Americas thirst grows for resilient infrastructure

Reducing disaster damage to critical infrastructure and disruption of basic services - Target D of the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction 2015-2030- will be the focus of the
UNDRR's International Day for Disaster Risk Reduction on October 13.

Hit by eight of the 10 costliest climate-related disasters between 1998 and 2017, the Americas is on the front line when it comes to extreme weather, ramping up the need to protect key infrastructure such as the Panama Canal that handles 5 percent of global trade.

However, in Latin America and the Caribbean, infrastructure investment has long-lagged, with knock-on effects on living standards and livelihoods. The Inter-American Development Bank says the region has an annual $150 billion infrastructure investment gap and the quality of infrastructure is often not up to scratch.

But there are bright spots.

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Despite the destruction wrought by Hurricane Dorian as it ripped through the Bahamas in August, much of its critical infrastructure such as clinics and roads emerged relatively unscathed, said Ronald Jackson, executive director of the Caribbean Disaster Emergency Management Agency.

A strong adherence to building standards and codes helped protect public infrastructure in the Category 5 storm, said Jackson, while the devastation of entire neighbourhoods in Grand Abaco Island showed the high price paid by poor families who could not afford to strengthen their homes.

While more needs to be done to upgrade, protect and retrofit infrastructure, there are few cheap financing options for heavily-indebted Caribbean nations who are already struggling to cover their everyday costs, said Jackson.

Greener infrastructure such as renewable energy and micro-grids could help remote communities in particular become more resilient, but high initial start-up costs mean it remains out of reach for most, he added.

"There's definitely a focus on how green technologies can help to make these infrastructure areas
resilient," said Jackson.

"The challenge is how is it going to be financed given the current debt profile of the countries."

Given the hefty price tag on the resilient infrastructure of the future, there is growing pressure for governments to work closer with companies to help cover the cost.

The private sector is increasingly proactive and factoring future hazard levels into their investments, particularly when it comes to infrastructure, said Aris Papadopoulos, a global board member of the Private Sector Alliance for Disaster Resilient Societies, known as ARISE.

And companies have a vested interest. Resilient telecommunications, ports, roads and rail are essential to ensure supply chains remain intact and businesses bounce back quickly after a disaster, said Papadopoulos.

"The size of the problem, the complexity, is too big for any one group to address," he said.