Building Resilient Infrastructure in Pacific Small Island Developing States

There has been a renewal of interest among development partners in directly supporting infrastructure development in the Pacific. This reflects an approach of using infrastructure policy as a more tangible form of development assistance to enable sustainable development. Hence, this is an opportune time to discuss the value for money in developing resilient infrastructure to meet the developmental needs of Pacific people and their economies, and the interaction of infrastructure with the increasing pressure being faced in terms of climate and disaster risks, in the context of national policy, regional initiatives such as the 2050 Strategy for the Blue Pacific, and post-COVID-19 global strategies to promote resilience to climate and disaster risk. The chapter highlights the economic importance of incorporating climate and disaster resilience into infrastructure design, procurement, and maintenance to enable sustainable development in Pacific island countries (enabling a focus on Small Island Developing States). The chapter is part of ongoing research into infrastructure in the Pacific and the importance of incorporating climate and disaster risks into development plans that support green development pathways.