Discussion: Emphasizing the Avoidance of Heat-Related Deaths

In a world where the effects of climate change are becoming increasingly apparent, a new wave of leaders has emerged to combat one of its most dangerous and often overlooked aspects: extreme heat. These champions, known as Chief Heat Officers, are making a significant impact in cities across the globe.

The focus on the impact of extreme heat on health is a relatively recent development, but it has proven to be a critical area of concern. In Athens, Greece, Elissavet Bargianni serves as the city's chief heat officer, working tirelessly to protect its residents. Interestingly, the United Nations Human Settlements Programme (UN-Habitat) and the Atlantic Council's Arsht-Rock Resilience Center also have a global chief heat officer named Eleni Myrivili.

Raising awareness and advocacy is a significant part of a chief heat officer's role. They translate scientific knowledge into terms that policy makers and communities can understand, helping to create early-warning systems, policies, and actions for extreme heat events. For instance, in Athens, a specific algorithm was developed to categorise heatwaves as yellow, orange, or red, based on two decades of data, to better communicate the risks to policy makers and the public.

Many chief heat officers were previously working in city administrations, often within climate departments. Jane Gilbert, the world's first chief heat officer, was appointed in Miami-Dade county, Florida in 2021. She, along with her counterparts in cities like Melbourne, Australia (Krista Milne and Tiffany Crawford), Freetown, Sierra Leone (Eugenia Kargbo), and numerous others, are tasked with raising awareness of the risks of extreme heat and its solutions, identifying vulnerable areas, improving responses to heat, and working on risk-reduction and cooling.

The mandate of a chief heat officer is clear: to protect vulnerable populations and make the city cooler for future decades. They collaborate with the private sector to redesign cities to be more heat-resistant, as there may not be enough funding in the public sector to do so alone. Making cities more resistant to heat can be cost-effective if nature is used more intelligently within urban areas, as opposed to traditional grey infrastructure.

The importance of cities in climate policy and climate financing is crucial, as demonstrated at the COP30 climate meeting in Brazil. Heat is often referred to as the "silent killer" due to its difficulty to talk about and represent. However, with the work of chief heat officers, this silent threat is being brought to the forefront, with solutions and strategies being developed to combat it.

The summers of 2022 to 2024 have seen extraordinary heat events worldwide, including long periods of heat, drought, and wildfires, resulting in extraordinary numbers of deaths. Categorising heatwaves can link to specific early-warning systems, policies, and actions, such as shutting down certain activities during extreme heat events. As the climate continues to change, the role of chief heat officers will only become more vital in ensuring the safety and well-being of our urban populations.