Investing in resilience gives a 400 per cent return

SEVERAL WORLD LEADERS, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his British counterpart Boris Johnson, recently came together virtually to attend the first international conference organised by the newly-formed Coalition for Disaster Resilient Infrastructure (CDRI).

- REKHA DIXIT

The coalition was mooted by India a few years ago as a move towards mitigating climate change, an area in which India has positioned itself as a leader. With several developed nations joining this coalition, India’s leadership has been acknowledged. In an interview with THE WEEK, CDRI director-general Sandeep Poundrik said that both developing and advanced nations would have to incorporate more resilience in their systems. Excerpts:

Q CDRI has grown in a major way in a short while, what with the UK as co-chair now.

A Indeed. CDRI is the second multilateral organisation after the International Solar Alliance to be promoted by India in recent years, and also the second to be headquartered in India. The coalition was launched in September 2019, and we already have 22 countries and seven international organisations on board, with the European Union being the latest to join. All major countries who are active in disaster resilience—Japan, Australia, Germany—are on board. Our focus is now on island-developing states, as they are the most vulnerable to climate change events. We also want to reach out across Africa.

Q China and Russia are not part of the coalition, though. Why?

A India invited 40 countries before the launch; not all have joined yet. We are in talks with them. Russia is actively considering the proposal.