President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih is seeking parliament’s consideration for Maldives to join the charter of the Coalition for Disaster Resilient Infrastructure (CDRI).

The cabinet is to have approved the proposal at a virtual meeting held on Wednesday.

Submitting the paper at the meeting, Minister of Defence Mariya Didi noted that the CDRI is “a partnership of national governments, UN agencies and programmes, multilateral development banks and financing mechanisms, the private sector, and knowledge institutions that aims to promote the resilience of new and existing infrastructure systems to climate and disaster risks, thereby ensuring sustainable development”.

Maldives expressed support for the charter introduced by neighboring India, at the 74th United Nations General Assembly, as it “promotes investments in disaster-resilient infrastructure development and aligns with the government’s strategic action plan”.

Noting that the main aim of the charter is “to develop resources and measures to mitigate the impact on infrastructure resulting from crises related to climate change, and to seek avenues for adaptation in existing infrastructure”, the President’s Office said that “the aim, vision and mission of the charter were compiled to include aspects of the Sustainable Development Goals, and climate change addressed in the Paris Agreement; the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction; and the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development”.

It further noted that the collaborative partnership enables the “exchange and spread of scientifically accurate knowledge, enabling the contribution of all stakeholders to strengthen the resilience of infrastructure systems”.