Prime Minister Narendra Modi is expected to address the Climate Action Summit held in the United Nations on September 23. UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres will host the summit in an effort to boost ambition and accelerate actions to implement the Paris Agreement on Climate Change. PM Modi will also launch the International Coalition for Disaster Resilient Infrastructure (CDRI) during his address in the UN. PM Modi is scheduled to visit the Eastern coast of USA in the third week of September where he will be involved in a host of bilateral and multilateral engagements.

Establishment of an International Coalition for Disaster Resilient Infrastructure 

The Coalition for Disaster Resilient Infrastructure (CDRI) will serve as a platform where knowledge is generated and exchanged on different aspects of disaster and climate resilience of infrastructure. It will bring together technical expertise from a multitude of stakeholders. It will also create a mechanism to assist countries to upgrade their capacities and practices, with regard to infrastructure development in accordance with their risk context and economic needs. This event will be organized by the UN Secretary-General and will bring together the largest number of Heads of States to generate commitments for combating the effects of climate change and resulting disasters and will provide the high-level visibility required for the CDRI.

READ | PM Modi To Address UNGA On September 27, Full US Engagements List Here

The Union Cabinet chaired by PM Modi has given ex-post facto approval for the establishment of an International CDRI along with its supporting Secretariat Office in New Delhi. The proposal was approved by PM Modi on August 13. The establishment of the Secretariat of the CDRI as a Society will be under The Societies Registration Act,1860 in New Delhi as CDRI Society. The memorandum of association and by-laws of the CDRI Society will be prepared and finalized by the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA). In-principle approval for Government of India support of Rs. 480 crore (approx. USD 70 million) to CDRI for a corpus required to fund technical assistance and research projects on an on-going basis, setting up the Secretariat office and covering recurring expenditures over a period of 5 years from 2019- 2024 will be provided.

READ | India Voices Concern Over Timely Reimbursement Of Substantial Sum Owed By United Nations In Lieu Of Peacekeeping Operations

Impact of CDRI 

This initiative will benefit all sections of society. Economically weaker sections of society, women, and children are the most vulnerable to the impacts of disasters and hence, will be benefitted from the improvement of knowledge and practice in creating disaster-resilient infrastructure. It will also benefit all areas with high disaster risk. In India, the north-eastern and Himalayan regions are prone to earthquakes, coastal areas to cyclones and tsunamis and central peninsular region to droughts. The global CDRI would also address concerns that are common to developing and developed countries, small and large economies, countries at early and advanced stages of infrastructure development, and countries that have moderate or high disaster risk.

READ | Hammered By India's Syed Akbaruddin, Pakistan PM Imran Khan 'welcomes' Loss At United Nations

PM Modi at United Nations General Assembly

Along the lines of the 74th session of UN General Assembly, several other high-level summits will be reportedly held in the USA, which PM Modi will be attending. The UN will also reportedly host the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) Summit 2019 on September 24 and 25. Heads of states and governments will gather at the United Nations Headquarters to follow up and comprehensively review progress in the implementation of the 2030 Agenda for sustainable development, as well as its 17 SDGs. His address to the annual high-level United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) session on September 27 in New York is the highlight of the trip. 

READ | India Gifted Solar Panels To United Nations, To Be Installed On Roof