Bangkok, Oct. 11 -- Heat is an immediate crisis requiring urgent action to save lives, protect livelihoods and safeguard economies, a senior UN official has said, calling for collective efforts to translate scientific knowledge into practical solutions.
Speaking to PTI Videos on the sidelines of Bangkok Climate Action Week, Ben Churchill, Director of the regional office for Asia and the Pacific at World Meteorological Organisation, highlighted the importance of turning vast knowledge on heat, rising temperatures and their impacts into action that can save lives and protect livelihoods. "Heat is not a future problem; it's a problem now, and it's everybody's business. Yet for many years it has never been anyone's key responsibility. The forum has seen an unprecedented turnout, all wanting to find solutions and help scale them up," Churchill said.
"My takeaway is that moments like these are when we need to come together and turn the vast knowledge we have about heat, rising temperatures, and their impacts into action that can save lives, protect livelihoods, and contribute to social and economic development," he added.
In September, the WMO warned that the prevailing El Nino conditions over the equatorial Pacific are most likely to intensify into a very strong event in the coming months and persist through February 2027.
It said this could have substantial impacts on rainfall and temperature patterns and the associated risks of floods, drowught and extreme heat.
The inaugural Global Heat Forum, part of Bangkok Climate Action Week, concluded on October 9, convening nearly 700 scientists, business leaders, philanthropists, and health experts to drive immediate action and strengthen heat governance to protect global livelihoods.
James Abraham, CEO of the Council on Energy, Environment and Water (CEEW), termed heat as a dual local and global issue.
Published by HT Digital Content Services with permission from Millennium Post.