Guterres sets out heat protections alongside fossil-fuel warning

The first Global Heat Forum opened in Bangkok on 6 October. It runs until 9 October and aims to mobilise funding and strengthen responses to extreme heat. Nearly 600 scientists, business leaders, philanthropists and health experts gathered, according to co-organiser the World Meteorological Organization (WMO). [1]

Addressing the forum, UN Secretary-General António Guterres called for every city to have a heat action plan by 2030, backed by resources and coordinated work across health, housing, energy and transport. [1]

The WMO said the opening included the launch of resources for governments, cities and health services. They include an evidence report on heat and health, a platform assessing heat interventions, an investment roadmap and heat-and-health assessments for Bangladesh, Bhutan, India and Nepal. [1]

The WMO also cited 2025 estimates suggesting that wider use of heat-health warning systems could protect 1.5 billion people and avert nearly 100,000 deaths a year. [1]

Update

In the UN’s published text of his 6 October message to the Global Heat Forum, Secretary-General António Guterres calls on national and local governments to turn heat plans into practical protection. He wants early warnings that reach everyone, clear heat-safety standards for workers and sustainable cooling for those who need it most. He says health, housing, energy and transport authorities must work together, backed by finance, data, technology and the capacity to deliver. These are proposals, not measures announced as adopted. [2]

Guterres also warns that every new fossil-fuel project makes future heatwaves deadlier. A 2025 study in *Nature* offers substantial grounds for concern about emissions and heat: it found that climate change made 213 reported heatwaves from 2000 to 2023 more likely and more intense. The researchers attributed about half the increase in those heatwaves’ intensity, compared with the 1850–1900 climate, to historical emissions associated with 180 fossil-fuel and cement producers. They did not calculate deaths attributable to individual new projects.