Experiencing extreme heat has become a harsh reality globally, and the situation is expected to worsen in the future. The last IPCC report projects a warmer climate, with extremes becoming more intense and more frequent. In fact, Climate Central found that in the past 12 months, 4 billion people — about 49% of the global population — experienced at least 30 days of extreme heat and that climate change doubled the number of extreme heat days than would be present without its effects. UNICEF’s Children’s Climate Risk Index found that in 2021, approximately 820 million children under 18 years were highly exposed to heatwaves, and in 2024 that one in five children – or 466 million – lived in areas that experience at least double the number of extremely hot days every year compared to just six decades ago.

We know that pregnant women and children are uniquely susceptible to exposure to extreme heat, and the impacts can last a lifetime, in large part because of their fragile physiology, their reliance on caregivers who are often unaware of the health harms of heat, and the fact that impacts early in life get reflected across their lifetime  While governments are rising to the call for urgent action, there is still a demand for understanding what is being done on the ground, from risk communication aimed at protecting children’s health to how heat-related illnesses are diagnosed and managed.

The Children’s Environmental Health Collaborative, the Global Heat Health Information Network (GHHIN) and UNICEF are organizing the following three-part webinar series exploring the latest evidence on the child health impacts of extreme heat and presenting tangible examples of national and sub-national actions being taken to address the challenges.

Please register for each of the webinars separately. Register for Webinar 1 if you would like to receive alerts when the other two are available.

Webinar 1: Tuesday, 8 July at 9 AM EST / 1 PM GMT

Getting the Message Right: Heat Risk Communication to Protect Children Event Page and Registration

Webinar 2: Coming Soon

How to Address Heat Stress in the Body for Women and Children

Webinar 3: Coming Soon

Developing and Implementing Extreme Heat Response Plans Centering Maternal, Newborn and Child Health