Disaster resilient infrastructure need of the hours amid climate crisis

 ICDRI 2022 will present a critical discourse on the approach to put people at the centre of infrastructure development and resilience with an emphasis on ensuring the resilience of transitioning infrastructure systems to climate and disaster risks: Kamal Kishore, NDMA Member Secretary

New Delhi: The Coalition for Disaster Infrastructure Resilient Infrastructure (CDRI) will organize the International Conference on Disaster Resilient Infrastructure from Wednesday to promote the best practices and knowledge to build climate resilient infrastructure systems in the country.

The three day conference, which will be organised in partnership with the US agency for International Development (USAID), will explore the way to strengthen the resilience for transitioning infrastructure systems with emphasis on “human- centered approaches’ ‘.

Apprising about the upcoming event, Member Secretary, NDMA and co-chair Executive Committee CDRI Kamal Kishore said that, “The conference will be focused on how we are looking at physical disasters and climate-resilient infrastructure systems for the future. We are also looking at physical risks; we are not looking at risks arising from a financial crisis.

“The importance of the conclave is that the infrastructure systems in the 21st century are changing very rapidly. We are building new kinds of infrastructure and in that, we have very little experience of how to make them withstand disasters and extreme climate and weather events” he said.

Calling the resilience of infrastructure the “need of the hour” in view of changing climate and weather events, he said “Infrastructure is built to provide reliable, sustainable, predictable, and high-quality services to people.

“ICDRI 2022 will present a critical discourse on the approach to put people at the centre of infrastructure development and resilience with an emphasis on ensuring the resilience of transitioning infrastructure systems to climate and disaster risks.” he added.

The Coalition for Disaster Resilient Infrastructure (CDRI), launched by the Prime Minister of India at the Climate Action Summit in New York in 2019, with an aim address the challenges of building resilience infrastructure systems and associated development.

The conference will also deliberate on the need for integrating resilience into infrastructure systems to support the immediate global climate goals, adaptation for the most vulnerable, and the attainment of energy transition targets.

Talking about the partnership with India, Mission Director USAID India, Veena Reddy said that “Engaging the global community is the only way we will tackle the climate crisis. We expect the ICDRI 2022 not only to demonstrate the urgency of the challenges we face, but to inspire action on disaster-resilient infrastructure around the world. This year’s theme reminds us that in developing solutions we must take a people-centered approach that prioritizes community resilience and solutions for the most vulnerable among us.”

“CDRI will also feature a Resilient Infrastructure Marketplace to promote and strengthen opportunities for both the public and private sector to engage in best practices in disaster and climate resilient infrastructure” said the statement.

The conference will feature multi-sectoral and multi-country discussions around infrastructure transitions, risk governance and finance, innovation, and human-centered, ecologically sensitive design for building resilience.

The first day of the conference features a discussion titled “Engagement and Delivery of Disaster Resilient Infrastructure around the World’ which shares lessons learned and best practices adopted by key United States Government agencies in promoting disaster resilient infrastructure.

On the third day, a joint session will be organized by the Ministry of Infrastructure and Water Management of the Netherlands and the Global Center on Adaptation, to engage in a high-level dialogue on accelerating adaptation investments in infrastructure for a climate-resilient future.