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17 Dec 2021
GS Paper 3
Disaster Management
Q. What do you understand by disaster-resilient infrastructure? Highlight the role that can be played by the Coalition for Disaster Resilient Infrastructure (CDRI) in this regard. (250 words)
- Define disaster resilient infrastructure.
- Discuss the role of CDRI in creating disaster-resilient infrastructure system.
- Conclude with guiding principles of CDRI.
Answer
Investment in new infrastructure will be a cornerstone of sustainable development. A large part of this infrastructure will inevitably be exposed to a plethora of natural hazards including floods, earthquakes, storms, tsunamis etc. At the same time, there is a risk that the new infrastructure may itself create new disaster risks.
The objective of disaster resilient infrastructure is to generate new knowledge on hazard risk assessment, disaster-resilient technologies and mechanisms for integrating risk reduction in infrastructure financing. This will help ensure that all new infrastructure is not only disaster-resilient itself but also does not create new disaster risks
- Coalition for Disaster Resilient Infrastructure is a partnership of national governments, UN agencies and programmes, multilateral development banks, financing mechanisms, private sector, and knowledge institutions that will promote the resilience of new and existing infrastructure systems to climate and disaster risks, thereby ensuring sustainable development.
- CDRI envisions enabling a measurable reduction in infrastructure losses from disasters, including extreme climate events. CDRI thus aims to enable the achievement of objectives of expanding universal access to basic services and enabling prosperity as enshrined in the Sustainable Development Goals, while also working at the intersection of the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction and the Paris Climate Agreement.
- CDRI will provide member countries technical support and capacity development, research and knowledge management, and advocacy and partnerships to facilitate and encourage investment in disaster-resilient infrastructure systems.
- CDRI will focus on developing resilience in ecological infrastructure, social infrastructure with a concerted emphasis on health and education, and economic infrastructure with special attention to transportation, telecommunications, energy, and water.
- Within 2-3 years, the coalition aims to have a 3-fold impact of achieving considerable changes in member countries’ policy frameworks, future infrastructure investments and high reduction in economic losses from climate-related events and natural disasters across sectors.
CDRI will uphold the UN Agenda 2030 principle of leaving no one, no place, and no ecosystem behind, focusing on the most vulnerable regions and populations, while enabling inclusive and deliberative processes that recognize national and local efforts as primal. CDRI also functions as a clearinghouse of knowledge and expertise and provides a mix of country-specific and global activities.
