Extreme heat is deadly and disrupts economies and societies. Modelled estimates show that between 2000 and 2019, approximately 489,000 heat-related deaths occurred each year, with 45 per cent of these in Asia and 36 per cent in Europe1. Heat exposure- related loss in labour capacity resulted in average potential income losses equivalent to US$863 billion in 20222. In the past 100 days alone, we witnessed heat-related deaths in countries from Saudi Arabia to India, heatstroke warnings across Japan, schools closing in Bangladesh and the Philippines, severe heat warnings issued by governments in Southeast Europe, and new temperature records across the United States.
The climate crisis is driving crippling heat everywhere. June 2024 was the 13th consecutive month to break global temperature records.3 As of writing, it is increasingly likely that 2024 will be one of the, if not the, hottest year in recorded human history.4 Billions of people around the world are wilting under increasingly severe heatwaves driven
largely by a fossil-fuel charged, human-induced climate crisis. This is a taste of the future and impels us to take bold decisions to change the way we live to avoid an even more scorched Earth in the future.
Everyone is at risk. But extreme heat, like other facets of the climate crisis, does not affect everyone equally. It is the most vulnerable and exposed communities in society who are hit hardest. In many countries, air conditioning and green neighbourhoods are a luxury of the wealthy. Urban poor and displaced persons are particularly defenceless in the face of extreme heat. The very young, elderly, persons with disabilities, pregnant women, people with comorbidities, and outdoor workers are particularly vulnerable. Measures to protect workers against extreme heat remain inadequate. Policies to address extreme heat so far remain scattered, disjointed and underfunded.