2026 Heat Action Day: Cities Beat the Heat
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Description
2026 Heat Action Day: Cities Beat the Heat
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2 June marks the 5th edition of Heat Action Day (HAD), a global day of action and awareness on extreme heat. In 2026, HAD’s theme is indoor heat. It puts the accent on the serious health risks from exposure to heat inside homes, or in public and privately managed facilities such as schools, health facilities, prisons, and care homes. Key solutions include access to cool places, better building materials and structures that passively cool, as well as the reduction of the urban heat island effect. Extreme heatwaves are made significantly more likely by the changing climate of our Earth. WMO’s State of the Global Climate report recently confirmed that 2015-2025 are the hottest 11-years on record, with an average temperature in 2025 about 1,43°C above the 1850-1900 average, making 2025 the second or third hottest year on record. In 2025, new heat records and abnormal heatwaves affected China, central Asia and Siberia, Mexico, the United States of America, the Mediterranean, the Iberian Peninsula, Central Europe and the Nordic region. The event will mark Heat Action Day by highlighting best practices and scalable initiatives that can be replicated by local and regional governments around the world. Together, we can #BeatTheHeat. |
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Date: 2 June 2026
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Key themes
- The Climate Change and Workplace Heat Stress report was published jointly by the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) and the World Health Organization (WHO). It highlights the increased health risks (incl. heatstroke, dehydration, kidney dysfunction, and neurological disorders) for outdoor and indoor workers due to the frequency and intensity of heatwaves. In addition, heatwaves affect worker productivity, which drops by 2-3% for every degree above 20°C. The report sketches out key recommendations for national, regional and local governments as well as other stakeholders to mitigate the risks derived from extreme heat.
- The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) Cool Coalition, launched as a flagship initiative of the UN Secretary-General’s Climate Action Summit in 2019, is a global platform bringing together over 300 governments, businesses, cities, and financial institutions to drive comprehensive action on sustainable cooling and extreme heat. It helps local implementation, through tools and technical support, to ensure that local and regional governments can prepare better to fight extreme heat.
- The City of Cape Town integrated heat governance structure ensures that heat-related projects have co-benefits that go beyond only heat resilience. In addition, through its cooperation with local stakeholders, including the private sector, it ensured that both long-term infrastructure and concrete, practical solutions can be implemented.
Speakers
Opening remarks
- Aynur Kadihasanoglu – Senior Urban Specialist, Red Cross Red Crescent Climate Centre
Panellists
- Albert Ferreira – Chief Heat Officer, City of Cape Town
- Elsa Lefèvre – Programme Manager, Beat the Heat, Subnational Climate Action Unit, UNEP
- Nausheen H. Anwar – Member, WMO-WHO technical group on indoor heat risks to health
Moderated by Simone Sessolo, Event and Communications Coordinator, Global Cities Hub
Q&A
Closing remarks
Registration
Please register here for the event. The event will be held in English. Translated closed captions available via Zoom in several languages.
Previous editions of Heat Action Day