Climate change is a defining issue of our time. Despite efforts to limit warming by and within 1.5°C towards the end of the century, we will more than likely breach the limit, with a 66% likelihood that we will exceed this temperature in 2023 to 2027, according to the World Meteorological Organization.
In June 2023, we have seen the highest temperatures ever recorded. Copernicus reported that in June 2023, we exceeded 1.5⁰C above 1850-1900 as the world recorded the highest temperatures ever.
At the same time, extreme events will continue to increase in frequency and intensity and impact all aspects of life. South Asian countries are most vulnerable to the impacts of climate change. Extreme events like floods, storms, and droughts will cause severe damage to infrastructure and property.
Because of the concentration of people and infrastructure in urban areas, they are the most affected by natural hazards. Floods are one, if not the most costly, among the natural hazards.
The World Bank estimated the economic costs of floods in South Asia at $7.2 billion annually, with urban floods accounting for a significant portion. Besides climate change, urban infrastructure faces social, economic, and environmental challenges that call for resilient infrastructure.
Resilient infrastructures are structures that can withstand extreme events, operate during extreme events like floods, and quickly recover from disruptions.
Investing in resilient infrastructure can thus reduce economic losses and promote sustainable development by reducing the long-term costs of repairing and rebuilding infrastructure damaged by natural hazards like floods (Males, 2023).
UNDP defines resilience in infrastructure as the ability of these systems to anticipate, withstand, or absorb shocks and stresses while adapting to new conditions, resulting in a quicker recovery and transformation to better cope with chronic stresses and acute shocks in the future. It is about staying operational and functional for households, communities, businesses, and institutions.
The UNDP developed the Guidance Notes on Building Critical Infrastructure Resilience as a practical support tool for better evaluating needs and designing appropriate policies, regulations, and measures in public-private cooperation.
South Asian countries face many hurdles in developing or building climate-resilient infrastructure, which include limited resources and capacity, lack of coordination among stakeholders, and limited access to climate data and information.
Overcoming these would entail the following actions: generating knowledge and building capacity in all actors – policymakers, practitioners, and communities in designing and implementing climate-resilient infrastructure; investing in research and development in resilient infrastructure and identifying best practices to be replicated but contextualized to a specific situation, and collaboration between researchers, policymakers, and practitioners (Males, 2023).
Investing in climate-resilient infrastructure
Implementing climate-resilient infrastructure projects requires investing in them. The Asian Development Bank estimated the cost for Asia Pacific to invest around US $1.7 trillion per year in infrastructure investment.
Funding infrastructure investment in Asia and the Pacific remains a considerable challenge, let alone finding money to invest in climate resilience.
The ADB estimates that Asia Pacific needs around US $1.7 trillion per year in infrastructure investment from 2016 to 2030, of which USD 200 billion accounts for climate change mitigation and adaptation. The good news is that when countries invest in climate-resilient infrastructure in low- and middle-income countries, they will have net benefits, according to a World Bank report, in the form of economic benefits of avoiding damage from extreme natural events. Investing in climate resilience can improve the overall economic performance of infrastructure assets over time (Forging the right, 2023).
However, meeting the required USD 200 billion yearly funding for developing and least-developed countries in Asia and the Pacific takes a lot of work. Countries must forge the right partnerships to attract the necessary investment to meet funding needs.
The UN ESCAP proposes that developing and least-developed countries could improve collaboration between governments, development, and the private sectors using public-private partnerships (PPP).
Sources:
Males, J. (2023, April 19). Urban Infrastructure in a Changing Climate: Adapting to the Challenges of the 21st Century. PLOS. Retrieved from https://latitude.plos.org/2023/04/urban-infrastructure-in-a-changing-climate-adapting-to-the-challenges-of-the-21st-century/
Critical infrastructure must be resilient…it’s critical. (2023, July 20). Europe and Central Asia. Retrieved from https://www.undp.org/eurasia/blog/critical-infrastructure-must-be-resilientits-critical
Forging the right partnership for climate-resilient infrastructure development in Asia and the Pacific. (2023, May 26). UN ESCAP. Retrieved from https://www.unescap.org/blog/forging-right-partnerships-climate-resilient-infrastructure-development-asia-and-pacific
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