Building Heat Resilience Amidst Rising Risk in the Asia-Pacific

Years ago, we were warned about global warming. Now, we are feeling it more than ever. The year 2023 was named the hottest year on record, a title that was soon after replaced by 2024. In 2025, the trend continues. The increase in global average temperature, driven by climate change and anthropogenic activities, has triggered more frequent and extreme heatwaves across the globe. Thus, building heat resilience becomes an urgent agenda for countries, especially in the disaster-prone Asia-Pacific.

Understanding Extreme Heat Impacts

The world is heating fast, and we need to adapt quickly. The Asia-Pacific, which already faces a complex disaster risk landscape, is grappling with even greater climate hazards and disasters due to rising temperatures.

A UNESCAP report explores this rising risk. The worst-case projections show South Asia, Southeast Asia, and Australia as the regions with the highest heat risks, where they are expected to experience 250-300 days out of a year in extreme heat  by the end of the century. Meanwhile, other regions face emerging risks, with more frequent, intense, and widespread extreme heat occurrences.

On the ground, the impacts are severe, extensive, and disproportionate. Urban areas, for instance, experience a higher risk of extreme heat due to the urban heat island effect, in which densely built areas trap heat and raise city temperatures above those in rural areas. The situation is even more dire for vulnerable communities in urban areas, who are more exposed to extreme heat with limited resources to cope.

Extreme heat also significantly disturbs economic productivity. The report reveals that by 2030, working hours lost to heat stress are projected to reach an equivalent of 8.1 million full-time jobs. Furthermore, rising greenhouse gas levels, which drive extreme heat, trigger sea level rise, melting glaciers, frequent drought, and erratic weather patterns.

Building Heat Resilience

The cascading impacts call for immediate actions to build heat resilience. The report defines heat resilience as the capacity of a system to anticipate, withstand, adapt to, and recover from extreme heat while still maintaining the economic, social, and environmental wellbeing.

“Governments in Asia and the Pacific have had considerable experience with managing cascading disasters. But the rising threat of extreme heat demands a new level of urgency,” Tiziana Bonapace, Director of Information and Communications Technology and Disaster Risk Reduction Division at ESCAP, told Green Network Asia.

This means local and national governments must move from a short-term and reactive approach to systemic strategies that build long-term heat resilience. One key aspect of this transformation is strengthening heat preparedness under the Early Warning for All (EW4All).

Concerningly, the report reveals major gaps in existing early warning systems. Only 54% of global meteorological services have warnings for extreme temperatures, and risk communication remains limited and out of reach for vulnerable groups. Systemically, heat action plans are required as an umbrella framework for these mechanisms, yet implementation remains fragmented and ineffective due to limited institutional capacity.

Equitable Heat Resilience

As previously stated, the report mentions how communities in poor and densely populated urban areas are disproportionately affected. They are also likely to have limited access to electricity, cooling systems, and healthcare to manage heat risk.

In this context, Bonapace highlighted the benefits of nature-based solutions (NbS) to help lower temperatures. NbS in urban areas can take the form of urban green spaces, street trees, green roofs, and urban wetlands. She said, “These interventions help lower urban temperatures by providing shade, promoting evapotranspiration, and acting as heat sinks that reduce urban heat island effects. Vegetation and tree canopies, for example, can reduce peak summer temperatures by 1°C to 5°C.”

Furthermore, heat resilience is also a matter of socio-economic justice. “Climate-responsive social protection is another pivotal intervention. This includes remunerated provisions for rest-shade-water, flexible working hours, and targeted arrangements for women, older persons, children, persons with disabilities, migrants, and outdoor workers when the heat index is rising,” Bonapace added.

Regional Cooperation Required

Heat knows no borders, underscoring the urgency of regional cooperation to mitigate and adapt to hazards.

ESCAP’s report highlights opportunities to fully utilize existing regional platforms, such as the ESCAP Trust Fund for Tsunami, Disaster, and Climate Preparedness, to help countries share costs. They also allow countries to use common and interoperable tools and expand coverage. Regional cooperation is particularly crucial to ensuring that financing for heat resilience is integrated into existing systems rather than being a standalone effort.

Additionally, these platforms also enable countries to exchange data and services to build a common understanding, which can help provide accurate measurements and progress monitoring. One example highlighted in the report is the standardized definition of heatwaves established by the WMO and WHO, which refers to local cumulative excess heat during a sequence of unusually hot days and nights.

Cross-Sectoral Collaboration

In addition to government initiatives, efforts to build strong heat resilience systems must align with the needs and conditions on the ground. This is where civil society organizations can participate.

“As active players on the ground, civil society organizations can play a key role in last-mile delivery. Their knowledge of local languages and contexts is useful for ensuring that vulnerable groups are reached equitably. On-the-ground insight and familiarity with locals will be helpful in implementing nature-based solutions,” said Bonapace.

At the same time, the role of the private sector is pivotal in advancing technology integration to enhance heat resilience, including providing access to data platforms and driving innovations.

“Private sector involvement is also critical for energy efficiency and reducing heat-related strain on energy systems, given the rising demand for cooling and stresses on energy infrastructure.” Bonapace further elaborated.

The combination of data-driven innovation and local knowledge can help make warnings more accurate and actionable. Ultimately, the current trajectory of the climate crisis calls for a unified approach to mitigate and adapt to current and potential hazards. At the same time, efforts must also continue to limit the global temperature rise by advancing a just decarbonization process that benefits people and the planet.

Editor: Nazalea Kusuma

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