As the world experiences rising temperatures, critical infrastructure—and the societies that depend on it—face increasing stress. Scientific research clearly indicates a rise in the intensity, frequency, and duration of heatwaves, with these trends projected to worsen in the coming years as global warming accelerates. Asia, which accounted for 45 per cent of global heat-related deaths between 2000 and 2019, and India, where over a billion people face heatwaves annually, remain among the most severely affected regions. The resulting economic losses from extreme heat are also likely to be substantial. Even a 1°C rise in temperature can reduce the efficiency of solar panels by 0.5%, shorten the lifespan of transformers by 5%, and lead to a 20% decline in renewable water resources. Extreme heat is already having a multifaceted impact on daily life, straining public health systems, pushing power demand to record highs, damaging crops, depleting water resources, and reducing the productivity of workers, livestock, and farms. Infrastructure assets built to specifications based on different climate norms are now experiencing greater thermal stress, material fatigue, and operational disruptions (CDRI (2025) Global Infrastructure Resilience 2025 Report).

Moreover, extreme heat is increasingly disrupting education, affecting over 171 million students in 2024 alone. By 2050, nearly all children are expected to face frequent heatwaves, with girls and children with disabilities being especially vulnerable. Many schools lack the infrastructure needed to protect students, making classrooms unsafe. These impacts are not evenly distributed. Girls and children with disabilities face heightened risks from heat stress, while inadequate school infrastructure often turns classrooms into hotspots of danger rather than safe spaces for learning. Building resilience to extreme heat is therefore a critical climate adaptation strategy (Community of Practice: Heat-Smart Schools – Extreme heat Management in Urban Schools).

In this backdrop, CDRI has developed a Guidance for Building Resilience to Extreme Heat Management in Education Infrastructure which was launched at COP30. Heat-Smart Schools is a guidance framework to help schools adapt to rising extreme heat risks. With over two billion children projected to face frequent heatwaves by 2050, the document emphasizes that heat threatens health, learning, and equity, especially in vulnerable communities.  It outlines seven actionable steps: establish inclusive governance, use science and forecasts, implement structural and nature-based cooling measures, integrate heat literacy into education, address underlying risks like water and nutrition, mobilize financing, and prepare for future heat events through drills and recovery planning.  The guidance promotes a whole-of-society approach, linking schools with municipal, health, and disaster systems to ensure resilience and safeguard children’s right to learn in a warming world.

CDRI, in collaboration with UNDRR-GETI and SEEDS India, is organizing a webinar on Heat-Smart Schools. The webinar will discuss the impact of extreme heat across the world. It will elaborate on the key recommendations and the actionable steps from the guidelines on Heat-Smart Schools developed by CDRI. The webinar will also include global examples and case studies on extreme heat management from across different geographies and pave way for a discussion on the possible solutions and the way forward.