Coalition for Disaster Resilient Infrastructure                        

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Context:  Infrastructure for Resilient Island States or IRIS, the new programme to secure and strengthen critical infrastructure in small island states against disasters induced by climate change is launched.

• IRIS is the first major initiative by the Coalition for Disaster Resilient Infrastructure (CDRI) started by India in 2019.

What is CDRI?

• The effort is to climate-proof critical infrastructure in member countries.
• Twenty-six countries, including the US, Germany, UK, Australia, Brazil, Bangladesh, Afghanistan, Nepal, Bhutan, Sri Lanka, and Japan are already part of the coalition.
• The coalition, will serve as a ‘knowledge centre’ for member countries to share and learn best practices with respect to disaster-proofing of infra.
• It will work towards making existing and upcoming infrastructure in member countries more robust and resilient against climate disasters such as floods, heat, cyclones, forest fires, and rain.
• According to CDRI estimates, every one dollar invested in making infrastructure more resilient in low- and middle-income countries can potentially save losses of over $4 when a disaster strikes.
• The aim of CDRI is to minimise the damage and disruptions.

Has India taken such a global climate initiative before CDRI?

• CDRI is India’s second international climate initiative; the first was the International Solar Alliance (ISA), launched at the 2015 Paris climate change conference.
• ISA’s main objective is to promote largescale harnessing and exploitation of solar energy.
• Equatorial and tropical regions get very good sunlight for most of the year, which is sufficient to meet the energy demands of many countries in this belt.
• ISA is working towards boosting the use of solar power in the region, mainly by bringing down the cost of technology and finance, which can facilitate rapid, mass deployment of solar energy.
• It hopes to do so by aggregating the demand from a large number of countries, standardising equipment and grid, and promoting research and development.
• To take this idea forward, the One Sun One World One Grid (OSOWOG) proposes a common grid through more than 100 countries.
• The idea is to stabilise energy supply, overcome local and natural fluctuations in the availability of sunlight, and to maintain reliable baseload capacities at all times.
• ISA and CDRI are an attempt by India to claim climate mission leadership at the global Both have received wide support from developing as well as developed countries.
• The solar alliance will result in the mitigation of greenhouse gas emissions through a largescale switch from fossil fuels to solar energy, while also addressing issues of energy access and energy security.
• CDRI is aimed towards achieving the adaptation goal.
• Together, they form the bases of India’s vision for global climate action that also takes into account issues of equity, development, and the special needs of developing and least developed countries.

What is IRIS?

• As OSOWOG is a specific work programme to realize the objectives of the ISA, IRIS seeks to operationalise the CDRI initiative.
• Small island states are the most vulnerable to the impacts of climate change.
• As sea levels rise, they face a threat of being wiped off the map. According to CDRI, several small island states have lost 9 per cent of their GDPs in single disasters during the last few years.
• Unsurprisingly, several small island states have joined the IRIS platform, and drawn up plans for implementation.
• The bulk of the work would involve mobilising and directing financial resources towards building resilient infrastructure, retrofitting existing infrastructure, development of early warning systems, and development and sharing of best practices.

https://indianexpress.com/article/explained/explained-iris-cdri-infrastructure-climate-change-7601611/