Building on the growing recognition of heat as a social, economic, and developmental challenge, the next frontier is to acknowledge extreme heat as the new normal – where risk and uncertainty reshape how we live, work, and build our cities and communities.

This shift demands rethinking infrastructure choices to minimise trapped and wasted heat, reconsidering materials and construction technologies that intensify heat retention and reflection and redesigning urban spaces to prioritise thermal comfort.

It calls for broader changes in cultural and economic practices, from how business operate and large-scale public gatherings are conducted to adapting worker schedules, production cycles, and productivity expectations in heat-exposed sectors.