By Sushmita Roy

As the frequency and impact of natural disasters increase around the world, Prime Minister Narendra Modi of India launched a global coalition for Disaster Resilient Infrastructure at the UN Climate Action Summit in New York on Tuesday. The idea is to invest in resilient infrastructure to avoid damage and better prepare for catastrophic events.

India continues its efforts to appear as a climate champion. Picture Credit: Global Paranoma/ Flickr

The proposal was first introduced by PM Modi at the Asian Ministerial Conference on Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR) in 2016. Around a year later in May 2017, India was one of the few countries present at the UN's Global Platform for DRR and held five bilateral meetings with countries across the Asia Pacific Region to work towards building the coalition that aims to facilitate knowledge exchange, provide technical support and help building infrastructure.

Mami Mizutori, the Secretary-General’s Special Representative for Disaster Risk Reduction, welcomed the effort of the global coalition in New York.

“Seven million people have been displaced this year alone, through cyclones that have laid waste to towns and homes in the Bahamas, India and Mozambique. A lack of risk-informed resilient infrastructure results in lost lives, lost homes and lost livelihoods,” she said.

Natural disasters, war and conflicts have caused massive displacement in recent years throughout the world. More people were displaced from their homes last year than ever before. According to the UN refugee agency (UNHCR) figures, 35,000 people were forced to flee their homes every day — one every two seconds — in 2018.

“The Coalition for Disaster Resilient Infrastructure is a transformative initiative that will help cities, communities and governments of the world to build to last. We can prevent and mitigate earthquake, tsunami, flood and storm impact by ensuring that affordable housing, schools, health facilities and public utilities are built in line with robust standards required to survive any natural or man-made hazard likely to occur in a particular location,” SRSG Mizutori said.

Currently, the coalition has 35 member countries and is headquartered in Delhi. As India continues its efforts to appear as a climate champion, it’s also co-hosting an event with UNDRR on Wednesday to continue the discussion on investing in resilient infrastructure for more sustainable and economical development in the future.

UN Backs India’s Launch of Global Coalition for Disaster Resilient Infrastructure