A session on Accelerating Resilient Infrastructure in Small Island Developing States (SIDS) was held today in the UNFCCC Pavilion on the sidelines of COP 27. Union Minister for Environment, Forests and Climate Change, Government of India, Shri Bhupender Yadav, Mr. Kavydass Ramano, Minister for Environment, Solid Waste and Climate Change, Government of Mauritius, Senator Matthew Samuda, Ministry of Economic Growth and Employment, Govt. The session was attended by Jamaica and representatives of AOSIS and Fiji.
The agenda for this meeting was to present the IRIS vision and launch the first ‘call for proposals’. The session focused on the IRIS 2022-2030 vision and reflected on the key factors that will facilitate the implementation of IRIS projects under the first “Call for Proposals”. IRIS will be the first initiative to be launched through the Infrastructure Resilience Accelerator Fund (IRAF) launched by the Coalition for Disaster Resilient Infrastructure (CDRI) last week at COP 27.
In his keynote address, Shri Bhupender Yadav said:
“It is my pleasure to join you all today to present the vision of ‘Infrastructure for Resilient Island States’ (IRIS) to a global audience and to announce the first ‘Call for Proposals’ to launch projects under IRIS. As you all know, IRIS is a flagship strategic initiative that was designed as a tool to achieve and deliver SIDS climate resilience and adaptation solutions to the most vulnerable and exposed countries. Anchored on the key guiding principles of co-creation and complementarity, IRIS was launched at the world leaders’ summit at COP26 in India, the UK, Australia, Jamaica, Mauritius and Fiji. It is a common platform to facilitate cross-learning, sharing and engagement in addressing infrastructure resilience in SIDS.
Ladies and gentlemen, the Government of India under the leadership of Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi is firmly committed to protect the interests of SIDS in the changing climate regime. Today we know that climate change is the most important of all other environmental problems. Without controlling cumulative emissions, success with other environmental challenges, even if achieved, will have no lasting value.
India is committed to both domestic action and multilateral cooperation on climate change. We will continue to fight against all global environmental issues in the call to protect the planetary home of humanity. But global warming also warns us that justice and international cooperation that leaves no one behind is the key to success, where the luckiest must go the way. No nation can undertake this journey alone. Right understanding, right thought, and cooperative action—these must set our course for the next decisive half-century.
friends,
The IPCC AR6 reports clearly tell us that the liability for warming is directly proportional to the contribution to cumulative CO2 emissions. All CO2 emissions, whenever they occur, contribute equally to warming.
The IPCC reports and all other best available scientific evidence also show that India is among the countries with high vulnerability to climate change. So we are very sympathetic to the situation of island states and others. With more than 7,500 km of coastline and more than 1,000 islands in the surrounding seas and a large coastal population dependent on the sea for their lives and livelihoods, India is also a highly vulnerable nation on a global scale. Just for example, between 1995 and 2020, India experienced 1058 climate disasters.
If we consider per capita emissions, for an objective yardstick of comparison, India’s emissions are even today about one-third of the global average. If the entire world were emitting the same level per capita as India, the best available science says there would be no climate crisis. I am convinced that today’s meeting will focus on the long-term vision of the implementation of IRIS projects. The vision decided here will help provide SIDS with the opportunity to address their most pressing infrastructure challenges by converging resources and capacities. Ladies and gentlemen, through IRIS, India is exercising its belief in Vasudeva Kutumbakam – the world is one family – and demonstrating its commitment to address climate change with partners to create a better and safer planet for all.
