Beat the Heat in Cities/Mutirão Contra o Calor Extremo is a flagship implementation drive of the 2025 United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP30) Brazilian Presidency set to be launched in Belém in November 2025. It will localize the Global Cooling Pledge, launched at COP28 and now endorsed by 72 countries and 80 non-state actors, including nearly 30 subnational governments. The Pledge marks a pivotal step in addressing one of the most urgent challenges of our time: adapting to extreme heat sustainably. But to deliver to its full potential—expanding heat resilience while also mitigating emissions—strong coordination is needed across all levels of government.
By strengthening collaboration between national and subnational actors, the initiative creates a feedback loop where successful local cooling strategies can inform and strengthen national climate adaptation and mitigation policies. This multilevel governance model creates a framework where cooling solutions may contribute not only to member state climate targets, but also to broader equity, development, and environmental goals.
Through Beat the Heat in Cities, the COP30 Presidency calls on countries to engage their urban centers in a collaborative effort to both showcase existing leadership on heat resilience, and to support the development of new, context-specific solutions. This initiative aims to spotlight city champions that are advancing sustainable, inclusive cooling, while also creating space for emerging leaders to accelerate action through technical support and peer exchange.
Participating cities will be invited by their national governments and will work closely with relevant national stakeholders, including Global Cooling Pledge leads, National Ozone Units, and CHAMP focal points, to ensure alignment with national climate and cooling strategies and to enhance long-term impact.
To participate, please complete the form here
City actions may include:
- conducting heat assessments
- developing or updating heat action plans
- implementing nature-based solutions (e.g. green corridors)
- implementing passive cooling strategies (e.g.) cool roofs
- procuring efficient, climate-friendly cooling technologies
Such interventions, primarily targeting vulnerable populations, will be assessed based on their climate impact potential, social and environmental co-benefits, and scalability. By combining visibility for frontrunners with capacity-building for others, Beat the Heat in Cities creates a win–win platform for countries to elevate their urban climate action while strengthening national-local collaboration on sustainable cooling and extreme heat adaptation.
UNEP and the COP30 Presidency, together with a wide coalition of global partners, will offer training, strategic guidance and technical assistance to participating cities to ensure meaningful and measurable impact. This support emphasizes alignment with national climate goals, technical capacity building and knowledge sharing, financial opportunities and strategies, project preparation and policy integration.
For questions, contact the UNEP Cool Coalition Secretariat [email protected] and cc [email protected]