MALAYSIA MUST FACTOR CLIMATE RISKS IN URBAN INFRASTRUCTURE PLANNING

By KUVINESHWAREN A/L NEDUNJELIAN

NEW DELHI, Sept 25 (Bernama) -- Malaysia must incorporate future climate risks such as rising sea levels and extreme weather events into urban infrastructure planning to avoid costly retrofitting in the future, according to an international disaster research group.

Coalition for Disaster Resilient Infrastructure (CDRI) advisor on urban resilience, Umamaheshwaran Rajasekar, said relying solely on historical data for infrastructure design is no longer sufficient, as global warming is altering risk patterns, especially in coastal cities vulnerable to cyclonic storms.

“What we are experiencing globally is an increase in sea surface temperature, which raises the likelihood of cyclonic storms. Cities like those in Malaysia must prepare for such climatic variability at the planning and design stage itself, rather than relying on post-investment solutions, which will be very expensive,” he said during a briefing session with reporters on Wednesday.

He added that while countries such as India are already working with CDRI on flood risk management, Malaysia and Singapore face similar challenges as rapid urbanisation concentrates more people and infrastructure in cities.

Rajasekar said Malaysia could benefit from regional knowledge-sharing, learning from the challenges faced by other countries while also contributing best practices to its neighbours with similar contexts, such as Myanmar, India, and Bangladesh.

“Some European solutions may not be suitable for South Asia, but what works in Malaysia could also work in other parts of the region. Partnership is key. Malaysia can avoid mistakes made elsewhere and leapfrog towards resilient systems,” he said.

He cited Delhi as an example, where CDRI is helping authorities optimise a US$100 million flood mitigation fund by prioritising projects such as rejuvenating water bodies, safeguarding parks as flood retention ponds, and deploying sensor-based early warning systems.

Rajasekar stressed that forward planning would not only protect Malaysia’s cities but also position the country as a contributor of homegrown solutions to strengthen resilience across the region.

CDRI is a partnership of national governments, United Nations (UN) agencies, multilateral development banks and financing mechanisms, the private sector, and knowledge institutions that aims to promote the resilience of new and existing infrastructure systems to climate and disaster risks in support of sustainable development.

CDRI promotes the rapid development of resilient infrastructure to respond to the Sustainable Development Goals' imperatives of expanding universal access to basic services, enabling prosperity, and decent work.

It also provides a range of services, including disaster response and recovery support, innovation, institutional and community capacity-building assistance, collaborative research, global flagship reports, and a global database of infrastructure and sector resilience. 

-- BERNAMA