United Nations: UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Thursday called for urgent action to better protect the billions of people around the world exposed to the crippling effects of extreme heat as global temperature rises continue unabated.
The call comes against a backdrop of record temperatures and deadly heat waves – from the United States to Africa’s Sahel and Europe to Asia – which have killed several hundred people this summer.
He emphasized that during the Hajj, for example, the scorching heat claimed the lives of more than 1,300 pilgrims.
“Billions of people are facing an epidemic of extreme heat – languishing under increasingly deadly heat waves with temperatures exceeding 50 degrees Celsius around the world. That’s 122 degrees Fahrenheit — halfway to boiling,” the UN chief said at a news conference at UN headquarters in New York.
“The message is clear: the heating is on. Extreme heat has an extreme impact on people and the planet. The world must rise to the challenge of rising temperatures.”
The UN chief stressed that although “crippling heat is everywhere”, it does not affect everyone equally.
Among the most vulnerable are the urban poor, pregnant women, children, the elderly, the disabled, the sick and the displaced, who often live in substandard housing without access to cooling.
According to UN estimates, heat-related deaths among people over 65 have increased by about 85 percent over the past two decades, while 25 percent of all children are exposed to frequent heat waves today, and this could rise to nearly 100 percent by 2050.
“We need to respond by massively expanding access to low-carbon cooling, expanding passive cooling – such as natural solutions and urban design, and cleaning up cooling technologies while increasing their efficiency,” Mr Guterres said, calling for more funding to protect communities. from “climate chaos”.
Guterres also emphasized the need to strengthen worker protection.
More than 70 percent of the global workforce, or 2.4 billion people, are at significant risk of extreme heat, according to a new report from the United Nations International Labor Organization (ILO).
The situation is particularly dire in Africa and the Arab regions, where more than 90 percent and 80 percent of workers are exposed. In Asia and the Pacific – the world’s most populous region – that figure is three out of four workers (75 percent).
In addition, occupational heat stress is projected to cost the global economy $2.4 trillion by 2030, up from $280 billion in the mid-1990s.
“We need human rights-based measures to protect workers,” Guterres stressed, “and we need to ensure that laws and regulations reflect the reality of today’s extreme heat – and are enforced.”
He also highlighted the need to strengthen the resilience of economies and societies, citing impacts such as infrastructure damage, crop failures and increased pressure on water supplies, health systems and power grids.
Cities where heating is twice the global average are particularly vulnerable.
To address these issues, Guterres called for comprehensive and tailored action plans based on science that are critical to countries, cities and sectors.
“We need a concerted effort to maintain heat-resilient economies, critical industries and the built environment.”
The UN chief reiterated the importance of recognizing the myriad symptoms beyond extreme heat such as hurricanes, floods, droughts, forest fires and rising sea levels.
Reliance on fossil fuels and climate inaction are key challenges, he said, stressing that governments, especially G20 countries, the private sector, cities and regions, must urgently adopt climate action plans to limit global temperature increases to 1.5 °C.
In addition, the country must urgently phase out fossil fuels and end new coal projects. “They have to act like our future depends on it—because it does.
