BRICS urged to work together on climate-resilient infrastructure - IOL
Ahead of the 8th BRICS Summit in India, the Coalition for Disaster Resilient Infrastructure (CDRI) has issued called for BRICS member states and other key players to invest in better infrastructure development to minimise damage to key infrastructure caused by natural disasters in their countries.
As South Africa continues to grapple with an alarming rise in severe weather conditions leading to catastrophic flash floods and other natural disasters, the Coalition for Disaster Resilient Infrastructure (CDRI) has issued a clarion call to BRICS member states and other key players.
The coalition's primary aim is to advocate for unison in the pursuit of sustainable infrastructure that can withstand the unpredictable forces of climate change, which have already claimed over 600 lives and inflicted billions in damages to the nation’s infrastructure.
CDRI, a pioneering global initiative established by India in 2019, is now at the forefront of promoting disaster-resilient infrastructure internationally. In a momentous discussion held prior to the 8th BRICS Summit in New Delhi, the coalition engaged with journalists, showcasing the urgent need for a collective commitment to prevent the staggering losses associated with natural disasters.
Highlighting South Africa's history of devastating floods in KwaZulu-Natal (KZN), the Eastern Cape, and beyond, representatives from CDRI underscored the critical importance of modern infrastructure and expert engineering in safeguarding nations from future calamities.
The recent patterns of flooding have heightened the alarm amongst environmental authorities, with the Department of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment (DFFE) recognising South Africa's escalating vulnerability to a myriad of extreme weather events - including floods, droughts, and wildfires.
Additional risks loom, from lightning strikes and heatwaves to hail and rising sea levels, creating a complex tapestry of challenges for infrastructure, particularly in airports, roads, rail networks, and energy facilities.
Ramesh Subramaniam, the Global Director of Programmes and Strategy at CDRI, emphasised during his presentation that flooding trends are evolving beyond local understandings. Traditionally viewed as regional issues, flooding incidents are increasingly part of a global network of climatic occurrences, intertwined with short- and long-term weather patterns. Globalisation has transformed flood events; one region's disaster can ripple economic and social impacts across the globe, he noted.
"The airports and ports face the biggest risks during flooding incidents. Floods and tsunamis do not affect all infrastructure the same. You need innovation and engineering to ensure that you counter the risk factors to infrastructure," he added.
Furthermore, research done by the coalition indicates that globalisation has made flood events in one part of the world capable of causing significant economic and social impacts in all parts of the globe.
As a result, Subramaniam emphasised that addressing the effects of climate change, which are felt globally, presents an additional challenge to flood risk management efforts.
"Hence, there is an increasing need for assessments of flood risk at the global scale. Such a global need has become evident on several fronts: scientific studies to simulate the effects of general circulation modeling, insurance catastrophe modeling to understand risk and exposure," added Subramaniam.
