Country: World Source: UN Office for Disaster Risk Reduction It has been exactly a year since Secretary-General Antonio Guterres issued his Call to Action on Extreme Heat, tasking ten specialized UN entities – including UNDRR – with accelerating multi-sectoral action to combat the impacts of heatwaves.Extreme heat is already having deadly consequences. It disproportionately affects those with the fewest resources – older adults, pregnant women, persons with disabilities, and marginalised communities. And it’s a major risk to the health and livelihoods of 2.4 billion workers – 70% of the world’s working population. The future is certainly going to get only hotter.But we have many examples of solutions – involving smart technology, traditional and local wisdom, nature-based solutions, and bold policies carried by strong governance. These are already happening on the front lines. Like urban heat action plans, such as has been put in place in Freetown, Sierra Leone. Like CDRI's initiative to share learnings and experience for heat smart schools. Like SEEDS' community-based programmes to reduce urban heat risks in Delhi. We need to learn from such good practices and scale them to meet the magnitude of the global problem. We must also mobilize finance at scale to be able to implement the necessary transformative actions.Since the Call to Action, we have stepped up our efforts on this hazard. Here are a just few examples:At the 2025 Global Platform for Disaster Risk Reduction, we put action on extreme heat centre stage – with a special event on the topic, and numerous sessions addressing its impacts and solutions across different contextsIn the 2025 edition of our flagship Global Assessment Report, we analysed current and future heat impacts, proposed mitigation measures, and shared a case study from Skopje, North Macedonia, where investment in green infrastructure is showing promising results in keeping the city cooler.At COP 29, we moved the heat agenda forward – joining numerous sessions with partner organizations and hosting our own event on the long-term transformations needed for extreme heat resilience.Extreme heat spares no part of the world, but the Arab States Region experiences particularly severe conditions. At the 2025 Arab Regional Platform for DRR, a special session spotlighted the need for early warnings, policy recognition, tailored action plans, cross-sector coordination, and greater investment in urban heat solutions.The G20 Working Group on Disaster Risk Reduction, which UNDRR serves as Lead Knowledge Partner, has also prioritized extreme heat – with dedicated sessions in Belém, Brazil, and, more recently, Umhlanga, South Africa.The UNDRR/WMO Centre of Excellence on DRR, together with partners, has developed a decision-support package to help countries tackle extreme heat. It includes readiness reviews, best practice analysis, action plan evaluations, and tools to strengthen integrated governance and policy response.Earlier this month, I joined the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development for a one-day summit exploring in detail the financial case for investing in heat resilience.Eight months ago, I reflected on how we might rise to the Secretary-General’s challenge – tackling extreme heat, globally and locally. “We need bold solutions to extreme heat – now," I wrote, "We are not going to be able to air-condition our way out of this.”Looking back over the ten proposed actions, I can see that we are making some progress, but there is still a long – and increasingly hot! – road ahead.Read the original story hereEditors' recommendationsKamal Kishore: Ten actions to combat extreme heatThe silent killer: We need better risk governance to beat extreme heat | GP 2025Kamal Kishore: We can celebrate success, but the real work starts nowFacing the heat: how the Arab Region is tackling rising temperaturesHazard: Heatwave