ICDRI 2024 is scheduled for 24-25 April 2024, in New Delhi. The theme of the conference is Investing today for a more resilient tomorrow. The two-day hybrid conference will bring together governments, the global infrastructure community, multilateral development banks, and the private sector to agree on a roadmap for putting ideas to action to mobilize public and private investment in disaster-resilient infrastructure.

Sessions will map challenges and opportunities, identify and share good practices in policy, technologies, financial mechanisms, instruments, and frameworks, and demonstrate pathways to enhance sustainable and resilient infrastructure investments.

Investment for DRI

There is a need for enhanced and informed investments in resilient infrastructure to support a sustainable and low-carbon future. According to the World Bank, the net benefits of investing in resilient infrastructure in low and middle-income countries (LMICs) could be US$ 4.2 trillion. Investments will contribute to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), as well as catalyzing the global climate and disaster risk reduction agendas. Sustainability and resilience contribute to de‐risking and improving the financial performance of infrastructure and so unlock the capital required to fill the investment gap.

Recent estimates of the annual investment required to provide the infrastructure needed, support the SDGs, attain net zero, and strengthen resilience by 2050 amounts to $9.2 trillion of which $2.84 - $2.90 trillion must be invested in LMICs.

Partnerships, systemic change, and innovations in finance will bolster investments in strategic economic and local infrastructure systems. The role of comprehensive risk management using reliable data and risk models, addressing policy and regulatory gaps, creating standards and certifications, and collaboration between public and private sectors to advance investments is vital.

ICDRI will showcase solutions, build partnerships, and agree on concrete actions to accelerate resilient infrastructure investments through:

• Policy action, institutional frameworks, improved governance mechanisms, and capacity
• Cutting-edge technologies to identify risks and optimize investment decisions
• Futuristic and sustainable investment opportunities and business models to close the resilient and sustainable infrastructure investment gap
• Private sector investments for financing inclusive and resilient infrastructure assets and pipelines Climate finance tracking, disclosure, and labelling guidelines/methods
• Approaches and instruments to mainstream resilience and sustainability in infrastructure project financing, including efforts to simplify process and access to finance
• Risk-informed projected and current infrastructure investment decisions to facilitate bridging of infrastructure investment gaps, particularly for Least Developed Countries (LDCs), Small Island Developing States (SIDS) and LMICs
• Measures to increase actual value of investments reaching LMICs to fast-track action and investment in sustainable and resilient infrastructure
• Cost-effective ways to transfer disaster risks and streamline within infrastructure development