Prime Minister Narendra Modi on November 2, 2021 launched the ‘Infrastructure for the Resilient Island States (IRIS)’ for developing infrastructure of small island nations at the Glasgow climate change conference COP 26.
- The IRIS initiative is a part of the Coalition for Disaster Resilient infrastructure ( CDRI) that would focus on building capacity, having pilot projects, especially in small island developing states.
- Prime Minister said that it gave new hope and confidence of working for the welfare of the world’s most vulnerable countries.
What is CDRI?
- CDRI was launched by PM Narendra Modi at the UN Climate Action Summit in New York in 2019. CDRI was launched as a global partnership to promote resilience in all critical infrastructure anywhere in the world.
- The programme titled “Infrastructure for Resilient Island States’ will be implemented between 2022 to 2030 in 58 countries located across three geographic regions: the Caribbean, the Pacific, and the Atlantic, Indian Ocean, Mediterranean and South China Sea. India, Australia and UK are likely to pledge 10 million dollars each for the project and other CDRI initiatives. Other countries are also likely to contribute. Japan and US have offered support in kind, mainly in technical expertise.
What is SIDS?
- Small Island Developing States (SIDS) are a distinct group of 38 UN Member States and 20 Non-UN Members/Associate Members of United Nations regional commissions that face unique social, economic and environmental vulnerabilities.
- The three geographical regions in which SIDS are located are: the Caribbean, the Pacific, and the Atlantic, Indian Ocean and South China Sea (AIS).
- SIDS were recognized as a special case both for their environment and development at the 1992 United Nations Conference on Environment and Development held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
- For SIDS, the Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ)—the ocean under their control—is, on average, 28 times the country’s land mass. Thus, for many SIDS the majority of the natural resources they have access to comes from the ocean.
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