Quad to cooperate on disaster risk reduction through CDRI

Washington: The Quad will cooperate on disaster risk reduction for extreme weather events, including through the Coalition for Disaster Resilient Infrastructure (CDRI), the White House said on Tuesday.

The Quad summit taking place in Tokyo will witness the launch of a new initiative for continuous collaboration in the maritime domain, space, climate change, health and cyber security.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi had announced a global CDRI, at the UN Climate Action Summit in 2019. CDRI envisions enabling a measurable reduction in infrastructure losses from disasters, including extreme climate events.

“The Quad will cooperate on disaster risk reduction for extreme weather events, including through the Coalition for Disaster Resilient Infrastructure (CDRI), building on the Quad’s joint session on strengthening Indo-Pacific infrastructure and communities at the International CDRI conference,” the White House said in a Fact Sheet.

“After inaugurating a Climate Working Group at our first-ever leader summit, in March 2021, our four countries have meaningfully deepened and regularized our cooperation on meeting the climate crisis. The Quad leaders will launch further efforts on green shipping, energy supply chains, disaster risk reduction, and the exchange of climate information services,” it added.

The leaders of the Quad nations–Australia, India, Japan, and the United States– met today in Tokyo for the fourth time and the second time in person.

The Quad leaders plan to broaden and elevate work to combat climate change by inaugurating two ministerials in the coming months.

Established in the wake of the 2004 Indian Ocean Tsunami to coordinate humanitarian assistance and disaster relief, the Quad has since become a leading regional partnership dedicated to advancing a common vision of a free and open Indo-Pacific through practical cooperation on diverse 21st-century challenges.

With six leader-level working groups–on COVID-19 Response and Global Health Security, Climate, Critical and Emerging Technologies, Cyber, Space, and Infrastructure–the Quad is building habits of cooperation among our four countries that will support a more peaceful and prosperous Indo-Pacific.