Cities will be too hot to live in future, says new UNEP report

What is the news?

The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) report titled “Sustainable Urban Cooling Handbook” stated that cities will be the hotspots as global warming continues unabated.

What are the key findings of the report?

Overheated cities will face climate change costs that are more than twice those of the rest of the world because of the urban heat island effect.

The study also suggests that higher temperatures can lead to greater energy use for cooling, increased air pollution, worsening water quality and loss in worker productivity.

Depending on the climate zone, the urban heat island effect can raise urban temperatures as much as 5^oC, compared with surrounding rural areas.

The urban population exposed to high temperatures — that is average summertime temperature highs above 35˚C is expected to increase by 800% to reach 1.6 billion by 2050.

-It disproportionately impact impoverished urban population as it needs procurement of mechanical cooling solutions.

The International Labour Organization (ILO) projects that in 2030, the equivalent of 80 million full-time jobs could be lost worldwide due to heat stress.

This will result in global economic losses of $2.3 trillion. They will lose around 5% of working hours due to excessive heat.

-The impact will be unequally distributed around the world: Low-income countries, especially in the hot       regions of southern Asia and western Africa, are likely to be the worst hit.

The situation could be worsened by potential major electric grid failures during extreme weather and can expose large populations to severe heat stress both outside and within buildings.

What has India done to resolve cooling problems?

In 2019, India published the India Cooling Action Plan (ICAP) and laid down the roadmap.

ICAP focuses on adaptive thermal comfort, passive cooling design strategies across sectors.

It promotes insulation, shading and enhanced natural ventilation, to reduce requirement of active-cooling. This reduced cooling demand then can be met using the energy efficient and climate-friendly technologies.

What is the way forward?

The world needs urban heat island adaptation and mitigation measures along with a shift to more sustainable cooling solutions to provide cooling without perpetuating more warming.

-To be done through urban planning and design, energy-efficient building, efficient cooling technologies and practices and sustainable refrigerant use approaches for lower climate impact and greater access and equity than business-as-usual cooling approaches.

Source: This post is based on the article “Cities will be too hot to live in future, says new UNEP report” published in “Down To Earth” on 03 November 2021.