Across South Asia, summer temperatures are already rising, and the science confirms what communities have already experienced for years. The past 11 years of record-breaking global temperatures are collectively the hottest humanity has ever measured, according to the World Meteorological Organization’s recent flagship report. This is why today, on World Health Day, a consortium of leading research, policy, and development organisations launched a new South Asia Hub of the Global Heat Health Information Network (GHHIN). Funded by Wellcome, the new Regional Hub is being hosted in New Delhi by the Council on Energy, Environment and Water (CEEW).

Together, the five coordinating partners—CEEW, the Sustainable Futures Collaborative (SFC), Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC), BRAC James P. Grant School of Public Health (BRAC JPGSPH), and the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (UNESCAP)—will unify actors across government, academia, private enterprise, and civil society to improve shared learning and inform policy change.

The Hub will work in tandem with the South Asia Climate and Health Desk at the Indian Institute for Tropical Meteorology (IITM) and the India Meteorological Department (IMD) to ensure heat early warnings and heat science are used to generate impactful solutions for communities.

Serving as the region’s platform for knowledge exchange and good practice, the Hub will connect local actors to inform policy, implement practical interventions, and reduce heat risks, particularly for vulnerable populations.

Turning heat science into health action

Asia is warming at twice the rate of the rest of the world, and between 1990 and 2021, it accounted for more than half of all global heat-related deaths. South Asia bears the sharpest edge of the heat crisis: nearly 90 per cent of its population is projected to face extreme heat exposure by 2030. Yet, regional policy and response coordination often remain fragmented, and most national systems or structures still lack health-triggered warnings.

In India alone, 57 per cent of Indian districts—home to nearly three-quarters of the population—already face high to very high heat risk, according to CEEW research, with rising night-time temperatures and increasing humidity compounding heat stress, reducing the body’s ability to recover, and placing additional strain on health systems. Bangladesh has seen ‘felt temperatures’ climb by 4.5°C in the last four decades. Even Nepal and Bhutan, both high-altitude Himalayan countries, now regularly record temperatures surpassing 40°C.

Starting operations in April 2026, the South Asia GHHIN Hub will work with regional and national partners to deliver tangible benefits for families, workers, schools, hospitals, and city officials by enabling clearer alerts, safer work hours, timely cooling actions, and strengthened policy advice for better-prepared health services. The Hub will focus on, among others:

Over the next few years, the Hub aims to bring together more than 60 institutions, train over 500 professionals, and strengthen heat action plans across South Asia.

The South Asia Heat and Health Hub will be chaired by Dr Vishwas Chitale, Fellow, CEEW, who has led pioneering work on district-level heat risk assessments and heat action planning in India.

Dr Arunabha Ghosh, CEO, Council on Energy, Environment and Water (CEEW), said: “Extreme heat is not a seasonal hazard; it is a systemic risk to public health, economic productivity, and infrastructure across South Asia. What makes heat particularly dangerous is that it cuts across sectors — climate, health, labour, and urban development — yet responses often remain fragmented. At CEEW, we have been building the data, analytics, and policy partnerships needed to understand heat risk at a granular level, and we are honoured to host the South Asia Hub for the Global Heat Health Information Network to bring that evidence together with regional collaboration. By convening governments, researchers, and practitioners across South Asia, we hope to turn heat science into coordinated heat action that protects the most vulnerable.”

Alejandro Saez Reale, Global Heat Health Information Network (GHHIN) Coordinator, said: “The launch of the South Asia Hub is a milestone for the expansion of GHHIN’s global

network. Some of the world’s most heat-exposed cities and communities are in this region — and access to the best available science, tools, and peer knowledge is essential to protect people’s lives. This Hub creates the architecture for that exchange, linking actors and institutions across South Asia to a growing global community of practitioners and policymakers - many of them coming together at the upcoming Global Heat and Cooling Forum in New Delhi later this month - working to make heat a visible, actionable priority.”

Dr Joy Shumake-Guillemot, WHO-WMO Climate and Health Joint Programme, said: “Climate change is driving more intense and more frequent heat - with dramatic consequences for our environment and health. We have the tools to respond - through heat action plans, early warning systems, and cross-sectoral sharing - but these tools only work if institutions are connected and pulling in the same direction - which is exactly what the South Asia Hub and its partners have set out to do.”

Dr Catharina Cora Boehme, Officer-in-Charge, World Health Organization (WHO) Regional Office for South East Asia, said: “Extreme heat is one of the most urgent public health risks of our time, yet it often remains invisible in policy and planning. Strengthening the link between science and public health action is essential. This Hub reflects the spirit of World Health Day, standing with science to protect lives.”

Dipa Singh Bagai, Country Director, NRDC India, Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC), said: “Extreme heat is no longer a distant climate threat—it is a present and growing danger to lives, livelihoods, and economic stability across South Asia. NRDC’s experience in India has shown that well-designed Heat Action Plans—grounded in science, early warning systems, and community partnerships—can save lives. The launch of the South Asia Heat and Health Hub is an important step toward scaling these proven solutions across the region. By strengthening collaboration amongst South Asia’s climate adaptation and public health leaders, this partnership will help the region move from reactive responses to proactive, coordinated action that protects the most vulnerable communities.”

Dr Bhargav Krishna, Convenor, Sustainable Futures Collaborative (SFC), said: “Extreme heat is already a public health emergency with projections indicating increasingly more frequent and intense heatwaves in coming years. India has shown leadership in managing the fallout of heat in recent years, but building systems that chart a path to long-term heat resilience is essential if we are to forestall the harmful effects of heat on health, livelihoods, and economic productivity. This hub aims to bring together cutting-edge epidemiology with thoughtful analysis of institutions, governance mechanisms, and policies that can foster equitable and evidence-based management of current and future heat in India and South Asia.”

Mr. Kiyoung Ko, Director, ICT and Disaster Risk Reduction Division, United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (UNESCAP), said: “Extreme heat is a regional, cross-border risk. By bringing countries together, the Hub can strengthen cooperation, align policies, and integrate heat into broader disaster risk and climate resilience frameworks across Asia-Pacific.”

Dr Farzana Misha, Associate Professor and Lead, Climate Change, Environment and Health Hub, BRAC James P Grant School of Public Health (BRAC JPGSPH), said: “Extreme heat is not a future risk; it is already here. Unlike cyclones or floods, it is less visible, and therefore often underestimated, yet its impacts are far-reaching. It directly affects human health while placing sustained pressure on health systems and disrupting food and water security. In South Asia, one of the most climate-vulnerable and least-prepared regions, this challenge is particularly urgent. The GHHIN South Asia hub is an important step toward bringing together regional knowledge, shared experiences, and collective action to better respond to this growing threat.”

As heat risks intensify across South Asia, the Hub marks a shift from fragmented responses to coordinated, regional-level science-led heat-centered action. Serving as the region’s anchor for knowledge exchange, policy innovation, and capacity building, it will foster a robust, interconnected ecosystem of practitioners, policymakers, and researchers, strengthening regional collaboration for evidence-based, equitable solutions that reach the most vulnerable.

About the Global Heat Health Information Network (GHHIN)

The Global Heat Health Information Network is a dynamic voluntary community of policymakers, scientists, practitioners, working together for a world where extreme heat is no barrier to lives and livelihoods. Spearheaded by the World Health Organization (WHO) and the World Meteorological Organization (WMO), the Network provides thought leadership through science and consensus from diverse actors with common values. GHHIN cultivates opportunities to generate and elevate decision-relevant knowledge that empowers policy, science, and society to innovate and proactively manage the risks of rising temperatures driven by climate change.

For more information on GHHIN, please visit https://heathealth.info/southasia/.

About CEEW

The Council on Energy, Environment and Water (CEEW) — a homegrown institution with headquarters in New Delhi — is among the world’s leading climate think tanks. The Council is also often ranked among the world’s best-managed and independent think tanks. It uses data, integrated analysis, and strategic outreach to explain — and change — the use, reuse, and misuse of resources. It prides itself on the independence of its high-quality research and strives to impact sustainable development at scale in India and the Global South. In over 14 years of operation, CEEW has impacted over 400 million lives and engaged with over 20 state governments. Follow us on X (formerly Twitter) @CEEWIndia or on LinkedIn for the latest updates. CEEW’s Climate Resilience Programme is currently working with 300 cities across India on developing and implementing Heat Action Plans, and works closely with national and subnational government stakeholders to advance plans and policies for heat resilience.

About NRDC

Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) is an international non-profit environmental organization with more than 3 million members and online activists. Since 1970, our lawyers, scientists, and other environmental specialists have worked to protect the world’s natural resources, public health, and the environment. NRDC’s India Program on Climate Change and Clean Energy, launched in 2009 and registered as an independent organization in 2022; working with local partners to help build a low-carbon, sustainable economy.

About Sustainable Futures Collaborative (SFC)

Sustainable Futures Collaborative (SFC) is an independent research organisation based in New Delhi that analyses frontier issues in climate, energy, and environment. Our work focuses on the systemic changes required for India’s transition to a sustainable, just, and resilient economy and society, identifying upstream policy levers that can drive impact at scale. SFC brings interdisciplinary expertise across environmental epidemiology, public policy, and governance to strengthen evidence-based decision-making. Through our work on extreme heat, we have expanded the policy ecosystem by generating evidence on heat-related mortality across multiple agro-climatic zones in India. Our work has also advanced policy discourse on heat action plans through significant work on their contents, the ground realities of their implementation, as well as means to finance heat solutions at decentralised levels of governance.

About UNESCAP

UNESCAP serves as a critical regional hub for disaster risk reduction, primarily through the Committee on Disaster Risk Reduction, which coordinates policy across 53 member states. During its 9th session in November 2025, the Committee placed a significant emphasis on the escalating threat of extreme heat, advocating for urgent regional cooperation to manage heat-related health risks and urban vulnerabilities. This legislative forum works to translate high-level goals into actionable strategies, ensuring that the Asia-Pacific region is better prepared for the shifting landscape of climate-induced hazards. To address these challenges, the Committee recommended placing heat at the center of multi-hazard planning and scaling up regional initiatives such as cross-border green cooling corridors and inclusive social protection schemes for the most vulnerable.

Central to these efforts is the Asia-Pacific Disaster Report (APDR), the organization’s flagship publication that provides data-driven insights into how disasters intersect with socioeconomic vulnerabilities. To help countries operationalize these findings, ESCAP launched the Asia-Pacific Risk and Resilience Portal. This digital platform provides policymakers with specialized tools for climate and disaster risk analysis, enabling them to move from reactive disaster management to proactive, long-term resilience planning. These tools are specifically designed to support the implementation of the Secretary-General’s Call to Action on Extreme Heat by integrating meteorological triggers with health indicators to create more effective Heat Action Plans.

About BRAC JPGSPH

BRAC James P Grant School of Public Health (JPGSPH), BRAC University was founded in 2004 in Dhaka, Bangladesh to address the unmet public health challenges particular to Asia, Africa and South America. The school’s institutional partner is BRAC, the world’s largest NGO, reaching over 100 million people in Bangladesh and working in 11 countries in Africa and Asia.

It is at BRAC University, a premier higher education and development research institution. The school offers unparalleled real-life, community-centric teaching, learning and research experiences on critical and emerging national and global public health challenges. BRAC James P Grant School of Public Health, BRAC University, is advancing evidence-based climate and health action in Bangladesh through research, policy engagement, and regional leadership on extreme heat, urban resilience, and health systems adaptation.

About Wellcome

Wellcome is a global charitable foundation that supports science and innovation to tackle the world’s most urgent health challenges facing everyone. They support discovery research into life, health and wellbeing, and are taking on three worldwide health challenges: mental health, infectious disease and climate and health. Its climate and health work puts people’s health at the centre of climate action—building research networks, advancing science on risks like extreme heat, and partnering globally to ensure communities benefit from robust, health-focused climate solutions. https://wellcome.org/.

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Published on April 8, 2026