Global Center on Adaptation launches “The Heat Is On” to confront the world’s deadliest climate threat
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otterdam, the Netherlands, 25 September 2025. The Global Center on Adaptation (GCA) today launched The Heat Is On, a worldwide campaign to put extreme heat at the top of the climate agenda and accelerate the scale-up of solutions that save lives and protect livelihoods. From ports and power corridors to farms and city streets, extreme heat is already eroding productivity, disrupting essential services and intensifying health risks. Yet proven adaptation measures—from cooling centres and shaded rest areas to climate-smart work scheduling, early-warning systems and nature-based solutions—are available now and can be rapidly deployed at scale with the right political will and finance. The Heat Is On will mobilize partners and youth leaders to amplify frontline voices and practical solutions on the road to COP30, with a clear call to make adaptation a political and investment priority.
Announcing the campaign, Macky Sall, Chair of the Global Center on Adaptation and Fourth President of Senegal, said: “Extreme heat is not a distant risk—it is here now, threatening our people, our economies and our future. Across Africa, workers are already losing wages, children are losing classroom hours and hospitals are struggling under heatwaves. Through The Heat Is On, we call on the world to recognize that adaptation is not optional. By investing in practical, proven solutions, we can protect our citizens and create opportunities for resilience and growth.”
Ban Ki-moon, Honorary Chair of the Global Center on Adaptation and 8th Secretary-General of the United Nations, underscored the urgency: “The heat is on. The time to adapt is now. Rising temperatures, record heatwaves and deadly extremes are the defining reality of our time. Extreme heat threatens lives, livelihoods and food systems. But there is hope: when we invest in adaptation, we save lives, protect economies and create opportunities. I call on leaders, businesses and citizens worldwide to elevate adaptation as a political and strategic priority. Join with us to make a difference.”
Professor Patrick V. Verkooijen, President and CEO of the Global Center on Adaptation, said: “Heat is the silent killer of the climate crisis. It is eroding productivity, straining health systems and compounding food insecurity. Yet we also know that adaptation works—if we scale it. This campaign turns up the heat on inaction and puts evidence-based solutions in the hands of decision-makers so adaptation rises to the top of the agenda at COP30.”
GCA showcased concrete examples already delivering results. In Benin, heat-resilient shifts, shaded rest areas, reliable drinking water and increased automation at the Port of Cotonou are expected to halve heat-related productivity losses—avoiding millions of euros in damages over the project lifetime—while creating safer working conditions for dockworkers. In The Gambia, weather-protected staff facilities, resilient equipment and climate-smart scheduling at the Port of Banjul are projected to cut overall climate risk by up to half and keep trade flowing during hotter months. And along the Songo–Matambo transmission corridor in Mozambique, a package of nature-based solutions—including fire-smart vegetation management, targeted reforestation and agroforestry—helps cool microclimates, reduce wildfire risk and safeguard electricity reliability for hundreds of thousands of people who depend on uninterrupted power.
At the heart of The Heat Is On is a simple proposition: adaptation is essential to protect health, productivity and dignity in a warming world—and it works. By elevating practical measures that communities and companies can adopt today, and by rallying public and private finance to scale them, the campaign aims to make extreme heat impossible to ignore and adaptation impossible to delay.
Find out more about the campaign: the-heat-is-on.org
