India Hosts Global Forum on Extreme Heat and Sustainable Cooling Solutions

Organised by NRDC in partnership with National Disaster Management Authority, Government of India, Department of Science and Technology, Government of India and the Coalition for Disaster Resilient Infrastructure, the two-day forum will take place from April 20-21, at Bharat Mandapam, New Delhi. This year's forum will focus on moving from frameworks to implementation, advancing scalable solutions that protect vulnerable communities while meeting growing cooling demand in sustainable ways.

Alongside the discussions, NRDC will launch new knowledge resources, including a heat issue brief, a white paper on cooling stations, and a national blueprint on super-efficient ceiling fans, to inform policy and accelerate implementation. The forum is expected to convene over 300 participants who work at the intersection of heat resilience, public health, urban planning and energy systems from across Asia and Africa.

Across India and many parts of the Global South, extreme heat is already affecting public health, worker safety, and energy systems. Millions of people, particularly those working outdoors or in informal sectors, are exposed to prolonged heat, while access to cooling remains uneven and demand is projected to increase significantly in the coming decades.

"The world is entering a new phase of the climate crisis where rising temperatures will reshape how cities grow, how economies function, and how people live and work. "Meeting the rapidly growing demand for cooling while keeping emissions under control will be one of the defining climate and development challenges of the coming decades. Governments and industry will need to act quickly to scale solutions that protect people from dangerous heat while building resilient and sustainable energy systems," said Manish Bapna, President and CEO, NRDC.

Confirmed participants include Krishna S Vatsa, Member of the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA), Nyrika Holkar, Executive Director, Godrej Enterprises Group, Dr Sachit Balsari, Associate Professor in Emergency Medicine at Harvard Medical School and Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center and Dr Adelle Thomas, Senior Director, Climate Adaptation, Environmental Health, NRDC and Vice-Chair, Working Group II, Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. Leaders and experts from institutions including C40 Cities, Sustainable Solutions for Africa, Sustainable Energy for All, World Bank, Oxford University and National University of Singapore.

"India's cities are already confronting the realities of rising temperatures, from impacts on outdoor workers to increasing pressure on urban infrastructure and power systems. Over the past decade, India has pioneered practical responses such as city-level Heat Action Plans and sustainable cooling strategies. The opportunity now is to scale these solutions across cities and regions so communities can stay safe and productive as temperatures continue to rise," said Amit Prothi, Director General, Coalition for Disaster Resilient Infrastructure.

According to the release, a key highlight at GHCF 2026 will be the first official convening of the recently launched South Asia Hub of the Global Heat Health Information Network, a regional platform aimed at strengthening collaboration, research, and early-warning systems on heat and health across South Asia. The regional hub is being hosted in New Delhi by the Council on Energy, Environment and Water, in collaboration with the Sustainable Futures Collaborative, NRDC, BRFAC James P Grant School of Public Health, and the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific.

Over two days, the forum will explore governance pathways for heat resilience, protection for outdoor and gig workers, equitable access to cooling, power grid preparedness, building-level interventions, and financing mechanisms to support sustainable cooling transitions.

The forum will also serve as a platform to launch new knowledge resources aimed at informing policy and accelerating implementation. These include a Heat Issue Brief on the evolution of Heat Action Plans in India and pathways to strengthen implementation and financing, a White Paper examining the role of cooling stations as an equitable public health intervention, and a National Blueprint to advance super-efficient ceiling fans as an affordable and energy-efficient cooling solution.

According to the official press release, together, these resources aim to support governments, industry, and practitioners in moving from pilots to scale and embedding heat resilience into long-term development planning.

NRDC (Natural Resources Defence Council) is an international non-profit environmental organisation 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, works with local partners to help build a low-carbon, sustainable economy.

- ANI