint in Africa region. Madagascar is the latest member endorsing the Charter.

3. CDRI's strategic initiative for the Small Island Developing States, 'Infrastructure for Resilient Island States (IRIS)' was launched at the World Leaders Summit at COP26 by the heads of states from India, Australia, UK, Jamaica, Fiji, and Mauritius. IRIS is envisioned to be truly owned by SIDS to achieve sustainable development through a systemic approach to promote resilient, sustainable and inclusive infrastructure. We are grateful to ASG Selwin Hart for voicing his support through his keynote address at IRIS high-level dialogue at COP26.

4. The initial phase of IRIS is designed for 8 years, from 2022 to 2030 with an initial corpus of US$50 million. With financial commitments from India, UK, Australia and European Union, around 80% of the target corpus has been raised. Apart from this, United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), Asian Development Bank (ADB) and US Agency for International Development (USAID), Government of Japan and Government of France are providing continuous technical support for operationalization of IRIS.

5. To focus global attention on the critical and multi-faceted challenges posed to disaster and climate-resilient infrastructure, CDRI’s Global Flagship Report on Disaster and Climate Resilient Infrastructure is poised to be its principal vehicle to contribute to the global evidence base on infrastructure resilience. The inaugural Flagship Report will be anchored on the following five pillars – (i) A Global Risk and Resilience Assessment of Infrastructure Systems; (ii) Disaster and Climate Infrastructure Resilience Index; (iii) Thematic Section on Nature-Based Solutions; (iv) Progress Review of Global Goals and Targets for Resilient Infrastructure and (v) Financing for Climate Resilient Infrastructure.

6. CDRI is making concerted efforts to engage various stakeholder institutions and individuals to promote innovation and resilience in infrastructure. One such initiative is the “DRI Connect” which will be a web-based platform for stakeholders engaged in infrastructure sectors.

7. I would specifically like to highlight the CDRI Fellowship Programme, a seed grant, providing financial support and capacity development opportunities for individuals designing solutions for real-world problems in DRI. The Fellowship has been facilitating the progress of 21 Fellows from the first cohort over the past year. For the Fellowship Cohort of 2022-23, CDRI received 160 applications from 18 countries. The Fellows for the second cohort will be announced at ICDRI 2022 in May 2022.

8. Following CDRI’s first successful engagement at COP held at Glasgow, CDRI will emphasize on Resilience of Transitioning Infrastructure Systems as a goal that is instrumental to realizing 1.5 °C and ensuring the well-being of the most vulnerable. With the wide recognition for the need of metrics for measuring infrastructure resilience, CDRI’s Global Infrastructure Risk Model and Resilience Index, which is a part of the Flagship Report on Disaster and Climate Resilient Infrastructure can play a prominent role in the coming years.

9. Several countries have supported the mandate of CDRI through the commitment of technical assistance and financial resources. In addition to India, the United Kingdom, the United States of America, the Netherlands, Australia and European Union have pledged their financial support to CDRI’s programmes and projects. The Coalition has also received technical assistance through secondments and nomination of experts to different project Steering Committees from Australia, Canada, Chile, European Union, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Netherlands, United Kingdom, and the United States. We are confident that CDRI will continue to position itself as a global hub on resilient infrastructure.

Thank you.

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