The last 5 years have seen the hottest weather on record with many countries experiencing exceptionally warm spells. Extreme heat impacts on health, productivity and economics and the impact is greatest in cities and it dis-proportionally affects the urban poor. This paper initially gives data on global temperature change, as well as the prevalence and impact of extreme heat in cities.
To help cities mitigate the impacts of extreme heat the Adrienne Arsht-Rockefeller Foundation Resilience Center and the Extreme Heat Resilience Alliance in collaboration with the UN Environment Programme, the Cool Coalition, RMI, the Global Covenant of Mayors for Climate and Energy, Mission Innovation and the World Economic Forum’s Global Commission on BiodiverCities by 2030 are developing a toolkit for city officials. This paper describes the toolkit called the Heat Action Platform.
The Heat Action Platform is a living, engagement-oriented tool for city officials, practitioners, and financial institutions to find guidance, both existing resources and tailor-made solutions, on reducing the human and economic impacts of extreme heat at the regional or municipal level. The platform offers opportunities to engage with world-leading experts across a diversity of disciplines to plan, fund, implement, and measure heat resilience actions. The paper describes the rationale behind the heat action platform, its development and how it is being used to mitigate the impacts of extreme heat. Future opportunities to collaborate are identified
