Extreme heat has caused hundreds of deaths and has many other implications. This is an image from Dahanu, Maharashtra. Credit: 350/flickr

By Naureen Hossain
UNITED NATIONS, Jul 26 2024 (IPS)

“The world must rise to the challenge of rising temperatures,” says the UN Secretary-General as he launches a call to action on extreme heat and its impact on society and the environment.

On Thursday, Secretary-General António Guterres announced the launch of a joint report drawing from the expertise of ten UN organizations, including UNICEF, ILO, OCHA and WHO. The Call for Action on Extreme Heat explores the multidimensional impact of extreme heat on lives and livelihoods, which is only further evidence of the climate crisis.

The UN’s call for action targets four key areas in the efforts to combat extreme heat: providing care to those most vulnerable, protecting workers, boosting the resilience of economies and societies through data and science, investing in renewable energy and phasing out fossil fuels, thereby limiting the temperature rise to 1.5 degrees Celsius under the Paris Agreement.

June 2024 was the 13th consecutive hottest month on record. Experts have warned that the consecutive record-setting global temperatures are indicative that average temperatures will only rise in the coming years, and some areas will even become inhabitable as people will be physically unable to withstand the heat. In the report, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) predicts that Central and South America, southern Europe, Southern and Southeast Asia, and Africa will be the most affected by heat-related mortality by 2100.

“Billions of people are facing an extreme heat epidemic, wilting under increasingly deadly heatwaves, with temperatures topping 50 degrees Celsius around the world. That’s 122 degrees Fahrenheit. And halfway to boiling,” Guterres said. He emphasized this point by referencing recent global incidents, such as a heatwave in Sahel this April and the deaths of more than 1300 pilgrims in Saudi Arabia during this year’s Hajj.

So far, the impact of extreme heat has been felt across livelihoods and the environment. However, it does not affect everyone equally. Multiple factors, such as gender, age, and pre-existing medical conditions, can determine the impact. For this reason, those most vulnerable to the impact of extreme temperatures include older people, people living with disabilities, pregnant women and children. 

The quality of housing is also a factor, and as such, the report further identifies people living in poverty as most at-risk, or rather, people who live in poor housing that lacks access to cooling or proper ventilation. Furthermore, urban areas are much warmer compared to rural areas. Cities are bearing the brunt due to their built environment, congestion, concentrated energy use and heat absorption from concrete and other building materials. This is known as the urban heat island effect.

The working population is also disproportionately exposed to excessive heat. A new ILO report notes that at least 70 percent of the global working population, or 2.41 billion workers, are at risk of exposure to high temperatures, which have resulted in 22.85 million injuries, and at least 18,970 deaths annually. Workers in Africa, the Arab states, and Asia and the Asia-Pacific are among the most affected by 93 percent, 84 percent, and 75 percent, respectively. Rising temperatures have also affected productivity, which drops by 50 percent. The report recommends that measures be put into place to protect the health of all workers through a rights-based approach, along with reporting and surveillance mechanisms for incidents brought on by heat stress.

Heat stress was identified as the leading cause of weather-related deaths. While high exposures to heat can cause heat strokes, a fatal medical emergency, continued exposure can increase the likelihood and risk of other medical conditions, such as kidney issues, cardiovascular health, diabetes, mental health, and the transmission of infectious diseases. Health issues brought on by exposure to extreme heat can put more stress on healthcare services, yet the most exposed regions do not have adequate resources to address them in their health facilities.

Extreme heat is felt across multiple additional sectors. The use of air conditioners and other cooling systems accounts for 20 percent of global electricity consumption, in a time where more than half of the electricity is still generated through burning fossil fuels. In the food and agricultural sectors, crop yields fell by 45 percent in 2022 because of extreme temperatures and phenomena such as droughts and wildfires.

“Extreme heat amplifies inequality, inflames food insecurity, and pushes people further into poverty,” said Guterres.

Guterres called on the international community, the public and private sectors, and governments to make concentrated efforts to address the issue. Guterres also repeated his demand for the phasing out of fossil fuels as an energy source, singling out G20 countries for their renewed agreements for oil and gas licenses.

“The problem is that climate change is running faster than all the measures that are now being put in place to fight it. And that is why it is important to understand that we need a huge acceleration of all the dimensions of climate action,”  Guterres said.

The report notes that there are ways to reduce the fallout of extreme heat risks. Investing in reasonable occupational and safety hazards could save up to USD 361 billion. Concentrated actions to reduce energy demand in the cooling sector globally could save up to USD 1 trillion and the power sector up to USD 5 trillion by 2050.

In recent years, climate change has brought about abnormal temperatures and weather phenomena that even developed countries have struggled to deal with without a serious fallout on their populations. With heatwaves not even sparing the West, Guterres hopes that this will perhaps spur them into urgent, immediate action.

“Now the heat is being felt by those who have decision-making capacity.”

IPS UN Bureau Report