Global Heat Forum seeks to galvanize action and investment
BANGKOK – The first Global Heat Forum opened today to unlock finance and supercharge solutions on extreme heat, amid record-breaking temperatures and an intensifying El Niño. The four-day event in Bangkok takes place as the Thai capital recovers from devastating rainfall and deadly floods.
Nearly 600 scientists, business leaders, philanthropists and health experts gathered to propel action to protect livelihoods through tools like strengthened heat governance. Private and public sectors joined the forum to spark solutions from local and global perspectives that help communities and countries adapt in an era of increasing extreme heat.
“Two years ago, I launched a Call to Action on Extreme Heat. Since then, cities around the world have established heat action plans and strengthened worker protections. But developing countries lack support to meet this growing threat. Today, I am calling on every city to build lasting defences against extreme heat. That means every part of government – health, housing, energy and transport – working as one. And it means heat action plans in place by 2030 – backed by the systems and resources to make it real,” said UN Secretary-General António Guterres, addressing the Forum.
This year's heatwaves in Asia, Europe and North America have impacted the economy, fueled deadly wildfires and spiked air pollution. The strengthening El Niño event – coming ahead of the southern hemisphere summer – looks set to lead to more extreme heat.
“At the WMO, we know from experience that El Niño literally turns up the heat. New maximum daytime and minimum overnight temperature records are not just a figure on a thermometer. Our bodies, our infrastructure, our farms and our homes are not designed for the temperatures we are seeing,” said Celeste Saulo, Secretary-General of the WMO. “But prevention begins before the emergency. A forecast must give health services time to prepare, employers time to adjust working hours, and communities time to reach those most at risk.”
The solutions exist. These include early warnings linked to health action plans, climate-smart urban planning for cooler streets and homes, and legislative protection for workers in factories, fields and construction sites. Scaling heat-health warning systems could protect 1.5 billion people and avert nearly 100,000 deaths each year, according to 2025 estimates.
The event opened with the launch of innovative and practical heat action resource tools for governments, cities and health services:
- Extreme heat and health: Global evidence for action, executive summary of a report that details the widest body of evidence yet on how heat harms health.
- The accompanying Burning Questions series answers the most-asked queries on heat action measures, such as potential costs of a heatwave
- What Works Against Heat, a single-stop platform built after a review of 300,000 academic papers and rating over 80 heat interventions, from city planning to building design.
- Global Call to Action on Heat and Women's Health, urging governments to protect women and babies from the health impacts of extreme heat.
- Roadmap for Investment and Action on Extreme Heat, carrying the vital work on extreme heat action forward into COP31 in Antalya.
- First country-level heat and health assessments for Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, and Nepal from the Global Heat Health Information Network’s South Asia Hub.
