When we think of climate change, images of floods, cyclones, and rising sea levels often dominate our thinking. Yet another climatic hazard is quietly reshaping our lives with far less visibility but no less force: that is, extreme heat. Unlike a cyclone, it leaves behind no broken houses, but creates discomfort such as overheated rooms, sleepless nights, and exhaustion amongst the informal sector’s labour force, the elderly, and marginalized communities. Interestingly, the latest flagship report by the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC): ‘Heat through the Eyes of the Most Vulnerable’, highlights that extreme heat is not an inevitable tragedy and protecting people from heat requires more than thermometers and weather maps. The report demands taking urgent systemic action through creating inclusive and contextualized warnings, workplace protections, resilient cities, and community care.
Trusted local warnings save lives
The Heat Action Plan, pioneered in Ahmedabad, India, demonstrates how preparedness works. When temperatures rise, color-coded alerts trigger simple steps: schools adjust schedules, outdoor work slows, health workers mobilize, and public water stations remain available to all. Warnings, however, are effective only when people trust and understand them. Heat alerts need to be in local languages, delivered through credible community voices, and linked to realistic protective measures. As this was observed in Burkina Faso, West Africa, where volunteers cycle from village to village advising farmers on shifting work hours. In Chile, communities prepare days in advance through early-action protocols. Because Chilean societies greatly believe in— ‘Information when made local and personal, becomes protection’.
Workplace heat protection: Rights, resilience, and safety
For countries like Bangladesh, where millions depend on labour-intensive industries, the workplace is often the frontline of heat exposure. France offers a striking example: during heatwaves, employers are legally obliged to provide shaded rest areas, cooling breaks, and flexible working hours. As these measures have proven not to be luxuries, they save lives while safeguarding productivity. The IFRC report stresses that knowledge alone is insufficient if workers cannot act on it. In many economies, employees hesitate to take breaks for fear of losing wages or disrupting production cycles. True resilience, therefore, requires more than awareness posters; it demands having in place legal frameworks that incorporate the nexus of climate change and labour rights and encourage employers to adopt climate-friendly measures within the workplace.
Urban planning for a hotter world
Extreme heat can be a problem for urban design, as seen in Dhaka, Bangladesh. Yet countries like Singapore show that even dense tropical cities can stay cooler through shaded green corridors, vertical gardens, and reflective rooftops. In the report, it has been emphasized that resilience must reach informal settlements and low-income neighbourhoods, where heat is often felt at the deadliest health and productivity cost. Also, reducing heat stress in these areas can help narrow social inequality gaps. Therefore, planting trees, creating water bodies, and designing effective ventilation systems should be central to urban planning and not just be limited to wealthy enclaves. Hyderabad in India has dramatically lowered indoor temperatures in informal settlements simply by painting roofs white at minimal cost, proving that not necessarily all heat-relief strategies are expensive.
Solidarity in the face of heat crises
Governments cannot act alone. Across the United States, libraries and churches double as cooling centres during heat alerts. In Spain, volunteers check on elderly neighbours when temperatures spike. These examples reveal a simple truth: resilience is relational. Solidarity itself can serve as a cooling system. Heat interacts with failures in water, food, transport, and health systems. Local adaptations such as hydration drives, shared community halls, and neighbour-to-neighbour care are not just emergency responses—they are lifelines when multiple systems fail simultaneously.
Cooling Bangladesh with Dignity and Hope
For Bangladesh, these global lessons are both urgent and actionable. By scaling up workplace protections, closing governance gaps, and integrating climate justice into planning, the country could set an example for labour-intensive economies across the Global South.
Cooling our future is about more than lowering temperatures. It is about protecting dignity, ensuring fairness, and building healthier, safer workplaces for Bangladesh’s growing young workforce.
