As global temperatures rise, extreme heat is becoming more frequent and severe, straining human health, infrastructure, economies, ecosystems, and essential services. Addressing these risks requires coordinated action across governments, cities, communities, and sectors. This session will showcase how the Beat the Heat Implementation Drive, a COP30 Action Agenda Plan to Accelerate Solutions, is converting global commitments into practical local action. The session will explore how Beat the Heat translates the Global Cooling Pledge into subnational action, supporting heat assessments, planning, nature-based cooling, sustainable procurement, and building code adoption in more than 250 cities.
The discussion will be anchored in UNEP's Limiting Overshoot Spotlight Report, launched September 2026, which examines the risks of higher warming, pathways to limit and reduce global temperatures, and implications for adaptation and development. Against this backdrop, panellists will discuss how local action can reduce risks from rising temperatures while cutting cooling-related emissions and promoting more sustainable, resilient cooling solutions. By accelerating action now, it can help limit peak warming, supporting the longer-term goal of bringing global temperatures back down towards and below 1.5°C.
The session will open with framing remarks from UNEP and the COP30 Presidency, followed by reflections and insights from cities and partners in the room. It will highlight progress, lessons and opportunities to accelerate urban heat action through collaboration.