Confronting Heat Challenges—Cross-Sector Strategies for National Resilience: A Report from the 2024 HeatWise Policy Partnership Summit

Abstract

The HeatWise Policy Partnership Summit is a key component of a cyclical two-year program that encompasses stakeholder engagement, event planning, biannual convening, reporting key findings, and outreach to policymakers. During the 2023 engagement phase, Ashley Ward, director of the Heat Policy Innovation Hub at the Nicholas Institute, held regular meetings with legislators and agency leaders at the federal, state, and local levels, as well as with leaders from the philanthropic, finance, and insurance sectors, and community and faith-based organizations. These discussions informed the three core themes for the inaugural HeatWise Summit: Rural Heat Vulnerability: Developing tailored strategies for rural contexts, considering unique characteristics and needs of rural populations Data for Risk, Exposure, and Impact: Addressing data gaps in heat mitigation and resilience for informed decision-making Blended Finance and the Future Role of Insurance: Exploring financial tools for mitigating heat impacts through public-private partnerships

The Summit convened 106 participants, including participants from civil society (10), the private (23) and public sectors (19), community organizations (23), academia (27), and philanthropy (4), marking a significant step toward building a coalition to confront the escalating threat of extreme heat. Participants were asked to summarize a key takeaway from the event in a post-event survey. These takeaways reflect a broad consensus on the need for immediate action, collaboration, and targeted approaches to address the challenges posed by extreme heat, particularly for the most disadvantaged populations. As written and adopted, this report seeks to capture the essence of participant conversations, but individual participants may not agree with every aspect of the report. Rather, in affixing their name as a signatory, a participant is signaling support for the overarching concept of the series and the broad outcomes discussed herein. The participants took part in their individual capacity and their affiliations and titles are included here for identification purposes only. Their organizations are not responsible for the findings, principles, recommendations, or other content of this report.