Countries show what works for a heat-resilient future
One year after the UN Secretary-General’s Call to Action on Extreme Heat, Member States are responding. We can learn from their examples to build resilience everywhere.
The Call to Action was issued in July 2024 tasking ten UN agencies – including UNDRR – to work with national governments to scale up heat resilience through a coordinated, whole-of-society response.
Kamal Kishore, UN Secretary-General’s Special Representative for Disaster Risk Reduction, suggested ten ways that countries and the international community could affect real impact to beat extreme heat: practical heat action plans; social protections; context-specific thresholds; heat-resilient buildings; nature-based solutions; market incentives; adoption of traditional cooling design; climate-aware urban planning; leveraging emerging technologies; and a robust ecosystem of vulnerability research.
Twelve months on, global temperatures continue to rise, exposing billions to potentially lethal conditions – but there are promising examples emerging from national and local governments.
“Looking back over the ten proposed actions, I can see that we are making some progress,” says Kamal Kishore. “But there is still a long – and increasingly hot – road ahead.”
How countries are keeping cool
A new narrative analysis by UNDRR, WMO and the Global Heat Health Information Network (GHHIN) draws some examples of how countries are already operationalising the agenda. Using case studies from 12 countries, the report identifies practical strategies that governments are testing and scaling, offering valuable lessons.
Several countries are advancing heat action plans: In India, city-level planning, early warning systems and parametric insurance for informal workers are credited with lowering the number of heat-related deaths. In the United Kingdom, a dual-layer alert system – integrating health-sector and public-facing messaging – has improved coordination and reduced mortality during heatwaves.
Argentina is investing in nature-based solutions, expanding urban green spaces and deploying reflective roof technologies in disadvantaged neighbourhoods.
Public-private partnerships are supporting real-time alerts and urban cooling infrastructure. In the Republic of Korea, mobile networks send personalised heat warnings, while firms like LG and Hyundai are backing cooling stations and resilient hospital systems.
Local-level community engagement is ensuring inclusion and accessibility. In Senegal, public alerts are broadcast through local health networks and women’s associations, helping vulnerable communities respond to forecasted heat events.
Explore all of the country case studies on PreventionWeb
Coordination and coverage gaps
Despite growing awareness, persistent challenges remain. Many countries still lack context-specific heat thresholds, making it difficult to trigger targeted alerts or calibrate health responses. Coordination between ministries and local authorities is often fragmented, and there is still only limited long-term finance for heat resilience projects.
Access to cooling, early warnings and healthcare is highly unequal. Marginalised groups – including older adults, informal workers, and people in rural areas – face heightened exposure with limited protection.
“Extreme heat has immediate and debilitating impacts on those who have the least capacity to absorb disruption,” says Kishore. “We need bold solutions to extreme heat – now.”
Innovative tradition and tech
Innovative solutions draw on both low-tech, age-old wisdom and high-tech leading-edge development.
Traditional design methods are being revived in places like West Africa, where communities supported by Association la Voûte Nubienne are replacing metal roofs with cooler, vaulted structures.
In India, Microsoft and SEEDS are using AI assistance to identify heat-vulnerable areas and guide targeted humanitarian action.
Gathering worldwide momentum
In December 2024, UNDRR, WMO and the Global Heat Health Information Network convened an expert consultation on heat risk governance, noting the need for a common global framework and laying out a roadmap for its development.
The Global Platform for Disaster Risk Reduction, in June 2025, put heat resilience centre-stage, dedicating several sessions and a dedicated special event to the topic.
The G20 Working Group on Disaster Risk Reduction – under South Africa’s presidency in 2025, with UNDRR as Lead Knowledge Partner – has prioritised extreme heat in technical discussions in Belém, Brazil, and Umhlanga, South Africa.
Urban populations face particular risks from heat, and in January 2025 the Making Cities Resilient 2023 (MCR2030) initiative published the Urban Extreme Heat Risk Management Resource Package to provide practical recommendations for targeted, effective, and sustainable strategies for heat-resilient cities.
It’s time to scale up successes
The disaster risk reduction community increasingly recognises that extreme heat is more than just a health issue: it is a systemic risk – affecting labour productivity, food systems, energy reliability and urban infrastructure.
“We can’t waste a moment in making sure that everyone, everywhere, is protected from the impacts of intensifying extreme heat,” says SRSG Kishore.
One year on, many countries have taken important first steps. The examples given here are just a small sample, with countless other initiatives being applied at all levels and across all regions. The challenge now is to turn pilots into policy, and good practices into widescale systems – before the heat hits again.
- Explore Narrative analysis: Case studies in heat resilience in detail