➡️Back to the DRR and Recovery Community
➡️Back to the Urban Risk Management and Resilience page
Did you know that 2023 was the warmest year on record? With temperatures at 1.180C (2.120F) above the 20th century average of 13.90C since global records began in 1850.
Did you know that 6 July 2023 was the hottest day ever recorded on earth?
Did you know that the ten warmest years in the 174-year record period have all occurred during the last decade i.e., 2014-2023?
Did you know that over 2 billion children are likely to face frequent heatwaves by 2050 (UNICEF)?
Half of humanity is already urban, and it is estimated that more than 68% of the world’s population will live in cities by 2050 --- 2.5 billion more people than do now.
Over 350 cities across the globe home to over 200 million people are already vulnerable to extreme heat conditions and 14% of the global urban population is already encountering extreme heat. That is because the peculiar built environment in cities translates into 10-150C higher surface temperature than in the surroundings leading to a peculiar heat island effect in many parts of the city.
By 2050, 45% of the global urban population will face heatwaves.
Increasing heat waves and heat island effects are leading to increasing mortality rates (more than those from the hurricanes, tornadoes, lightning combined) with vulnerable segments of the city population, such as children, elderly, women, low-income groups etc., being at much higher risk. Life and health impacts are accompanied by loss of livelihoods and economic productivity, water scarcity, wildfires and heat strokes.
We, at the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), address the existing as well as emerging impacts of heatwaves by implementing heatwave resilience interventions as part of our urban risk management and resilience strategy.
Together with our global, national and local partners, we are launching the ‘Beat the Heat’ Campaign to support communities to identify and implement heatwave solutions with a focus on children, elderly and the women in 3 cities (TBD).
To start, we will support the people living in these cities by
- Launching a mobile app to provide heat alerts, advisories to mitigate impact and the routes to avoid or take – potential benefit to entire city population and visitors.
- Creating green canopies around schools, hospitals, public places like markets, bus stops etc. – potential benefit to about 10,000 students and general public with implementation of 5 green canopies per city.
- Setting-up water coolers near hotspots to be operated and maintained by local communities and businesses – potential benefit to about 10,000 people with 5 water coolers per city.
- Planting 250 all-weather trees around schools, hospitals, markets, bus stops and other public places – potential long-term benefit to local communities and help contribute to fight against climate change.
Under the slogan ‘Our City-Our Action’ we will promote an all-hands-on-deck approach to create cool spaces to beat the heat and build a culture of joined up action by involving schools, community organizations, businesses and you for identifying and providing contextual solutions to reduce heatwave and heat island effects.
UNDP will bring its over 20 years of experience of working on disaster and climate risk management issues at global, regional and national levels including supporting countries and communities in the aftermath of major global disasters like the Indian Ocean Tsunami 2004, flood and hurricanes across many countries, as well as the on-going work with a range of partners and organizations on heatwave resilience and heat island effect mitigation. Partnerships, knowledge networks and technical expertise mobilized through global partnerships, webinars and research projects will help identify workable solutions while supporting integration of heat risks into local development and planning by city authorities.
Let all cool people from around the world come together for ‘Our City – Our Action’ Campaign to Beat the Heat! – with an aim to raise $85,000 for each city.
Do you have an idea for a solution to beat the heat or a good practice from your city? Feel free to contact us and tell us more about your solution.
➡️Check out our latest blog on fostering community action against heatwaves in urban settings.
For more information on the initiative, please contact:
- Ronald Jackson, Head, Disaster Risk Reduction and Recovery for Building Resilience Team (DRT), UNDP, [email protected]
- Rajeev Issar, Policy Specialist, DRT, UNDP, [email protected]
- Vanessa Schultz, Resource Mobilization and Engagement Consultant, DRT, UNDP, [email protected]
