New Delhi, 02 November: Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Tuesday that small developing island countries are most at risk from climate change. In such a situation, it is the collective responsibility of all of us to take care of them and it is in a way a common atonement for our sins.
The Prime Minister said this during the launch of ‘Infrastructure for Resilient Island States’ (IRIS) during the Global COP-26 Summit on Climate Change.
Modi said the launch of Iris gives new hope, new confidence and the satisfaction of doing something for the most vulnerable countries.
The Prime Minister said that the last few decades have proved that no one is untouched by the wrath of climate change. No country, developed or developing, has remained untouched by the problem of climate change. The biggest threat is to ‘Small Developing Island Countries’ (SIDS). For them it is a question of life and death. These countries also have economic challenges due to climate change due to tourism-based economy. Tourists do not visit these countries due to natural calamities.
The Prime Minister blamed the selfish behaviour of man for climate change. He said that small developing countries are suffering due to the unnatural behaviour of nature created by it.
He said, โFor me CDRI or IRIS is not just an infrastructure thing but it is part of a very sensitive responsibility of human welfare. It is the collective responsibility of all of us towards mankind. It is also a kind of common atonement for our sins.
The Prime Minister described CDRI as the result of years of experience and brainstorming and said that India, realizing the threat of climate change looming large over small island countries, made special arrangements for cooperation with Pacific Island Countries and CARICOM countries. We trained their citizens in solar technologies, continuously contributing to the development of infrastructure there.
He announced that India’s space agency ISRO will build a special data window for SIDS. With this, SIDS will get timely information about cyclones, coral-reef monitoring, coast-line monitoring etc. through satellite.
Comparing the small island countries to a garland of pearls, the Prime Minister described them as the beauty of the world. In such a situation, referring to the role of CDRI and SIDS in realizing Iris for him, he said that it is a good example of co-creation and co-benefits.
He said that through Iris, it will be easy for SIDS to deploy technology, finance, necessary information rapidly. Promotion of quality infrastructure in small island countries will benefit both lives and livelihoods there.
During this, the Prime Minister assured that India will give full support to this new project and will work closely with CDRI and other partner countries and the United Nations for its success.
