Advancing Heat Resilience in India: Key Takeaways from the International Workshop on Heat Wave 2025

India experienced severe heat waves in 2024, with temperatures in northwest India soaring close to 50°C. Authorities reported over 40,000 heatstroke cases across 17 states. As extreme heat events intensify, the need for robust Heat Action Plans (HAPs) has never been more urgent.

The India Cooling Action Plan (ICAP) highlights urgent needs for development of HAPs on priority. Such HAPs address short-term risks and propose cross-departmental emergency actions during heatwaves. Additionally, many Indian cities are developing HAPs that begin to integrate long-term heat mitigation including sustainable cooling measures such as urban greening and cool roofs.

Globally this is also seen in leading cities using HAPs to mobilize urgent cross-departmental actions during heatwaves, but also to mitigate future heat risks through the redesign of the built environment. In 2024, the UN Secretary-General called on governments to integrate short and long-term measures to reduce extreme heat risks, including nature positive cities and climate sensitive urban design and planning with nature-based and other passive cooling solutions.

However, where and when to prioritise heatwave mitigation in a city and how to finance such interventions are critical knowledge gaps, both in India and globally.

To help address this, UNEP Cool Coalition supported India’s National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) to co-host an International Workshop on Heat Waves on 13-14 February 2025 in New Delhi. Over 15 Cool Coalition partners were present including from within India and around the world. Centered on the theme “Advancing City-Level Heat Action Plans: Multi-Sectoral Adaptation for Resilient Communities,” the workshop brought together national and international experts, policymakers, practitioners, and senior officials from heat-prone Indian states.

This marked a significant evolution of past national editions of the workshop, with Cool Coalition members and champion cities globally introducing global perspectives. The workshop also created a platform for cross-country learning, enabling representatives from other nations to adapt several of India’s leading strategies to their own contexts.

Dr. Balakrishna Pisupati, UNEP India Country Head, addressed the inaugural session, commending India’s proactive efforts in tackling extreme heat. He emphasized the need for a multidisciplinary approach, stating, “Technical solutions for many heat-related challenges exist, but they must be reinforced by strong policies at global, regional, national, and sub-national levels.” He also underscored the importance of breaking silos and fostering deeper coordination across governance levels and sectors.

Across various sessions in the workshop, the importance of Urban Heat Island Effect (UHIE) mapping in supporting effective heat mitigation strategies was strongly emphasized. UNEP and CEPT University presented a National Methodology for UHIE assessment which collects and overlaps data on land and air temperature, land-use cover, building form, surface materials and nature of green cover. This methodology has been tested in Tamil Nadu and UNEP Cool Coalition will partner with NDMA to ensure its further testing in the country.

UNEP Cool Coalition partners also presented the City Chief Heat Officer model, with Jane Gilbert, Chief Heat Officer of Miami-Dade County, showcasing various mapping and community activities led under the Climate & Heat Health Task Force, which she chairs. Dr. Eleni Myrivili emphasized the critical role of Chief Heat Officers for cities in driving both short-term preparedness and long-term urban redesign to mitigate extreme heat. NDMA highlighted that a key takeaway from the workshop was the need to replicate the City Heat Officer model as part of effective heat governance.

Workshop Outcomes

The workshop focused on key strategies to strengthen and expand heat adaptation efforts:

• Strengthening and scaling up city-level heat action plans and including long-term “redesign” of cities to mitigate extreme heat
• Innovative financing of HAPs and cities’ efforts to redesign and promote sustainable cooling
• Enhancing vertical and horizontal coordination across central ministries, state departments and with Urban Local Bodies (ULBs) for implementation of heat action plans, including roll-out of Heat Officers in India’s ULBs.
• Scaling up of innovative cooling solutions for the most vulnerable including passive cooling
• Further development of early warning systems.

Under the India Cooling Action Plan, India aims to reduce cooling demand by up to 25%, refrigerant demand by 25-30% and cooling energy requirements by up to 40% by 2038 while ensuring affordability and protecting citizens from high temperatures. UNEP is working with Government of India to support ICAP implementation under the framework of the Cool Coalition, including embedding heat resilience and sustainable cooling into urban planning, food system designs, governance frameworks, and climate strategies.