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At the Global Summit on Extreme Heat, USAID and IFRC kicked off a Global Sprint of Action on Extreme Heat to raise awareness and spur commitments around extreme heat, beginning on March 28, 2024 at the virtual Summit through Earth Day and culminating with the Global Day of Action on Extreme Heat on June 2, 2024.

USAID and IFRC are calling on governments, multilateral development banks, private funds and philanthropy, civil society, youth, and students to take action around the globe to help prepare countries and communities for extreme heat and to increase resilience to the impacts that cannot be avoided.

We are calling on:

• USAID Missions, IFRC and its 191-member National Societies to work with national and local governments to identify actions to reduce the impacts of extreme heat, convene local leaders, and raise awareness about extreme heat. See the Guidance on Extreme Heat for Federal Agencies Operating Overseas and United States Government Implementing Partners.

• National and local governments to commit to develop Heat Action Plans or issue guidance to protect outdoor workers and other vulnerable populations from extreme heat and implement early warning systems in line with the Secretary General’s Early Warning for All by 2027;

• International finance institutions, fund and assessment managers, donor agencies, and philanthropies to make meaningful commitments to provide financing for extreme heat;

• Companies to make new, significant commitments to signal the critical importance of building climate resilience in partner countries in line with the Administrator’s PREPARE Call to Action;

• Universities and youth leaders, civil society, innovators, and mappers to organize action events in your communities and campuses, e.g., increasing shade cover and green spaces through tree planting; taking measures to cool buildings, for example through cool roofs; and mapping where vulnerable populations and cooling centers are located. For universities interested in hosting events on extreme heat, consider the Perry World House toolkit: Convening to Address Extreme Heat: Higher Education Toolkit.