The United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP) has warned that extreme heat is reshaping the “riskscape” across Asia and the Pacific, with 2024 recorded as the hottest year globally. In its upcoming Asia-Pacific Disaster Report 2025: Rising Heat, Rising Risk, ESCAP highlights how escalating temperatures are increasingly affecting food systems, public health, urban and rural livelihoods, infrastructure, and marine ecosystems.
The report underscores that intense and prolonged heat events are now crossing national borders, amplifying the urgency for forward-looking and coordinated policy responses. ESCAP expects the report to serve as a shared reference for policymakers at both national and regional levels, helping governments prepare for a future in which heat is a central threat alongside other hazards.
The findings will be formally released next week during the ninth session of the Committee on Disaster Risk Reduction, which convenes senior policymakers and experts to review the region’s expanding disaster risks and explore avenues for collaboration. ESCAP said this year’s discussions would focus on three strategic fronts: integrating heat into multi-hazard planning, creating cooler and more liveable cities through technological and nature-based solutions, and strengthening regional cooperation on data, early warning systems, and innovation.
As Asia and the Pacific face rising heat risks, ESCAP’s report aims to provide the evidence base needed to protect vulnerable populations and infrastructure, while fostering regional coordination to tackle the intensifying climate challenge.
