Infrastructure sectors in Small Island Developing States (SIDS) are highly exposed to tropical storms, sea level rise, and flooding. Because of the small land size of these states, a major disaster such as a cyclone can often devastate the entire economy and impact most or all of the population. This vulnerability is exacerbated by reliance on single road networks, centralized power generation systems, and limited port infrastructure. Further, most settlements in SIDS and many key infrastructure assets are typically located in vulnerable low-elevation coastal zones. As a group, they are, proportional to the size of their economies, the most disaster-prone countries. On average, SIDS lose about 2.1 percent of their GDP annually due to disasters. 

Damage from the Mamuju earthquake (Source: Shutterstock)

CDRI’s Global Infrastructure Risk Model and Resilience Index (GIRI) is the first publicly available and fully probabilistic risk model to estimate risk for infrastructure assets regarding most major geological and climate-related hazards. The GIRI model has been used for the first time to understand the risks that SIDS infrastructure faces. These projections are presented in detail in the GIR 2025 report and show that the average annual loss (AAL) for infrastructure sectors in SIDS is $1.5 billion (rising to US$ 3.8 billion when including buildings). This is a financial indicator that is linked to the contingent liabilities countries have due to insufficient resilience in infrastructure, or the level of insurance that they may need to cover damages. 

Cyclones are the most damaging hazard for SIDS, accounting for $3.27 billion or 62 percent of the total AAL. Floods contribute $1.15 billion or 22 percent, while earthquakes account for $678 million or 13 percent.  

Among infrastructure sectors, telecommunications bears the highest AAL at $589 million, followed closely by the power sector at $536 million (Figure 1). These are useful indicators that can enable Ministries of Finance and other decision makers to establish funding priorities and develop hazard- and sector-specific resilience measures. 

Figure 1. Average annual loss of infrastructure sectors for SIDS (in million US$) (Source: CDRI)

Making infrastructure assets in SIDS more resilient to disasters will require investments that are unlikely to be considered large or significant on a global scale, but that will make a critical difference to SIDS’ social and economic development.  

Figure 2. Absolute and relative AAL for infrastructure sectors in selected countries (Source: CDRI)

Infrastructure for Resilient Island States (IRIS) is CDRI’s flagship programme offering financial and technical assistance, capacity building, and partnership support to all 57 SIDS. 

What this means is that making infrastructure assets in SIDS more resilient to disasters will require investments that are unlikely to be considered large or significant on a global scale, but that will make a critical difference to SIDS’ sustainable social and economic development.  

CDRI convened working groups of expects to issue a Call to Action for SIDS with practical recommendations:  

1. Launch the SIDS Global Data Hub 2.0. Consolidate hazard, asset and loss data for SIDS into an open, cloud platform with gender -and disability-disaggregated layers and a live interface for policymakers, planners, and investors.  
2. Ensure 100 percent multi-hazard early-warning coverage in SIDS by 2030. Fund sensors, satellite links and low-cost, last-mile messaging (radio, cell-broadcast, vibro-alerts, sirens) so warnings reach every person, including remote atolls and persons with disabilities. 
3. Build permanent data-tech cadres. Geospatial/physical planning units in SIDS should receive long-term (9-year) capacity strengthening and knowledge exchange with university partners and budgets to maintain systems, audit data quality and translate analytics into investment-ready resilient projects.  
4. Develop SIDS-specific design codes. CDRI and regional bodies develop a set of modular, hazard-appropriate minimum building and infrastructure design standards for SIDS that recognize vernacular methods, nature-based solutions and locally available materials.  
5. Tie finance to resilience compliance. Normalize the practice of providing higher concessional lending, conditional on resilience standards, and insurance-premium discounts and tax rebates on certified resilient designs, retrofit and maintenance plans. 
6. Establish resilience units within ministries of finance. Support SIDS to consolidate climate-finance, engineering and legal expertise in one unit and embed long-term climate finance/project finance technical advisers in these units.  
7. Generate resilient infrastructure pipelines and country investment platforms. Develop resilient infrastructure pipelines in all SIDS covering both new builds and retrofits, and country investment platforms through which donors coordinate, pool resources and expertise, and give private financiers a clear entry point for blended finance.  
8. Launch a SIDS capacity accelerator for resilient infrastructure. Establishing regionally coordinated training, diploma, apprenticeship, and micro-credential programmes that upskill SIDS engineers, data specialists, and procurement officers to plan, finance, and maintain resilient infrastructure. 

CDRI is also supporting action on the ground. The Infrastructure for Resilient Island States (IRIS) is CDRI’s flagship programme offering financial and technical assistance, capacity building, and partnership support to all 57 SIDS. The initiative is funded by Australia, India, the European Union, and the United Kingdom through donations totalling $40 million. Currently, a total of 24 projects across 25 SIDS, including multi-country and regional projects, are being funded by the Programme. 

By:

Ede Ijjasz-Vásquez, Coordinating Lead Author – Second Global Infrastructure Resilience Report, CDRI

This blog forms part of a series  under the ambit of CDRI’s second Global Infrastructure Resilience Report (GIR 2025). The main report, executive summary, and the corresponding working paper associated with this workstream are also available on CDRI's official website,  at: https://cdri.world/resilience-dividend/global-infrastructure-resiliencereport-second-edition/.