Arsht-Rock Announces Felipe Calderón, Former President of Mexico, as First Global Ambassador for Heat Action at COP27
Thu, Nov 10, 2022
New Global Ambassadors for Heat Action Initiative to Drive Climate Action, Advance Heat Adaptation at an International Scale
Sharm El-Sheikh, Egypt, November 9th, 2022 — Today at COP27, the Adrienne Arsht–Rockefeller Foundation Resilience Center (Arsht-Rock) announced Felipe Calderón, former President of Mexico, as the first Global Ambassador for Heat Action. In that role, President Calderon will raise global awareness about the risks of climate-driven extreme heat among global leaders and stakeholders to foster heat adaptation at speed and scale.
Extreme heat kills more people than any other climate disaster. Its effects are significant and unequally distributed, causing outsized impacts on vulnerable and marginalized communities, including women and girls. Reducing the impact of climate-driven heat will require innovative, scalable heat mitigation and adaptation solutions and trusted and recognized leaders, like President Calderón, to advance climate action.
Extreme heat is crippling our economies too. In the US alone, the economic costs of extreme heat are estimated to reach $100 billion annually—a figure that will double by 2030 and quintuple by 2050 without urgent action.
“Climate change, most perniciously, extreme heat, is a risk multiplier that affects everything from public health to infrastructure, local economies, and more,” said President Calderón. “There is an urgent need to mobilize investment and implementation of cooling solutions, now, which is why I am honored to join Arsht-Rock as its first Global Ambassador for Heat Action.”
Climate change, most perniciously, extreme heat, is a risk multiplier that affects everything from public health to infrastructure, local economies, and more. There is an urgent need to mobilize investment and implementation of cooling solutions, now, which is why I am honored to join Arsht-Rock as its first Global Ambassador for Heat Action
“With more and more people feeling the devastating effects of extreme heat, Arsht-Rock is thrilled to have former President Calderón as our Global Ambassador for Heat Action,” said Kathy Baughman McLeod, Director and SVP of the Adrienne Arsht–Rockefeller Foundation Resilience Center at the Atlantic Council. “In his new role he will raise global awareness of the risks of extreme heat and accelerate adaptation for life in a hotter world.”
President Calderón was joined on stage (3:45 am ET/10:45 am EET) by Baughman McLeod and Mauricio Rodas–Former Mayor of Quito, Ecuador, and Senior Fellow at Arsht-Rock leading the Center’s City Champions for Heat Action initiative–to discuss his role as Global Ambassador for Heat Action in fostering collaboration across the climate resilience community to deliver adaptation at speed and scale.
About the Adrienne-Arsht Rockefeller Foundation Resilience Center The Adrienne Arsht-Rockefeller Foundation Resilience Center (Arsht-Rock) builds individual and community resilience in the face of climate impacts. We pledge to reach one billion people around the world with resilience solutions to climate change by 2030. For more information, follow us on Twitter and LinkedIn.
