By Mihir R. Bhatt, All India Disaster Mitigation Institute (AIDMI), India

There is not a single country in the Asia Pacific that can avoid direct, substantial, and sustained action on extreme heat in 2025. This was evident at the APMCDRR 2024 Manila session on “Gender-Responsive Solutions for Heat Stress: Safeguarding Women’s Livelihoods” by ICVA, ADRRN, and AIDMI. This was also clear at RHPW 2024 Bangkok session on “Localization and Adaptation by Communities: Focus on Extreme Heat”.

Due to the two sessions mentioned earlier, there was an increased demand from authorities and local organizations for AIDMI to provide recommendations for action on extreme heat. In response, AIDMI invited ICVA and ADRRN to collaborate and develop a way forward for all three organizations, as well as the various stakeholders they engage with in the Asia Pacific region.

This collaboration resulted into a call for sharing of experience and expertise by Southasiadisasters.net, a leading and long-standing local initiative bridging the policy and performance gap. The response from local authority, civil society agencies, and others were overwhelming and it was decided to jointly co-edit this issue for wider use and planning. Drawing from the contributions in this issue and reflecting on the two sessions mentioned above, we have the following five areas of action.

1. Strengthening Community-Led Adaptation to Extreme Heat with Finance

• Empower local communities to design and implement extreme heat adaptation solutions, incorporating traditional knowledge supported with scientific advancements.
• Increase national funding for grassroots initiatives that address extreme heat and other climate-related risks.

2. Enhancing Early Warning Systems and Data Monitoring Around Extreme Heat

• Develop and expand heat forecasting mechanisms, integrating real-time climate data to improve extreme heat disaster preparedness.
• Establish better communication channels to ensure timely dissemination of warnings, especially for extreme heat vulnerable populations.

3. Scaling Nature-Based Solutions (NBS) for Cooling at Family Level

• Implement large-scale reforestation programs and urban greening initiatives to mitigate extreme heat’s local impacts.
• Encourage sustainable infrastructure development using heat-resistant materials and eco-friendly designs at all levels of habitat.

4. Prioritizing Youth and Vulnerable Populations in Extreme Heat Governance in Local Authorities

• Strengthen policies that center children, youth, women, and marginalized communities such as migrants and all minorities in decision-making processes of cooling efforts.
• Increase investment in education and mental health support related to extreme heat stressors.

5. Fostering Asia Pacific and International Collaborative Cooling

• Establish stronger partnerships between governments, NGOs, and the private sector to share best practices and resources for cooling.
• Advocate for increased cooling financing and policy coherence to support long-term extreme heat resilience-building across the Asia-Pacific.

AIDMI, ICVA, and ADRRN are committed to taking the above five and related key actions ahead at policy as well as performance local to authorities, CSOs, and most importantly to local communities.

Those readers with collaborative interest are welcome to be in touch as soon as possible. Asia Pacific needs all of us to join efforts to cool down the region itself and the planet. There is no doubt.