In 2023
Infrastructure resilience is a critical global challenge
14%
of global GDP growth is at risk
each year from infrastructure
losses to climate change and disasters
Source: CDRI
80%
of this risk is concentrated in the
critical power, transport, and
telecommunications sectors
Source: CDRI
Disaster resilient infrastructure absorbs, responds, and recovers swiftly from disasters; and returns a resilience dividend including:
- $4 return for each $1 invested
- Reduced loss and damage
- Limited service disruption
In order to make our infrastructure resilient in the face of disasters, India is launching a Coalition for Disaster Resilient Infrastructure. I invite all member states to join this Coalition.”
Prime Minister of India, Narendra Modi, 2019
CDRI: A Global Coalition
CDRI is dedicated to enhancing the resilience of infrastructure systems to climate and disaster risks. It includes national governments, international organizations, and private sector. Members benefit from access to global expertise, funding, technical support, research opportunities, innovative solutions, and international best practices.
54 Members
183 Projects
$21.84mn Funding
What we do
Delivering
solutions for
DRI
Enabling
resilient
infrastructure
Where we work
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Resources
CDRI Fellowship Programme Awardees 2025 – 26
CDRI Fellowship Programme 2025 – 26 financially supports 56 fellows from 12 countries working on 20 innovative projects to enhance disaster resilient infrastructure globally. These projects address climate change and diverse hazards such as earthquakes, floods, wildfires, and tsunamis through interdisciplinary approaches.
Highlights include tsunami evacuation modelling in Japan-Peru, digital twin-based coastal resilience in India-Australia, wildfire-resistant bio-composites in India, and flood mapping in Vietnam. Other initiatives explore mangrove restoration in Japan, bushfire standards in Australia, and hospital heatwave readiness in Türkiye.
Fellowship programme fosters global collaboration, data-driven decision-making, and nature-based solutions, aligning with the SDGs. It empowers researchers and practitioners to develop scalable, sustainable solutions for infrastructure resilience in vulnerable regions worldwide.
Global Infrastructure Resilience Working Paper: Infrastructure Resilience in Small Island Developing States
The 2025 GIR SIDS Working Paper by CDRI analyzes infrastructure resilience in Small Island Developing States (SIDS) using the Global Infrastructure Risk Model and Resilience Index (GIRI). It highlights SIDS’ vulnerability to climate and geological hazards due to limited land, economic size, and coastal infrastructure concentration.
The paper estimates high Average Annual Losses (AAL), especially in the energy and telecommunications sectors, and projects increased risks from climate change. It proposes a resilience framework based on three capacities, absorb, respond, and recover, and emphasizes financial instruments, institutional reforms, and user resilience.
The Call to Action outlines ten steps to enhance resilience, including data hubs, localized standards, and finance reforms. CDRI’s IRIS program supports 24 projects across 25 SIDS, promoting resilient infrastructure through technical, financial, and policy assistance.
National and Sub-national Disaster Risk and Resilience Assessment and Roadmap for India’s Telecommunications Sector: A Policy Brief
India’s telecom infrastructure is increasingly vulnerable to natural hazards and disasters, with over 58% of the land exposed to earthquakes and other hazards. To address this, CDRI, in collaboration with the Department of Telecommunications, Government of India, and the National Disaster Management Authority, developed a Disaster Risk and Resilience Assessment Framework (DRRAF).
The study mapped 0.77 million towers across five high-risk states and proposed resilience measures across technical, operational, policy, financial, and institutional domains.
Key recommendations include enhancing network redundancy, improving hazard data, enabling risk-informed governance, and promoting last-mile connectivity. The framework emphasizes a 3E approach—Explore, Evaluate, Execute—and aims to reduce damage, ensure rapid service restoration, and strengthen sectoral capacity. A robust roadmap and resilience index guide stakeholders in building a disaster-resilient telecom sector aligned with global standards.
Policy Brief: Developing power sector resilience to extreme weather events in coastal areas
This document outlines Odisha’s comprehensive approach to strengthening power sector resilience against cyclones and floods.
Conducted by CDRI with the Government of Odisha, the study examines transmission and distribution vulnerabilities, revealing critical risks: 30% of substations are coastal, 75% of distribution lines exceed 30 years of age, and 80% of poles remain highly wind sensitive. The study proposes a replicable framework integrating zonation, exposure, and vulnerability analysis.
Key recommendations include updating building codes, wind zonation maps, and data platforms, along with risk-based governance, stakeholder collaboration, and innovative financing through grants and insurance.
Odisha’s experience, shaped by severe cyclones like Fani, offers a valuable model for coastal regions worldwide, demonstrating how data-driven strategies, collaborative governance, and financial innovation can enhance power infrastructure resilience in disaster-prone areas.
Five Steps towards Resilience of Airports
Airports are vital economic hubs but increasingly vulnerable to climate-related disasters. Enhancing resilience is critical with global airport investments projected to reach USD 2.4 trillion by 2040.
The Global Study on Disaster Resilience of Airports by CDRI surveyed 111 airports across 54 countries, highlighting risks like rising sea levels and extreme weather.
CDRI’s “Five Steps towards Resilience of Airports” include periodic vulnerability assessments, comprehensive risk evaluations, understanding risk appetite, stakeholder collaboration, and integrated disaster resilience planning. These measures aim to minimize disruptions, accelerate recovery, and protect infrastructure. However, challenges such as inconsistent risk assessment frameworks and stakeholder coordination persist.
CDRI provides technical assistance, knowledge sharing, and capacity-building to address these gaps, fostering resilient airport ecosystems aligned with global climate objectives. Strengthening disaster resilience is essential to safeguarding air travel and economic stability.
Community of Practice for Extreme Heat Managementin Public Transport Systems
The guidance document focuses on extreme heat management in public transport systems, emphasizing resilience against rising temperatures. It examines the effects of extreme heat on infrastructure, public health, the environment, and the economy, reinforcing public transport’s role in equitable development.
The document presents a framework for heat resilience, including baseline research, stakeholder planning, and integrated design strategies such as nature-based and risk-informed approaches. It outlines practical solutions across transport phases, shaded walkways, cooling systems at stops, and retrofitted vehicles, to minimize heat exposure. It also promotes heat-resilient materials, clean energy fleets, and enhanced communication systems for better preparedness.
Designed for policymakers and operators, the document offers actionable recommendations and real-world examples, such as Helsinki’s optimized transport frequency, to support the creation of sustainable and climate-adaptive public transport networks that ensure safety and efficiency in extreme heat conditions.
Global Methodology for Infrastructure Resilience Review
The Global Methodology for Infrastructure Resilience Review provides a structured, five-step approach to help countries assess and enhance the resilience of their infrastructure systems.
Developed by UNDRR and CDRI, it begins with mapping institutional governance and identifying key stakeholders across sectors. It then reviews existing policies and regulations to evaluate alignment with disaster risk reduction (DRR) and climate change adaptation (CCA). The third step involves stress-testing infrastructure systems against multiple hazards to detect vulnerabilities and interdependencies. Step four assesses current practices using the Principles for Resilient Infrastructure through stakeholder workshops and scorecards. Finally, the methodology guides the development of an implementation plan and final report, consolidating findings and prioritizing actions.
Emphasizing cross-sectoral coordination, data-driven analysis, and stakeholder engagement, the methodology supports countries in mainstreaming DRR into infrastructure planning, design, and governance. It aims to foster resilient, sustainable infrastructure systems that can withstand and adapt to evolving risks.
Physical Climate Risk Assessment Playbook for the Financial Sector
The “Physical Climate Risk Assessment for the Financial Sector” playbook, developed by CDRI and supported by The Rockefeller Foundation, guides financial institutions (FIs) in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) to assess and manage physical climate risks.
It outlines a structured approach—awareness, assessment, and action—emphasizing the hazard-exposure-vulnerability (HEV) framework and climate value-at-risk (VaR) modelling. The playbook promotes integrating climate risk into governance, strategy, and credit processes, while highlighting opportunities in green finance. It addresses challenges like data gaps, lack of standardization, and limited macro-level guidance.
Tools like the Global Infrastructure Risk Model and Resilience Index (GIRI) support localized risk analysis. The document calls for collaboration among regulators, policymakers, and FIs to institutionalize climate risk assessments and unlock financing for climate-resilient infrastructure, ensuring long-term economic and environmental sustainability in LMICs.
A Compendium of Good Practices on Disaster Resilient Infrastructure (DRI)
This compendium, compiled by CDRI and G20 partners, showcases 52 global case studies on disaster resilient infrastructure. It spans sector-specific interventions, post-disaster reconstruction, financing mechanisms, nature-based solutions, risk assessments, and governance frameworks.
Highlights include India’s early warning systems, Nepal’s earthquake-resilient schools, Australia’s Betterment Fund, and Brazil’s water infrastructure projects. The document emphasizes inclusive, community-centered approaches, innovative financing like parametric insurance, and the integration of resilience into national policies and building codes.
It also features tools like GIRI and PCRAM for risk modelling. The compendium promotes knowledge exchange, aiming to support Least Developed Countries (LDCs), Landlocked Developing Countries (LLDCs), and Small Island Developing States (SIDS) in building sustainable, resilient infrastructure systems.
